Top 2014 CB Target -- Jabrill Peppers (Paramus Catholic, NJ)

Submitted by MLaw06 on

Great story on Jabrill Peppers -- 2014 CB Target from Paramus Catholic, NJ who is listed at 6'0", 205 lbs and currently plays CB, RB and WR w/ offers from 50 Div 1 schools, including Alabama, Ohio, Florida, ND and Michigan.

Jabrill survived and thrived through significant adversity, including the incarceration of his father, Terry Peppers, and the murder of his half-brother, Don Curtis.

Through it all, Jabrill managed to maintain a phone relationship with his father and they are both looking forward to his father's parole next June.  Terry deeply wants to remain involved in Jabrill's life and supports him to the best of his abilities.

"Terry works five days a week at the prison unloading and loading office furniture, earning about $180 a month. He sends the money to Jabrill." [NJ.COM]

Jabrill sounds like a great person, terrific talent and a mature individual who understands that life's ups and downs come fast and furiously.  Hopefully, we will see Terry attend games at the Big House cheering on his son, Michigan's future star CB.

[http://www.nj.com/hssports/blog/football/index.ssf/2012/10/paramus_catholics_jabrill_peppers.html]

MGoRyan

October 12th, 2012 at 11:30 AM ^

Wait, isn't his dad in jail? How can he attend games at the Big House? Unless, by Big House, you are referring to prison.

Lucky Socks

October 12th, 2012 at 11:36 AM ^

He's eligible for parole next June, so he could have a chance to watch every game of his college career.  It's easy to judge a man for landing in prison but the elder Peppers seems like he's done a good job of realizing his own faults and raising his son to be different.  Can't be easy to be such an important influence over the phone.  Good luck to Jabrill.

Jack Daniels

October 12th, 2012 at 11:46 AM ^

Great story. The father seems to have realized the error of his (former) ways, and the younger Peppers seems like an outstanding person. Apparently, Stanford is his leader, which shows he is indeed serious about his academics and not just blowing smoke like many other recruits have.

True Blue Grit

October 12th, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^

A 3.9 GPA and he wants to be an orthopedic surgeon too?!   I think we can help him with that at Michigan.  But regardless of where he goes (hopefully not Ohio), I'll be rooting for him. 

UWSBlue

October 12th, 2012 at 12:29 PM ^

dad's were both in prison while the kids were in college.  I think Peterson's dad was released and in the stands in time for Adrian's last game at OU.

MLaw06

October 12th, 2012 at 2:37 PM ^

The NYC region has no true hometown college football team.  For those who want to stay local, Rutgers, Penn State or Temple would be likely options.  Most kids from the NYC region have a strong private college bias, i.e., private schools are seen as more selective and expensive (which are seen as good attributes).  Therefore, the strong academic choices are the Ivies, Stanford and Duke (amongst others).  While Michigan is indeed a "brand name" school, there is a (undeserved) bias against state schools amongst elite NYC region h.s. students (even amongst students choosing based solely on athletic programs). 

Thus, I would tend to downplay the importance of "distance" for any NYC region student.  To be honest, for most kids growing up in NYC, America consists of the East Coast, California and everything in between.  They have no concept of where or what Michigan is vs. where or what Montana is. 

Further, Jabrill is from East Orange, which is a lower income area located just outside Newark.  Indeed, while there are affluent suburbs (w/ homes in the millions) nearby and an international airport within 15 minutes drive, it is safe to assume that most of the residents of East Orange do not have much experience venturing further than NJ/NY/PA.  

While this is a broad statement, I would argue that NYC region students/prospects choose based upon academic/athletic prestige and the direction of the school/program.  Therefore, Michigan has a very good chance with Jabrill. 

End-Around

October 12th, 2012 at 3:39 PM ^

I remember him from the New Yorker piece about Don Boscoe.  That is an intense program but their kids seem to be very disciplined.  Peppers is much better regarded than the last CB we recruited from there (Yuri Wright...cough...cough).

Section 1

October 12th, 2012 at 5:22 PM ^

After reading Ben McGrath's terrific profile of the Don Bosco program in The New Yorker, leaving Don Bosco seemed to me a bit like leaving the Miami Heat to join the Cavaliers.  (Actually, that's not fair, because Paramus Catholic is a solid program along with Bergen Catholic.)  But Don Bosco had become the Alabama of east coast football.  Maybe it will be a good thing for us, if Jabrill Peppers has been turned off to "the Alabama of" anything.

I'd post that article link, but it remains subscriber-only content at NewYorker.com

Here is the link to the picture gallery; the first photo is a (Sophomore?) Jabrill Peppers, #18 -- even at that time regarded as a star among stars on the entire east coast.

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/photobooth/2011/12/don-bosco-prep.html 

 

Edit. - btw, Don Bosco plays Jabrill Peppers' Paramus Catholic Paladins tonight, 10/12 at 7pm.  That's a game I'd watch on national high school football cable tv...

 

 EditE