Panthers should be mean

Yesterday I attended the Carolina Panthers’ annual Countdown to Kickoff luncheon. It’s a pretty big deal, considering the fact that all of the players and coaches are in attendance. The Charlotte Sports Commission and the Charlotte Touchdown Club put on the event, now in its sixth year. This year was another sellout and the event was moved to a larger hall in the Convention Center to accommodate.

The coolest thing about this luncheon is that each table gets a Panther player or coach as their guest. This creates a lot of suspense and anticipation. Everyone is sitting there hoping they get Jake Delhomme or Steve Smith or a big-name player like that. The players are announced in order by their jersey number, they come trotting out from behind a curtain, and the emcee says which table they are being paired with. Each table is numbered. Charlotte magazine was table fifty-seven. So we’re hoping we hear that number called after a star player’s name. We got Keary Colbert. Not bad. At least I knew of him and what position he plays. Last year I hadn’t heard of the guy we got, and I’ve since forgotten his name (sorry). The year before, the magazine was paired with Julius Peppers, though this was before I started working here.

Colbert was very cool. He didn’t seem to mind the million questions we were asking him—everything from where he lives to what he does in preparation for a game. The real Q&A session, though, is more formal. A panel consisting of Coach John Fox, Delhomme, Smith, Mike Rucker, John Kasay, Dan Morgan, and Jordan Gross took the stage to answer questions about training camp and the upcoming season. They were all on their best behavior, giving some of the fluffiest responses you’ll ever hear from professional athletes—this is great, that is so much fun, what a joy, everyone works hard. To be fair, the team is made up of a bunch of nice guys. But maybe a little too nice.

Even Steve Smith has become mellow. During the Q&A session he mentioned his wife and kids several times. Awww, how sweet. I’ve met him in person a few times. We photographed him last year for our Best Of the Best (B.O.B.) cover and he was a pleasure to be around. But what happened to the Smitty who had the over-the-top touchdown celebrations and the cocky attitude. Nowadays he talks about sharing the ball more with his teammates. No, Mr. Smith. Get yours! We want no fewer than 100 receptions and 1,500 yards from you. We want the #89 from 2005. We need more attitude from our Panthers. I know the Richardsons preach good character throughout their organization, but what’s wrong with a little Randy Moss-esque sometimes. You’ll never hear Moss talk about sharing the ball. Steve, my friend, the Panthers are only as good as you make them. And tell nice-guy Julius Peppers that he’s going to need to turn over some water coolers this season.

Come on Panthers. Get cocky. Be angry. Win games!

Start tonight against the Patriots.

Great espn.com piece on Joe D’s kid

I gave sportsillustrated.com some love earlier today; now it’s time to spread the love to the other guys. There’s a great piece on Espn.com about Todd DeLamielleure. Todd’s father is Joe DeLamielleure, the NFL Hall of Famer and Charlotte resident who has been outspoken about the NFL’s crappy treatment of its veterans. Todd played football at Duke, then an injury in the World League and again in the Colts’ camp cut short his pro career. Now, he’s trying out for a new league. Todd’s also a firefighter in Charleston, SC, and his trying out is inspired in part by the tragic deaths of nine of his colleagues on June 18. Here’s an excerpt:

Twenty-eight-year-old Todd DeLamielleure went to six funerals in four days, best as he can remember. The grief runs together in one long train. The men tried to go on with their lives. The first shift after was hard. They sat around, wondering what it would be like. But the bell rang and their training took over.

They are trying to get back to normal, for the greatest tribute to the dead is to live. So those who fished fish. Those who barbecued barbecue. And those who dream of playing football keep dreaming. That how Todd found himself in Florida the first week of July, actually wearing football gear again, going up against other people who still had something to prove, men who were gone but had not forgotten.

Now go read the story here. (Note: I swear I don’t spend all day reading sports web sites. I found this link courtesy of the Wall Street Journal’s Daily Fix, which is an emailed digest of the day’s best sportswriting, and I found the si.com link below via reading the new SI over lunch. OK, now I’m going back to work.) —R.T.

SI.com ranks Richardson third among NFL owners

Here’s the link.

Any thoughts out there on this? The writer, Michael Silver, gave Jerry Richardson lots of props for how he ran the search committee for a new NFL commish, which is great and all, but doesn’t do much for the Panthers’ Super Bowl hopes.

Still, though, I think Richardson does belong near the top. I recently read an article about Los Angeles Angels (that’s baseball, folks) owner Arturo Moreno. He’s turned the Angels into a regular contender, and one source in the article said Moreno was one of four owners in MLB that desperately want to win, all the time. That’s what it takes, sports fans. If you don’t believe me, look at the Red Sox and the Cubs. The Red Sox struggled for decades until John Henry bought the team and made it into a winner. The Cubs have been owned by corporations. Or look at the New England Patriots. Owner Bob Kraft has transformed that team into a mini-dynasty.

That’s the way Richardson works, too, despite being in a small market. (At least it seems that way to me. I’ve only met him once, over lunch at Belle Acres. But that’s a story for another day.) Every decision he makes is predicated on winning. Those decisions haven’t always worked out, of course, and he’s had some bad luck with player injuries, but that’s what he’s after. —R.T.

How much longer until football season?

Let’s see, it’s almost July, which means it’s almost time for preseason camp, which means it’s almost time for the preseason (we won’t get into the ridiculousness of a 4-game preseason for professional football), which means it’s almost time for Panther football. Interesting column on Espn.com about second-year running back DeAngelo Williams. If you recall, a lot of “experts” thought he would knock DeShaun Foster from his starting post by mid season last year. Didn’t happen. Now he’s sort of a forgotten man. After reading this column, though, I think he could be a sleeper next year. —R.T.

We expect Jarrett to be in collisions on the field, not off

I spent a lot of time Wednesday making calls and sending emails to set up an interview and photo shoot with Dwayne Jarrett, the Carolina Panthers rookie wide receiver. Wait, let me back up a bit. We were planning coverage of the Panthers preseason for our August issue when our writer, Addie, informed me she couldn’t get Jarrett through the Panthers PR. Around that same time, Tiffany, a friend of mine who does PR and event planning, happened to mention that she had a connection to Jarrett. So Wednesday we were able to set up everything. Addie interviewed Jarrett Wednesday evening and we scheduled the photo shoot for Friday (today).

But what happened next wasn’t scheduled. Our six-foot four-inch All-American receiver from Southern California ends up getting in a car accident Wednesday night. Most of the news outlets Thursday reported that Jarrett’s car was “rear-ended” and he “walked away from the accident.” Yes, he walked away from the accident, no serious injuries. But it wasn’t just a fender bender.

When I met Jarrett and his entourage (You know that’s how star athletes roll. They were all very nice, though. Even his mom came along.) today at the photo shoot, I found out that the BMW 645 coupe he was driving was totaled. He says a car hit him and pushed him into another car and his car flipped over. And the kid wasn’t even hurt (he’s only twenty, by the way).

I said to Jarrett: “Well, aside from that, welcome to Charlotte.” Now the guy has to go and get himself another fancy new whip, which is required for all professional athletes.

Look for Jarrett in our August issue.

Alert the NASCAR Image Police!

(We’re getting a huge issue out this week–Top Doctors–so not much time to post. But this, I couldn’t resist.)

The PR machine at Nascar can’t be happy about this story.