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UNC Football: Three named to College Football’s 150 Greatest Players

Lawrence Taylor, Julius Peppers, and Charlie “Choo Choo” Justice are honored.

Defensive End Julius Peppers #49 of the North Carolina (UNC) Tar Heels

For college football’s 150th anniversary, ESPN put together a “blue-ribbon panel of 150 media members, college administrators, and former coaches and players” to determine the 150 greatest players in the history of college football.

The top 25 players will be named in the coming days, including the top 11 during halftime of the College Football Playoff National Championship.

Three North Carolina Tar Heels football players have been named to the 150 list:

  • 42. Lawrence Taylor (LB, North Carolina, 1977-80)
  • 104. Julius Peppers (DE, North Carolina, 1999-2001)
  • 133. Charlie Justice (RB, North Carolina, 1946-49)

The experts here at Tar Heel Blog agree that these three players are the three best in program history.

In the summer of 2017, THB ranked and profiled the top 25 football players in UNC history. Taylor, Justice, and Peppers were ranked 1-2-3.

Take a look back at these profiles at the links below:

ACC Player of the Year. Two-time Heisman runner-up. Lombardi Award. These players were certainly some of the best in history and were proud to wear Carolina Blue.

UNC Tar Heels Photo by North Carolina/Collegiate Images via Getty Images
Charlie Justice Photo by John Dominis/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images
UNC v NCSU X Peppers