Who doesn’t have a soft-spot for a hometown boy?  I know I do. It’s why to this day Julius Peppers still remains my all-time favorite Carolina Panther. He was the OG Backyard Baller, playing high-school ball about 45 minutes away from where I grew up. As a senior, one my good friends lined up across from Peppers, who was a freshman at the time, and he knew even then he was going to be special.