Peppers Confirms Transcript, Denies Any Fraud

(Jonathan Daniels/Getty Images)

AP -- Former North Carolina football star Julius Peppers confirmed it was his academic transcript that was posted on the university's website and insists there was "no academic fraud" with it.

The Chicago Bears' defensive end released a statement through his agent Saturday, nearly a week after a link to the transcript surfaced.

"This week has been an upsetting and challenging week for me, as one of my most private academic documents appeared on the university's website for public examination," Peppers said. "I'm terribly disappointed in the fact that my privacy has been violated, as well as frustrated with whoever negligently and carelessly committed such a flagrant error."

The school never confirmed the authenticity of the transcript, which lists Peppers' name at the top, but has said it is investigating how the document wound up on the website. School officials removed the link and have said they can't discuss confidential student information covered by federal privacy laws.

The link showed Peppers received some of his highest grades in classes in the Department of African and Afro-American Studies (AFAM). A school investigation has since found fraud and poor oversight in 54 AFAM classes between summer 2007 and summer 2011, with football players making up more than a third of the enrollments and student-athletes making up 58 percent of the overall enrollments in those suspect classes.