Headed to the Hall of Honor?

[Sir Purr]

Julius Peppers: Another player whose play truly speaks for him – a soft-spoken beast of a defensive end who ranks fourth in NFL history in sacks. Peppers, however, is just three months removed from the end of his remarkable 17-year career. It feels like it could be too soon to enshrine him.


Same goes for just-retired center Ryan Kalil, a five-time Pro Bowler.


Kevin Greene: Peppers came one sack short of passing Greene for third on the NFL’s all-time list. Greene was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016, and he needed just three years in Carolina to rack up 41.5 sacks of his 160 career sacks. It’s just a question of how the Hall of Honor will handle players like Greene and running back Stephen Davis, who piled up 1,444 rushing yards for the Panthers in 2003 but also had three other 1,000-yard seasons elsewhere.


Jordan Gross: While some impactful players also made major impacts on other rosters, Gross is the definition of a mainstay. Selected eighth overall in the 2003 draft, Gross spent all 11 of his NFL seasons with the Panthers and held down the demanding left tackle job for most of that time, starting a franchise-record 167 regular season games while missing just nine. Gross – a three-time Pro Bowler – and his close friend Kalil have to be considered the best offensive linemen in franchise history.


Wesley Walls: Speaking of best players by position, Greg Olsen is understandably viewed by many as the standard bearer at tight end. But don’t forget Walls, who was a Pro Bowl pick five times during his seven years with the Panthers from 1996-2002. Olsen has the back-to-back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons thing; Walls has the distinction of being the first tight end in NFL history to score a dozen touchdowns in a season (in 1999).


Click on the debut episode of "Cart Talk" below to see the two cross paths near the end: