CANTON, Ohio — When Julius Peppers is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in two weeks, the man standing next to him isn't exactly family. Except he is.

The man who'll be by his side when he receives football's highest honor was originally tasked with helping him get on the field to begin with, and they weren't sure how it was going to work.

And even though he'll be there when Peppers hears his name called as one of the greatest to ever play the game, his job is often to tell Peppers what he doesn't want to hear. Or at least to try.

Over the years, Carl Carey has become something more than an advisor to Julius Peppers. Much more.

"It means a lot to have him here, have him a part of this," Peppers said of the man who will present him for enshrinement on August. 3. "He's more than an agent, more than a friend. He's like family to us. My family is his family; his family is mine.

"So, I think in this business and just in life in general, you need to have people like him in your corner who are going to look out for you no matter what. And he's that guy."

To see them now is to realize how close they've become, alongside each other every step of the journey. But to understand the depths of their relationship, you have to realize Peppers wasn't looking for it at all.

Peppers and Carey met in the fall of 1998 when a freshman football recruit at the University of North Carolina was struggling to adapt to life away from home. That's when UNC assistant football coach Donnie Thompson sent a recently hired academic advisor in to help the big kid from Bailey as he adapted to a much bigger world.

Thompson had promised Peppers' mother Bessie Brinkley that her son would have the kind of support he needed. But on that day, neither Peppers nor Carey realized what that would turn into.

Thompson came and got Carey on his first day on the job, introducing a just-turned 28-year-old to an almost 19-year-old and his family, and both their lives began to change.

"His mother was dropping him off. And the coach marches me over to the other side of the field and says, I need you to meet some people," Carey recalled of his first encounter. "So I walk in, and there's Julius and his mother, and the coach tells his mother, he said I told you I had somebody for him right now.

"Mind you, this is my first day on the job. So I'm not really understanding what's really going on, just how they do it. So in his commanding voice, he's just like I told you I had somebody for him, and his mother shook her head and said, 'Yes, you did.' And so he introduced us, and Julius was sitting there, and he just kind of leaned back, and kind of rocked, and kind of laughed, like, who is this guy kind of thing?"

In short, Carey was there to mentor and shepherd, to help one of the top prospects in the country remain eligible. It was important to Peppers' mother to hear that he was there. It may have been less important to Peppers himself at the time.

"It was a little rocky at first because I wasn't trying to hear any of those things," Peppers said with a laugh. "And he was assigned to me specifically to make sure I did those things. So we kind of butted heads a little bit at first."

The two can laugh about it now. Peppers has kids of his own, one in particular that takes him back to that afternoon in 1998.

"I don't know if it's documented, but I was somewhat of a, not a troublemaker, but I was young, and I liked to do things my way, and there was not a lot that people could tell me differently, like most young kids," Peppers said. "I'm going through it right now. I've got a 16-year-old daughter. So I'm reliving that whole youthful thing where you know it all, and nobody can tell you anything.

"So that was me at 18 and 19."

As you may have noticed over the years, it takes Peppers a moment to warm up to people. He's quiet by nature, and not an oversharer. So when he met Carey, there was no way to know how this relationship was going to develop.

Aside from the near-decade between their ages, there are some other significant differences. Where Peppers is massive, Carey is slight. Where Peppers is a man of few words, Carey is a man of many. And while academics might not have been Peppers' priority at that particular moment, it was literally Carey's job. So they had some stuff to overcome right off the bat.

"So here's the thing, Julius, as has been well noted, is a very quiet guy, right? And I'm super long-winded in talking, right?" Carey laughed. "And so you imagine those two dynamics, and so I'm doing a lot of talking, but he's not doing a lot of talking. So, initially, I didn't necessarily know what to make of that.

"But I then started seeing things that I would say to him. I would see certain actions be changed according to something I had said, right? And then it became clear that wait a minute, he was listening to me, and it was more like he's trusting what I'm saying.

"And that was a really big thing because when I met him, one of the things we discussed was that he didn't trust very many people, right? So you could see it in his actions. He was very hesitant to let other people in his circle, very hesitant to let other people know very much about him and what was going on in his life.

"And so at the point that I realized, wait a minute, he's trusting me and allowing me to get a glimpse into his life, and he apparently is not letting other people gain that kind of access. Then it became more of a responsibility because it's like, look, if somebody trusts you to that extent, then you need to make sure that what you're saying is on point because you don't want anybody taking advice from you that's not good."

Over time, that relationship and the conversations grew beyond assignments and classes.

"Like I said, I started trusting him," Peppers said. "And he kept on me. He was consistent in doing what he was supposed to do. And, like I said, a friendship developed out of that, and it's lasted through the test of time."

The difference in those answers speaks to Carey's point about their conversational styles — it's very different. Getting Peppers on the phone can be a challenge. Getting off the phone with Carey can be for some.

But his attention to detail has been evident, not just then but now. Carey's been with Peppers throughout the spring, making every arrangement, looking over every contract. Their relationship might have gotten to a slow start, but the trust is complete now, with Carey offering advice at every turn.

So as they got to know each other in Chapel Hill, the conversations began to grow, and they weren't about football very often. In fact, it took Carey some time to realize that his new account wasn't just a good Tar Heels player, but the kind of guy who might have a professional future.

It wasn't until Thompson came to Carey with the news that Peppers had started talking about leaving UNC after his second season of football (he redshirted that first year) that Carey realized what he was dealing with. Thompson and the coaches at UNC thought there was a chance Peppers could be a first-rounder after he led the country with 15 sacks as a sophomore. But another year could turn him into something greater, and that's what they were all hoping for.

They showed Carey a projection that Peppers could be a top-five pick the following year, and then it dawned on the academic advisor what he was dealing with.

"I didn't know very much about this, right? My focus was not on that," Carey said. "It was on helping him, but not on the financial differences between the top of the first round and middle of the first or end of the first. I had no idea about it, but the coach helped me understand that."

So Carey talked to Peppers about his future. Again, Peppers doles out trust gradually, so there was no guarantee that anything Carey was saying was registering.

"But then all of a sudden, one day, not long after that, he just said I'm staying one more year, and that's it, you know what I mean?" Carey said. "And so that let me know that that I had some degree of influence with him and his decision."

Again, this was a lot for Carey, who wasn't as familiar with the landscape of the NFL Draft.

"I eventually knew Julius was going to be a top pick, but I only knew that because he came to my office one day and he kind of ushered me away from the computer and sat at the computer and pulled up Mel Kiper's big board and he was number one on the big board," Carey recalled. "And I went what? Because I had no idea. Like I knew that he had become the star of the Tar Heels, but there's a star on every single team out there; there's a standout on every team.

"So I didn't know that man, not only is he the star at UNC, but he is national. Yeah, I had no idea. No idea. And I think that that really is part of the reason why he trusted me; he knew, but I didn't know."

As part of Carey's continuing education into the world of football, agents eventually found his number. They were "coming out of the woodwork," to try to get close to a player who could make them a sizable commission, so Peppers did what he did so often. He put Carey on it.

"So I asked Julius one day, I said this is crazy, what are you going to do with this? And he looked at me, and he said, 'What am I going to do? I'm going to let you handle it.'"

Carey sifted through all the offers — there were hundreds — and interviewed about a dozen possibilities. They eventually chose longtime agent Marvin Demoff to handle Peppers' first contract negotiations. One of the original power agents, Demoff represented players such as quarterbacks Dan Marino, Jim Kelly, John Elway, and many more.

So, with someone else to negotiate for him and their student-advisor relationship reaching its conclusion, their paths could have parted for good. Peppers was drafted by the Panthers, and Carey was about to move back to his native Texas with his new wife to start a family.

But the conversations never stopped. If anything, they deepened. At a certain point, the former student and the former academic advisor became friends outside their original job descriptions.

And as important as Demoff was for Peppers, Carey was the one he trusted most. Eventually, Carey was certified with the NFLPA as an agent and began handling Peppers' contractual affairs, but he had been doing so much for so long that it was almost a formality.

"By that time, Carl had been with me; he had been in all of the meetings and all of the negotiations. He knew the lay of the land, right?" Peppers said. "So I had a conversation with him, like, look, man, you are the person that's really doing most of the work, and you know what's going on. Why don't you get certified?

"There's nobody better than to have a friend, somebody that's going to take care of you, of your best interests and reputation, walking you through the rest of your career."

As Peppers' agent after his first contract, Carey was in the middle of some complicated decisions. Peppers eventually decided he wanted to leave the Panthers, leave his home state, and see other things. He's described it as a personal journey more than a professional one, so it stood to reason that the man who had been by his side so long would help him.

"So his advice and the council is more of an outsider's view, just a different point of view," Peppers said. "He never tells me you should do this or you should do that. He gave me the information and allowed me to make the decision that I wanted to make. Here's the pros, here's the cons of it. It's your decision.

"We had that kind of relationship, and I respect him for that. He's been there through it all. So I always know I can go to him for honest advice, not just what I want to hear or what's going to make me happy. Sometimes I don't want to hear it. Sometimes I'm upset about what you might have to say, but at the end of the day, I know that it's authentic, and I know that it's the best for me."

Sometimes that was about business. Sometimes it was about pleasure. Peppers said they've had many conversations about investments, or potential purchases, and Carey can be trusted to be a little more conservative with the money.

But he just provides information. Peppers ultimately makes the decisions.

Carey laughed and recalled one instance in which his advice was ignored. Early in his NFL career, Peppers wanted to take a private jet to South America with his friends for some offseason rest and relaxation. This was not an inexpensive trip.

"I saw the price tag on it, and I thought, surely you're not going to do that," Carey said. "And he did it. And also he had a fantastic time, him and some of his friends around his age. They took a jet to South America, and it cost a whole lot of money.

"But I would say, 85 percent of the time, he listens to the advice I give, and I can see him make certain decisions, taking that advice into consideration."

You can see that now. Before Peppers started signing deals with the Hall of Fame for merchandise or marketing, Carey went over every contract. They still have that client-advisor relationship, but the difference between 53 and 44 is different than 28 and 19, and they've grown closer.

"I also listen to him, especially now that we're older now," Carey said. "I listen to him because he's very insightful, very intelligent, very thoughtful.

"And I've appreciated his advice on a lot of things, too."

If their relationship started as something academic, it's fraternal now. The age difference has narrowed; they're practically brothers and are the godfathers of each other's children.

Carey has been with Peppers through good times and bad, expensive decisions and dark days. Peppers remains quiet and stoic, as he's been, but Carey has seen him emotional and stood by him through those times. That's why Peppers going into the Hall of Fame is so meaningful for both of them.

"It becomes more of a friendship because you're being transparent with somebody about what you're going through," Carey said. "I think the most gratifying thing about seeing this now is that because he's such a cool and even-keel guy, you rarely see the excitement from him. I've just seen this excitement from him that's out in the open. It's almost like he's not even trying to be cool about this. And so that's the most gratifying thing is that I can see how much this means to him. And that, in turn, means a lot to me. I know the backstory of the journey. That makes it all the more special because you know about what it took to get here."

Carey can say things like that in a lot of words. Peppers can say them in fewer.

Asked recently if he ever imagined that the guy tasked with keeping him eligible in Chapel Hill would grow to be such an influential figure in his life, Peppers just shook his head.

"I didn't," he said. "I think you go through life, and you meet people, and you grow those friendships, and you develop those bonds over time. At first, it was a little rocky as far as him trying to get me to do certain things that I didn't want to do. I think that formed that foundation where we just ended up building trust with each other. And it's been great to have him along this whole run."

And when Peppers takes that step into football immortality, Carey will be where he's seemingly always been.

Right by Peppers' side.