New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers has gained a fair bit of recognition during his seven-year tenure in the NFL.
The 2017 first-round pick out of Michigan has established himself as a durable, dependable, and multi-talented presence in the defensive backfield in a career split between the Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and England Patriots. Peppers has piled up 437 tackles, six interceptions, 5.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and five recoveries.
His name might start trending during tonight’s NFL Honors, airing on CBS and NFL Network at 9 p.m. ET. That’s not because Peppers is in line for any awards himself. It’s because he shares a surname with a man most expect to be in line for quite the prestigious honor.
Is Jabrill Peppers Related to Julius Peppers?
Julius Peppers, a former NFL defensive end, is expected by most to be announced as a first-ballot entrant into the Pro Football Hall of Fame at tonight’s award ceremony. The long-time Carolina Panthers sack master is certainly deserving of the honor, having racked up 159.5 sacks in his pro career.
As it relates to Jabrill Peppers, however, he and Julius are of no relation. There are lots of present-day players with relatives who did a stint in the pros. Recognizable names like Antoine Winfield, Patrick Surtain, Asante Samuel, and Joey Porter all have sons in the NFL nowadays. But the fact that Jabrill and Julius Peppers share a surname is a mere coincidence.
Who Is Jabrill Peppers’ Family?
Information in the public sphere regarding Peppers’ family is somewhat scarce. Fortunately, the most valuable resource on the subject is a pretty reliable one: Peppers himself. He wrote an autobiographical piece for The Players’ Tribune back in 2015 when he was making his star turn at Michigan University.
Peppers’ father, Terry Peppers, was arrested when he was just seven years old for gang-related offenses. Neither Terry nor Julius’ mother, Ivory Bryant, wanted young Julius to visit his father in that setting. Thus, for over a decade his only contact with his dad was by phone.
“I talked to him on the phone almost every week for 15 minutes at a time. That was really the only relationship I was able to have with him growing up. So all the lessons that fathers normally teach their sons, I had to learn on my own,” Peppers wrote.
Terry was released from prison in 2014. Granted, some time has passed since this piece was written, but he still missed a humongous chunk of his youngest son’s adolescence. Julius acknowledged in his writing that this has been a hurdle at times.
“We have a good relationship, but we’re still getting to know each other again. I mean, he went away when I was seven years old and he got out when I was 18,” Peppers writes. “That’s a lot of crucial years in a young man’s life that he missed. But we’re not trying to make up for lost time. We’re just trying to get to know each other and move forward.”
Peppers suffered another tragedy during the intervening years. His older brother, Don, had adopted something of a fatherly role with their dad behind bars, which made it all the more tragic when Don was killed in a gang-related shooting in January 2010. Admirably, Peppers pointed to a silver lining that emerged from that devastating moment.
“When I was a freshman in high school, everybody in the neighborhood started to realize what Don had already seen in me: Football was going to be my way out,” Peppers wrote. “Don was very well respected on the streets of our neighborhood, so when we lost him, I basically became everybody’s little brother. They made sure I stayed on the right track.”
One hero that emerged out of all this tragedy was Peppers’ aforementioned mother, Ivory Bryant. First, she was abruptly made a single mother. Then, she had to deal with the loss of her firstborn.
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All the while, she continued to work and provide for young Julius and raise him to the best of her ability. No statement could serve as a stronger testament to her exemplary motherhood than Peppers’ own words on the matter:
“She always used to tell me, ‘Jabrill, I can teach you a lot. But I can’t teach you to be a man.’ But it was her who taught this young boy things like how to tie a tie. She taught me the importance of hard work and discipline and that football was a privilege, not a right, and the classroom was just as important as the football field.
“If I got anything less than a B+ on my report card, I wasn’t allowed to play football. She led by example with her work ethic and her drive, working long hours as a social worker and a Baptist minister, and she almost never missed a football game.”
As the 2023 NFL season comes to a close, the 2024 NFL Draft is on the horizon. Pro Football Network has you covered with everything from team draft needs to the Top 100 prospects available. Plus, fire up PFN’s Mock Draft Simulator to put yourself in the general manager’s seat and make all the calls!
