CANTON, Ohio — One week from today, Julius Peppers is going to deliver a speech he never imagined giving.

Partially, that's because he never envisioned giving many speeches, much less one at the Pro Football Hall of Fame during enshrinement weekend.

But for the subtle and soft-spoken Peppers, writing that speech is almost second nature, because he's always been a bit of a writer. He's never been a talker, teammates can attest to that.

When he sits and writes, that's when he's able to express himself on his terms. That's what he did when he announced his retirement in a first-person piece on The Players Tribune, but writing is something he's been doing for years.

It's not necessarily an everyday journal or anything like that," he said when asked about a hobby that's not gotten much attention. "At times I just go through and write down what happened during the day or, go back and look at things from the past. Or just creative writing sometimes, or songs."

"I don't know if I've ever said that before," he said with a laugh. "But yeah, just any kind of writing is something I enjoy."

He said he began writing when he was young, and he and one of his school friends would put his words to music.

When I was little, one of my good friends, we used to write rhymes all the time," Peppers said. "We used to listen to a lot of late '80s rap, and hip hop when it was first coming up, and so we used to make our own songs.

"We just used to write and make our own songs. I think that was the start of it that sparked it. And I've been doing it ever since."

As with most writers, that means he's a reader, as well. That's less common in the NFL, where book club doesn't often get past playbook. But it was common to see Peppers carrying reading material on road trips, and not just the kind of leadership manuals that are so common in football, or trashy airport novels. He'd slide James Baldwin in his travel bag, and hope no one noticed.

He puts thought into what he puts in the travel bag though, and what he puts on paper.

This speech has been a weighty assignment, a 10-minute encapsulation of a brilliant career, and it's one he's taking seriously during the swirl of the summer as he balances being a husband and a father.

"I've been busy, but anytime when I get on a plane or if I have downtime, I write," he said. "I've been writing speeches for a while, sometimes during the season the team asked me to come up with a speech or say something to the team, I'll go and write it. I just enjoy the process of going through and, putting the speeches together."

He'll deliver his speech to a worldwide audience next week, and that's one thing. But when asked if he'd ever be willing to share any of his earlier works, with or without the music, Peppers paused.

"I don't think so," he grinned. But maybe. I might actually take you up on that someday."

The idea of Peppers as a thoughtful chronicler of any story, least of which his own, isn't surprising to those who were closest to him.

Defensive end Mike Rucker sat at the locker next to Peppers for six seasons, so he saw the future Hall of Famer grow from a shy kid from a small town in Eastern North Carolina to a burgeoning leader. And he also came to realize things about Peppers that a lot of people never heard, or never had access to.

"I believe that he will be humble. He'll be excited, but he's going to be humble," Rucker said. "He's very articulate in that he will say the right things, and he'll put thought into what he says, but he is very humble.

"Being able to locker next to him and just really get to know him, he's always going to shy away from the lights and the cameras, and he's always going to give props to everybody around him. He is that quiet leader. He'll be excited internally, but he stays pretty even keel."

Former teammate Muhsin Muhammad got to see Peppers go through this process in real time last fall, when they were inducted into the Panthers Hall of Honor together. And as he watched Peppers deliver that speech, Muhammad could only imagine what's coming when he's in the crowd in Canton next weekend.

"I think it's going to be pinpointed and precise; clean, really good, really thought-out," Muhammad said. "He's not going to be one of these guys that's running over his time, right? If they give you X amount of time, he's not doubling it like some other people, he's going to be precise, he's going to be clean, he's going be thoughtful, and it's going to be elegant, I think."

And perhaps someday, Peppers be willing to share even more, on his terms, and in his words.