Ryan Mayer
Charlotte, N.C. (CBS Local)- As communities throughout the Carolina coast begin to recover from the the damage caused by Hurricane Florence, Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers is doing his part to raise money for relief efforts.
Peppers, via a video posted to his Twitter account today, announced that he would be starting a Hurricane Florence relief fund and that he would be contributing $100,000 of his own money towards the campaign.
The 38-year-old Peppers is a Carolina native, born in Wilson and raised in the neighboring town of Bailey. He stayed in state to play his college football at the University of North Carolina before being selected by the Panthers with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2002 NFL Draft. He’s spent 10 of his 17 years in the NFL in a Panthers uniform.
Peppers is following in the footsteps of fellow defensive end J.J. Watt, who last year used his social media presence to raise over $41 million towards Hurricane Harvey relief efforts after the storm ravaged the Houston area around this time last year.