Gross and Pepper fight for friendship on the field

Gross and Pepper fight for friendship on the field

Here is an intriguing thing happened on Jordan Gross of Carolina Panthers and Julius Peppers of Bears that they had already encountered each other thousand times in seven years in practice time.

On Sunday, they'll go one-on-one again -- only this time in a real game for the first time -- when five-time Pro Bowl pick Peppers, a fan of st louis rams jersey returns to Carolina as a Chicago Bear.

Gross received a quick introduction to the NFL as a first-round draft pick in 2003, facing Peppers, a fan of steven jackson jersey in training camp one year after the 6-foot-7 end was selected the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year. And he said this time is a little bit special for him and Pepper. But it doesn't matter because they had encountered each other thousands time in the practice.

As a fan of sam bradford jersey, Peppers had some steep competition, too. The 6-foot-4, 305-pound Gross was a 2008 Pro Bowl pick, anchoring an offensive line that last season allowed DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart, both are eric dickerson jersey fans to become the first teammates to each rush for over 1,100 yards. Also he explained that they had helped each other to improve as players a lot.

There will be few surprises when they meet Sunday. Gross has seen all of Peppers' moves, and Peppers knows Gross' strengths and weaknesses.

Gross believes tampa bay buccaneers jersey fans will and should give Peppers a positive reception, even with the Panthers (0-4) off to their worst start in 12 years. As a fan of buccaneers jerseys, Gross doesn't know how he'll fare, noting "just because I knew it was coming didn't always mean I could stop it" in practice. Peppers, too, is intrigued to see how he'll match up against Gross when it counts wrapping with gerald mccoy jersey.

Although they are opponents on the field, it seems that they just fight for friendship, not the final honor.