Greatest Panther of all time: Julius Peppers vs. Ricky Proehl

But as it is, to vote for Ricky would be voting out of spite, not fact.

Peppers in a lanslide

But there’s no way he could beat out Pep, regardless of how he left the organization.

This isn’t a comparison of ethics, just raw impact on the field. J.Pep averaged a FF every 4 games he played and his sack total is insane. Future Hall of Famer vs. feel-good story, great guy, not great player Ricky= no contest.

We can argue stats all you want, but when is the last time you remember Julius doing something when the game was on the line? He shuts down and he’s nowhere in sight. Ricky on the other hand…he takes teams to the Super Bowl.

As soon as he gets matched up with someone else who has gaudy statistics, he will lose because of all the off field stuff. It clearly is leaving enough bad taste in people mouths that even Ricky Proehl has 35% of the vote at the time of this comment.

Let’s face it, we all love Ricky. But we love Ricky in the same way we do Jake. Niether were the greatest players at their position, but both had a few shining moments of greatness throughout their careers (Jake was more of an on field factor, and i think that will carry him far in this “tournament”). Couple that with the fact that neither of them could possibly be better human beings and role models, and that is what makes them great.

Ricky’s on field accomplishments do not even come close to Pep’s, but that having been said as soon as Pep comes up against someone who has gaudy stats, he is out.

As much as Peppers pissed me off with his attitude and as much heart as Proehl put out there on the field, I gotta give this one to Pep. He was a monster out there (at times) and did a lot of great things for us in the past. Can’t slid historical fact under the rug simply because you don’t like the person or the situation they left you in.

Instead of holding a vomit-inducing ESPN special.

STEVE SMITH! had more yards in a single season, 3 times, than Proehl had over his 48 games as a Panther. Compared to an All-Pro DE who with a few more great seasons could make the HOF???

I mean we all loved Proehl. But stacking him against Pep is just laughable.

Reminds me a lot of the Top 100 series on NFLN right now. There aren’t any guidelines set in stone, and it is immensely subjective. What we’re doing here clearly isn’t the same from a methodological standpoint compared to the Top 100 series, but there still are similiarities based on the subjectiveness of the players’ evaluations.

Example, the results on the show were derived from players rating who they believed were the top 20 players in the NFL today, and then a weighted system ranked the top 100 players based on that voting method. Enough players ranked Donovan McNabb as a Top 20 player for him to come in at #100. If you look at 2010 Donovan McNabb, I can’t fathom how anyone would say he was a Top 20 player. If you look at his career, then he definitely deserves a spot.

Here, I don’t think it’s wrong for anyone to want to look at stats alone. And I don’t think it’s wrong to want to look at other ways in which a player affected his team.

Do you want the guy who had freakish physical capability, who had crazy skills, and who had gaudy stats despite his part-time motor, later disdain of the team (who displayed that disdain and lack of respect in his return as a Bear last season), and messy divorce from the team? Or do you want the classy guy who made you proud to be a fan of the Panthers, who consistently gave it his all, and who always came through for you in the clutch?

If you think the value of a player is in his stats, it’s Pep hands down. If you think that the story of a player’s impact goes beyond those stats, then there’s a valid argument for Proehl.

Do you want a LeBron who has mad skills, but rubs his departure from his home team into Cleveland’s face as he takes his shortcut to attempting to get a championship (I’ll grant that he was a free agent, and it was absolutely his right to make that decision), but shrinks up in the fourth quarter? Or do you want a Jason Terry who came through in the clutch games when the star player (Dirk) struggled? I believe Jason Terry is a 6th man who came up in the clutch and was the reason that the Mavs won the game that clinched them the title.

I think it’s up to what criteria any individual feels applies in determining the “Greatest Panther,” and I don’t think it’s fair to say “Your arguments wrong. Who had better stats? You’re voting just based on emotion” when someone feels that Proehl represents what they think makes a great Panther. Valuing a player based on stats and valuing a player who had great contributions that didn’t show up in stats are both valid ways to vote.

For the record, I didn’t vote on this one because of the huge disparity in stats and huge disparity in the contributions that don’t show up in numbers.

So did Peppers. However, Proehl helped Steve Smith make the big plays. Pep was constantly double and triple teamed and no one really emerged (save for the 2003 D-line, those guys were tenacious). While Proehl didn’t have the numbers, he was constantly a threat when on the field. I’m glad he is on the coaching staff. Here’s hoping he teaches his craft to LaFell and Gettis.