He made his mark mostly on the gridiron, earning First Team All-Mid-American Conference (MAC) honors as both a junior and senior, as well as All-American honors as a junior. Similarly, born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Taylor was actually homeschooled for much of high school, but nevertheless went on to play both football and basketball at the college level at the University of Akron. Upon declaring for the 2002 NFL Draft, he was selected second overall by the Carolina Panthers and would go on to win Defensive Rookie of the Year with 12.0 sacks, 36 total tackles, 5 forced fumbles, and an interception however, he was suspended for the final four games of the regular season for taking a banned dietary supplement. While solid on the basketball court, Peppers dominated in football – after redshirting as a true freshman, he led the nation with 15.0 sacks as a sophomore to make both the All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) First Team and the All-American Second Team he was even better as a junior, earning both First Team All-ACC and First Team All-American honors, and winning the Chuck Bednarik Award (best defensive player), the Lombardi Award (best lineman), and the Bill Willis Trophy (best defensive lineman). Post high school, he was a coveted football recruit and stayed in-state at North Carolina, where he also walked on to the basketball team for the Tar Heels. Peppers grew up in North Carolina and starred in football, basketball, and track and field while in high school, earning Parade All-American honors for football and being named the Male Athlete of the Year for the state. While they were both multi-sport stars as high schoolers, Peppers and Taylor entered college with very different pedigrees – the former parlayed that potential into a dominant college football career and a top draft selection, while the latter had more modest accomplishments and was a mid-round pick. Who was better – Julius Peppers or Jason Taylor? The Beginning On the defensive side of the ball, a couple of dual-sport standouts who spent their Sundays terrorizing opposing quarterbacks were defensive ends Julius Peppers and Jason Taylor – both long and lanky with great athleticism, they were two of the best pass-rushers of the 21st century and each accumulated well over 100 career sacks, thus making for an apt comparison: Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens), perhaps most notably at the tight end position (think Tony Gonzalez, Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, etc.). In recent years, the NFL has seen its share of star players who also excelled in basketball at the college level (e.g. Ed Yourdon, Jason Taylor Jets-Dolphin game Nov 1, 2009, CC BY-SA 2.0 We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. This site contains affiliate links to products.
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