There's Too Many To Count
- Steven
- Oct 1
- 3 min read
If you are a Carolina Panthers fan, just stop.
Call it 'fair-weather'. Blame me for never being a 'true' fan. You can think I'm a defeatist, deserter, quitter, or shirker -- I don't really care.
I stopped watching them.
Now on Sundays, my blood pressure remains at a healthy level. I'm able to watch actual good football. I don't find myself questioning how I just spent time in my life. In-fact, a good strategy is to choose whatever game is up against the Panthers, in our local TV market, and just enjoy.
But it wasn't in 2015 that I made that calculated choice. And it also wasn't this last Sunday when Carolina got spanked in Foxborough (42-13).
I recently found a posting (seen below), by the BroadStreetBirds, on every NFL teams' worst moment since 2000. I'm sure it was one-in-a-million options from a hat, to choose for the Panthers. I think the Birds missed it.
They missed my jumping off point.
After the unforgettable season the Panthers had in 2015 to get to the Super Bowl: Starting 14-0, playing on Thanksgiving, winning the NFC Championship, being NFC South champs...
To go out to Cali and get thumped by the Denver Broncos, 24-10, was a let-down. Cam's fumble, while being sacked by Von Miller, was a memorable moment.
For me -- It wasn't THE moment.
I've got two events, far worse than Newton's performance in that single game. These moments would set the franchise in the current nose-dive they're in now. It led me to make a healthy decision, that you should make too.
January 14, 2020
Everyone wants to start a football discussion with quarterback. And a lot about the Panthers' decision around that position has resulted in the franchise having more losing seasons than winning ones. Look no further than when they traded D.J. Moore, their 2023 first-round pick (No. 9), their 2023 second-round pick (No. 61), their 2024 first-round pick (eventually No. 1 overall), and their 2025 second-round pick (No. 39) to the Chicago Bears for..... Bryce Young.
Laughable.
I'd rather start the discussion, on a moment that completely transformed the future, around a linebacker.
On January 14, 2020, Luke Kuechly announced his retirement from the Panthers organization and the game of football. If you're a 7-year-old, you missed out on a middle linebacker that would play sideline to sideline. He was a captain, an extra coach on the field -- He would literally call out the other team's plays. In his final season, in a game against Tampa Bay, he made 17 tackles, with 2.5 for a loss, and forced a safety. Kuechly reached 1,000 career tackles, becoming the first player in NFL history to do so in his first 8 seasons, and the fastest to reach it in only 107 games.
For Kuechly's health-sake, he made the right decision to hang up his cleats after suffering several concussions. However, for a franchise where it's rare to have a player that is elite across the league (I can only think of Steve Smith and Cam that would rival that) -- LUUUUUUUUKE's retirement equates to the Colonel's passing and where Kentucky Fried Chicken is now.
Not Choosing Wilks
A list of successful Carolina Panthers head coaches is comprised of John Fox, Ron Rivera,...
Thats it.
Would Steve Wilks have made it a trio? It's really hard to say, and for the dissolving of the franchise, it's more just the facts that he never got a shot.
It speaks directly to the ineptitude of decision makers at 800 Mint Street.
Homegrown, Charlotte native, gets a 1-4 team to 7-10, after being a part of the 2015 Super Bowl run defense -- the brass in the front office says 'no thanks'.
I'm not really a big Wilk's advocate. There's a lot I wouldn't align with him on. Even still, there's pragmatic decisions that must be made when in-charge of any organization. The Panthers instead defied their supporters, went against the grain of the locker-room that had just been won over, bounced out the local boy, and chose a replacement that started his tenure 0-fer.
Those falling dominos are a microcosm of what's in Charlotte in 2025.
Take back your Sunday. Enjoy the NFL when, without Bad Bunny and Roger Goodell, can be a great product. Removing the Panthers will create a lot of instant positives.
In case you're still not convinced:
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