There's one more week of preseason football before the games actually begin to matter. In honor of that occasion, let's take a look at the history of a team that will be celebrating it's twentieth season in the NFL: the Carolina Panthers.
Starting Up: The NFL began seriously considering expansion in the late 80s.
Some of the markets being considered for a team were St. Louis, Missouri (to fill the void of the recently relocated Cardinals), Memphis, Tennessee and Baltimore, Maryland (to finally repay the city for the time when the Colts quite literally fled to Indianapolis in a moving van).
But another city getting serious consideration was Charlotte, North Carolina, thanks largely to the success of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets. Led by Jerry Richardson, a local businessman who
once played in the NFL, Charlotte, along with Jacksonville, Florida eventually were awarded teams in 1993, with both set to debut by the 1995 season. And thus, the Carolina Panthers were formed, with Richardson owning the team to this day.
The Panthers were originally placed in the NFC West, home of the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams. To be fair, they also shared the division with the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, two other teams that had no business being in the West. After the NFL expanded to 32 teams in 2002, the Panthers moved to the newly created NFC South along with the Falcons and Saints, so all is right with the world, geographically speaking.
Greatest Runs
NOTE: Keep in mind, the Panthers are the only team in NFL history yet to have consecutive winning seasons. So the definition of "run" is going to be liberally applied.
Starting Up (1995-1996): Usually when expansion teams start up, they have a hell of time securing wins, mostly because the team is made up of rookies and other teams' castoffs (who were usually cast off for perfectly valid reasons). The Panthers, however, flipped the script.
In their inaugural season in 1995, the Panthers went 7-9, a record for an expansion team in its first season. The next year, they went
12-4, outright winning the NFC West thanks to winning a tiebreaker with the 49ers (who were also 12-4 that year). Thanks to their defense (which allowed a scant 13.6 points per game, second best in the NFL), the Panthers went all the way to the NFC Championship Game, losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers. No matter how you slice it, that's a hell of a way to may a debut.
An Improbable Offensive Year (1999): In a year where they didn't make the playoffs, the Panthers at least had a memorable season. Perennially average (or worse) quarterback Steve Beuerlein was the starter going into the year, but improbably, he had an amazing statistical season. He completed more than 60 percent of his passes and threw for 36 touchdowns to 15 interceptions. He also led the league in completions and passing yards per game. The Panthers had a top five offense and their 26.3 points scored per game is team record that still stands.
Panthers Go To the Super Bowl (2003): Two seasons removed from the worst campaign in franchise history, the Panthers won the NFC South with an 11-5 record. Come playoff time, they destroyed the Cowboys in the wild card round, beat the Rams in a nail biter that went to overtime and pummeled the heavily favored Eagles in the NFC Championship Game (the last two were both on the road) to clinch their first (and to date, only) Super Bowl berth. They faced the New England Patriots in one of the most exciting Super Bowls to ever be played, ultimately losing thanks to a clutch Adam Vinatieri field goal.
Panthers' D Arrives (2013): After two blah seasons and a 1-3 record to begin the 2013 season, the Panthers went on a run and won eleven of their last twelve games to win the NFC South. The Panthers' defense was dominate, behind only the Seattle Seahawks in terms of points allowed per game. So with an elite defense and a talented young quarterback, the Panthers could actually be in the process of a good run.
Leanest Years
The Hell of Mediocrity (1997-2001): Here's a list of the Panthers' records from 1997 to 2001: 7-9, 4-12, 8-8, 7-9, 1-15. Good luck doing making the playoffs with those win-loss margins. They didn't of course. The closest they came was in 1999 (the aforementioned out-of-nowhere Pro Bowl season from Steve Beuerlein) where they were in a four-team tie with the Cowboys, Lions and Packers (the Cowboys and Lions ultimately made the playoffs based on tiebreakers).
That was the one promising year in this span. The rest were an increasingly depressing display of bad, but usually meh football. Special mention goes to the 2001 season where the Panthers won their first game and dropped the remaining 15 to finish with the worst record in the league (that 15 game losing streak was also an NFL record at the time). Also damning:
20 players from that squad played in the Super Bowl two years later, yet couldn't win more than one game in 2001.
The Equivalent of Hitting One's Head Against A Wall (2009-2012): When the Panthers are bad, they're usually boring. This period was no different. After winning the NFC South in 2008, the team slowly devolved into a mess. They were a painfully dull 8-8 in 2009 and jettisoned longtime quarterback Jake Delhomme after the season. The team drafted Jimmy Clausen out of Notre Dame as their quarterback of the future. Anyone who actually watched Notre Dame during his career there could tell you where this would go next.
Clausen had a remarkably bad rookie season, throwing three touchdowns to nine interceptions and completing only 52.5 percent of his passes. Matt Moore wasn't much better, causing the Panthers to have the worst offense in the league that year (it was also the worst offense in team history, scoring just 12.3 points per game). Their 26th ranked defense sealed the Panthers fate at 2-14 and the number one overall pick in the 2011 draft. Aside from drafting Cam Newton and a host of talented defensive players in the next couple years, the Panthers remained one of the teams near the bottom of the NFL.
Names You Should Know
Kerry Collins: The first quarterback in franchise history. Collins went to the Pro Bowl in his second season, the same season the Panthers went to the NFC Championship Game. That was the highest point both quarterback and team experienced during his stay in Charlotte, which for Collins, was mostly done under a haze of booze and
controversy.
Collins was cut from the team in 1998 after spending just three-and-a-half seasons with the Panthers after going fifth overall in the 1995 NFL draft. Collins later turned his life around and had a decent career as a journeyman/backup, but who knows what he would've been like if he had taken better care of himself during his Panthers stay?
Sam Mills: In his early days in the NFL, Mills was a member of the New Orleans Saints' famed Dome Patrol linebacking core. In his days with the Carolina Panthers, he was a savy veteran. Mills was one of the best players on the Panthers in their first couple seasons and was instrumental in the 1996 team being such a defensive force. He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the season.
After he retired, Mills joined the Panthers' coaching staff. He was diagnosed with cancer in 2003, but continued to coach, becoming an inspirational force for the team in the process. He remained on the staff while also undergoing treatments, but died before the 2005 season. His number 51 was subsequently retired by the team, becoming the first player in team history to receive that honor.
Muhsin Muhammad: A good receiver for the Panthers. Muhammad led the league in receptions in 2001, and led in both receiving yards and receiving touchdowns in 2004. He was twice selected to the Pro Bowl and made one 1st Team All-Pro list. He sits second all-time in team history in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.
Michael Bates: A special teams force. Bates went to five straight Pro Bowls from 1996 to 2000 and was named 1st Team All-Pro once. He twice led the league in kick return yards per game and once led in kick return touchdowns. He still holds the top spot in Panthers history in every kick return stat.
Kevin Greene: A sack machine and noted crazy person. Greene, despite playing only three seasons for the Panthers, ranks fourth all-time in team history in sacks with 41.5. Greene led the league in sacks once as a Panther and recorded between 12 and 15 in each of his campaigns in Charlotte. 25 percent of his 160 sacks (third most in NFL history) came as a Panther and he went to two Pro Bowls and was selected 1st Team All-Pro once.
Wesley Walls: The best tight end in Panthers history. Walls went to five Pro Bowls in seven seasons with the Panthers. He led the team in receptions two seasons in a row in 1996 and 1997. Walls was one of the best tight ends in the NFL during his time with the
Panthers, catching more touchdowns than any other tight end from 1996
to 2002, with only Shannon Sharpe, Frank Wycheck and Tony Gonzalez besting him in receptions and receiving yards across that same span. He remains the Panthers' all-time leader in the big three receiving statistics among tight ends.
Kris Jenkins: An absolute force on the defensive line for the Panthers. Jenkins was among the best defensive tackles in the game in his first few seasons, twice being named 1st Team All-Pro before injuries limited him to just five games from 2004 to 2005. While Jenkins rebounded somewhat after that, going to two more Pro Bowls overall, he never quite reached the same levels he had in his first three seasons. Still, his impact on the team can't be overstated as he was a key cog in two top ten defenses and a Super Bowl berth.
Steve Smith: The best receiver in Panthers history and probably the greatest player period in their history. Since coming into the league in 2001, Smith has caught the ninth most receptions in the NFL with 836. Despite that, he's third across that same amount of time in receiving yards with 12,197. He's gone to five Pro Bowls and has twice been named 1st Team All-Pro. If there is any offensive player in Panthers history that has a chance to make the hall of fame, it's Smith.
Julius Peppers: The best defensive player in Panthers history. Peppers recorded double-digit sacks six times as a Panther and is their all-time leader in sacks with 81. No defensive player has started more games for the Panthers than Peppers' 120. He went to five Pro Bowls and was 1st Team All-Pro twice. He was also the leader of the defense when they went to the Super Bowl after the 2003 season.
Jake Delhomme: The best quarterback in Panthers history (though probably not for much longer, see below). Delhomme became the starting quarterback for the Panthers in 2003 after bouncing around the New Orleans Saints and NFL Europe for the better part of four years. While he rarely asserted himself, he managed to have a decent career. He threw for over 300 yards and three touchdowns in Super Bowl XXXVIII despite completing less than 50 percent of his passes and went to his only Pro Bowl in 2005. He threw 120 touchdowns and 89 interceptions in his Panthers career.
Five Current Guys You Should Know
Charles Johnson: The best part about the Panthers these days is its young, dominant defense. One of the players making that so is Charles Johnson. While he's yet to make a Pro Bowl, Johnson has thrice recorded double-digit sacks. In fact, he's currently third on the Panthers' all-time career sack list with 54 and one-and-a-half behind second place Mike Rucker. So Johnson is a valuable pass rusher on a great defense who doesn't have a domestic violence black mark on his resume, unlike...
Greg Hardy: Before it was
revealed that he's an awful person, Hardy was merely a promising young defensive end. Hardy deflected eleven passes in 2011 (did I mention he's a defensive end?) and recorded 11 sacks in 2012. 2013 was his breakout year- he racked up 15 sacks, tying Kevin Greene for the team record for most sacks in a single season. He notched his first Pro Bowl selection after the season. Although, it's probably a safe bet that he
won't get a long term deal from the team after this season.
Cam Newton: The Panthers' most visible star and pretty much a lock (barring some unforeseen circumstance) to become the best quarterback in team history. Newton was named Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2011, throwing for 4,051 yards and 21 touchdowns with a straight 60 percent completion percentage. He also rushed into the endzone 14 times that year, an NFL record for a quarterback in the modern era.
Newton has gained more than 2,000 yards on the ground already and actually led the Panthers in rushing in 2012. He's also thrown 64 touchdowns to 42 interceptions in his career. He's like young Michael Vick, if young Michael Vick was actually a decent passer. And by the way, Newton has accomplished this while being sacked 114 times in his first three seasons, the most over that span (tied with Baltimore's Joe Flacco). With two Pro Bowls already under his belt, Newton's best days are likely still to come.
Luke Kuechly: Perhaps the most promising defensive player on the Panthers' roster. Kuechly won Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2012 and followed that up by winning Defensive Player of the Year. Aside from Lawrence Taylor winning both awards in the same season, no other player has won both awards in such a short amount of time. And in case you weren't paying attention, the Panthers picked two rookies of the year in successive drafts. Beyond that, Kuechly has been projected as a
new breed of middle linebackers. All in all, he's had a hell of start to his career.
Star Lotulelei: Yet ANOTHER promising defensive player. Lotulelei had a good rookie season, notching three sacks and 48 total tackles, not bad for defensive tackle. But he also accomplished a lot
more than what comes up on stat sheets. With the addition of Lotulelei, the Panthers' front seven is now one of the best in the league, if not the best.
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And there you have it. While the Panthers' defense is likely to still cause opposing offenses hell this season, a depleted receiving corps and injuries to Cam Newton will likely cause them to take a step back from last year. Which reminds me- I should probably work on my season predictions. Gotta go!
