September 30, 2025 • 31 mins
Tune in here to this Tuesday's edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks the show off by talking about NFL great Muhsin Muhammad and his impressive transition from football to business. On this special edition of Breaking with Brett Jensen, the longtime WBT host sits down for an exclusive interview with Muhammad in his SouthPark office, overlooking Charlotte. Once one of the Carolina Panthers’ all-time greatest receivers, Muhammad is now a successful entrepreneur and investor.
He shares how his passion for business began during his playing days, influenced by NFL legends like Ronnie Lott and Joe Montana. From real estate ventures to private equity, and eventually owning a beloved restaurant chain—Wild Wing Café—Muhammad explains how his curiosity and hands-on approach helped shape his post-NFL success. Brett also reflects on his own memories of the restaurant, particularly praising its iconic ranch wings. The conversation highlights Muhammad's deep ties to Charlotte and his evolving legacy beyond the gridiron.
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Brett Jenson here with you on this Tuesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
He's got a special edition for you tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Seven oh four or five seven oh eleven ten is
the telephone number as always, it's also the WBT text
line of course, driven by Liberty Buick and GMC and guys,
make sure you follow me on except Brett Underscore Jensen
for all the licened breaking news in and around the
Charlotte area.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So I do have a special show for you tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
If any of you are NFL fans, or even if
you're not, but you've lived in Charlotte for any period
of time, you will know the name Mussin Mohammad. He
was one of the greatest, one of the two greatest
wide receivers ever to play for the Carolina Panthers, the
other one, of course, being Steve Smith.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
He played alongside.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Steve Smith when they went to the Super Bowl and
everything else well. Misson Mohammad was drafted by the Carolina
Panthers in nineteen ninety six, played a very long career
with the Panthers and he still lives here in Charlotte,
and he's a businessman now, a very very successful businessman,
investing in company's buying come, including one restaurant that you
may actually recognize that I actually do enjoy going to.
(01:05):
So I was able to go to Missin Mohammad's office
in South Park, overlooking the entire vastness of South Park
from his wonderful view high up on the floors in
the building that he works in. And so here's my interview,
exclusive sit down, an interview with Missin Mohammad about life
after football, but also the Carolina Panthers and what's going
(01:25):
on with them. So sitting with Missin Mohammad in his
office overlooking south Park, and Moss, I want to ask you,
when did you start realizing you wanted to become a businessman?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Was it while you were playing?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Were you already looking into the future while you were playing?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Or was it something that happened? All right, I've got
to figure out what I'm going to do with my.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Life, man, you know, that's a great question. I often
characterized myself bra as a serial entrepreneur trapped in a
football player's body. So I've been this webon wired this
way for a very long time. I knew that I
wanted to be a business person. I always thought of
myself as more dynamic than just a football player.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
I just had all this.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Athletic ability, and the game came pretty easy to me.
But I've always loved business. I've always wanted to be
involved with it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So talk about your very first venture into business. Was
it something small? Was it something big? Were you nervous, like,
just talk about the first time you said, Okay, we're
going to invest in this or we're going to do that.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Well, you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I got involved with some you know, real estate early
on in my career and and and did quite well.
I partnered with a home builder here and we developed
some properties, we bought some rental properties and did some
some revamps on those and uh and and was very successful.
(02:49):
But you know, early on in my career, I got
introduced to Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, and Harris Bartan and
really started to you know, sort of develop a document
around alternative investments and looking at venture capital and private equity.
And they had a platform called Champion Ventures, which got
(03:10):
to go out to Pebble Beach every year, right played
golf in the off season and then you know, get
exposed to, you know, just some a completely different side
of investment that I had been exposed to early in
my young career.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So now you're getting into venture capital and all that
stuff that you're talking about. First, did you take business
classes when you were at Michigan State or was this
something brand new that you had to learn along the
way post career?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Like, how did that come about? How did you learn
about it?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
You know, trial and error.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I cut my teeth the hard way, and we made
some great investments, we made some that weren't so great
along the way. But I think, you know, most of
my business acumen came just through mentorship relationships. I did
take some some educational classes and some business classes at Wharton,
(04:02):
you know, during my career here at with the Panthers,
but you know, for the most part, it was you know,
it's kind of trial and error, you know, and learning,
you know, kind of the hard way or a good way,
but there was real application and just diving in and
and having an intellectual curiosity around, you know, getting involved
(04:25):
with business. I didn't necessarily want to just outsource the
investment side of you know, my income and my portfolio.
I wanted to understand it, and I did get involved
in an intimate way.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So this is going to be a question for all
the businessmen that are listening right now, and also all
the athletes.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Is it harder being a.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Successful businessman or a successful football player?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
For me?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Probably probably business, right, I mean I think, you know,
the learning curve obviously was some kind of steep.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
We took some of the edge off of that.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
But you know, I've had a a pretty successful athletic career.
I mean it was a lot of hard work, but
I was a natural athlete. I think for the most part,
I feel like I'm a natural businessman. But I had
an opportunity from the time I was walking, you know,
(05:20):
throughout my whole life. From the time I was walking,
I got involved with sports, and you know, business not
so much, right, It takes capital to get involved with business.
So my real business career didn't start till I was
in my you know, kind of mid twenties, where my
athletic career probably started when I was seven years old,
and so you know, that part became very natural, and
(05:42):
it was easy to get involved with a lot of
different sports, and you know, high school, I played you know,
like five different sports, So it's pretty interesting.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I remember, so I'm covering Clemson and this, and I
remember I'm living in Anderson, South Carolina, and right there
at the exit, one of the biggest hangouts was the
Wild Wings. And I was living down there, still coming
up and doing w F and Z once a week,
but I was living down there covering Clemson when I
found out that you your firm had bought Wild Wings.
(06:10):
So talk about that just the whole what because that
was a big deal at the time. It's like, oh
Usa owns Wild Wings like that was and there were
a lot of It wasn't just one or two, there
were a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Can you talk about that one?
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So, and we still own that one in Anderson. It's
a great location. We've got a great opera down there.
But you know, we got involved with just investing in
the food and beverage industry overall. And I picked the
food and beverage industry because I just loved that sector.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
It's one of the most stable sectors. I know.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
People think about food and beverage like, you know, it's
very risky, but it's one of the only sectors that
has consistently grown. People have to eat right, and so
it's consistently grown. How we invest in the sector is
one of the things. We look at different consumer trends
and so forth, and the need for a higher value meal,
(07:04):
the dining experience right, and also the fact that we
have dual income households and people want to go out
to eat more. So all of these underlying trends are
just driving how we think about how we want to invest.
And we came across the Wilding Cafe deal, which I
think we thought fit our profile extremely well, and so
we want to buying a company. We wind up growing
(07:25):
it and growing it aggressively and did quite well with it,
and we still own it. We had to, you know,
because of COVID and dining rooms getting closed. We went
through some restructuring, but we've emerged out of that and
uh and now we're back growing the concept again. But
it's a it's a great concept. It has this nostalgia
to it and so many, you know, great memories for
(07:46):
so many people that went down to you know, Charleston
or going out to Hilton Head and you know, it
has all these great destinations. But we love that brand
and just excited to see it back on the right
path again.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, and I'm not saying this just because you're sitting
next to me, because I don't blow smoke to people
that i'm interviewing. But true story, this is my all
time favorite wing is the ranch flavored wing at the
Wild Wings that used to be like called like Colorado
or I can't remember what it was like back in
the day, but it was the ranch dressing flavor of
(08:19):
the ranch wings.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
My all time favorite flavor wing all time.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, We've got thirty three flavors there, and I'm
pretty sure that might be a favorite of a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Of people listening to this broadcast.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
And but yeah, we had you know, the thing about
Wild We Cafe was just a great experience, right. I mean,
you go into a place like that and you've got
live music, you've got all the TVs, you got entertainment.
I think it really captures what it means to be
an American, right and what happens as an American on
the weekend. It's an escape and everybody loves sports and
(08:53):
everybody loves music. And so this was a brand that
we felt really sort of captured some of the under
line trends that we talk about when we're talking about
what is driving successful businesses in America. So yeah, I
mean the flavors are great.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
You know. I love ranch a lot of too.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So when we return, we'll continue my interview with Miss Muhammad,
who's now a leading businessman in the city of Charlotte.
All right, but right now we're going to swing on
over to the WBT Traffic Center with Pam Warner. Welcome
back to Breaking with Brett Jensen on this Tuesday night,
as I continue my sit down one on one interview
(09:34):
with Carolina Panthers legend and great Miss Mohammad, who's now
a very successful businessman in the city of Charlotte and
the surrounding area. So we continue my interview with mister Mohammad,
continue my conversation with former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Misson Muhammad,
who has called Charlotte home ever since his playing days ended.
So we talked about, you know, the wild Wings and
(09:56):
some other things, and how you'd got into business. What
are some of the things that you're looking at doing
now going forward, not just today but maybe next year.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Or two years down the line. What interests you right now?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, I'm still food and beverage, you know, I
felt like when we started this firm, we wanted to
pick sectors that we believed in long term, right and
things that you know, capture consumer trends and things that
were resilient and durable. And we had a lot of
relationships in and we have a lot of deal flow
(10:28):
and can really build a business around. So we're sticking
with food and beverage. I think in food and beverage
now people are more conscious about what they put in
their bodies. They're more conscious about the ingredients and clean
label functional ingredients and products, and so that's where we
want to focus, right, We want to focus on healthy
(10:49):
for You concepts.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We want to focus on.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
More sort of CpG products and services, ingredients, sauces and
spices and things like that. I think we still we'll
look at food service concepts that are sort of in
that restaurant sector, but food service, but.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
We're going to look primarily.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
At you know, kind of consumer packaged goods, ingredients, products,
services and things around that that are centered around healthy
for you. And so going forward, you know, we're going
to raise a fund that's really going to focus on that,
and we think with our access and influence, our partnership
(11:32):
with operators and experts within this sector. We feel like
we can source some really good deals, some unique opportunities,
and take advantage of those businesses that are in that
kind of five to fifteen million dollars of EBITDA and
scale those businesses and take them to the next level.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You know, either whether he's right or wrong, or you
agree or disagree.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
R F. K.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Junior when he became head of Health and Human Services,
brought a lot of attention to health and food and
stuff like that. And that's all recently, but this is
something obviously, as a professional athlete you've had to worry
about probably ever since your days in high school.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Guaranteed at least college.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, no, absolutely, I mean I think this administration obviously
focusing on health and wellness. I think the previous administration
with the Obama's and Michelle Obama focus on the same thing.
So this is a continuing trend and I think, you know, fundamentally,
people are more focused about what they put in their
bodies every single day, and I think those trends are
(12:29):
here to stay. I think those are fundamental shifts and
how we eat, how we drink, how we think about
what we want to put in our bodies, and that's
where we want to focus.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And that's where I've been focused.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean, my whole career was spent thinking about nutrition
and being a healthy athlete, and you know, how to
optimize performance, right, and so there's a lot of science,
there's a lot of you know, you know, just overall
focus and thought process behind how to improve that. And
you know, it starts with you know, obviously some of
(13:01):
these trends probably have been there for a long time
with athletes, but now I think the common citizen now
and consumer is far more focused on that than it
has been in the past. And we think that those
tres Like I said, those trends are here to stay,
and we think have some great opportunities to invest in
businesses that are focused on that.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Why did you stay in Charlotte? Why didn't you go
back to Michigan with all the family and everything else.
Why did you stay in Charlotte?
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Well that's a good question. You know.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
When I came to Charlotte and we started, you know,
building our family here. My wife and I got married
the same year that I got drafted here and started
building our family. We fell in love with this city,
you know, and I now have lived in Charlotte longer
than I lived in Michigan, and it's always been home.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
And you know, we love the Carolinas. We love the weather.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, I'm okay taking the ice bath every now
and then, but I love going outside in sun bathing.
So and you know, just being strategically located in an
area one of the fastest growing cities in the Southeast.
But you know, we can take an international flight anywhere
we want to go in the world from Charlotte. If
we want to go to the beach, we can go
(14:20):
to the beach, If we want to go to the mountains,
we can go to the mountains. If we want to
dip down to Atlanta, you know, could do that as well.
And so it's so strategically, you know, located in the
country and we can go anywhere we want to be
and we can enjoy you know, all four seasons. The
fall is probably the best for me. I love this
time of year, not just because it's football season, but
(14:41):
I love when the trees are changing colors, and I
love you know, I love the people here. I think
it all comes down to that that, you know, the fans,
the people here, and they've embraced us, and we've embraced
this community, and it's this place we just want to
call home.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
When we come back, We're go talk to missum Mohammad
about the Carolina Panthers and how often he keeps s
up with the Carolina Panthers and follows them and watches
them and everything else. But I do want one more
question that I want to ask you about business before
we get into the Panthers. You have a front row
seat to the economy in the business world. There was
a lot of concern early on about tariffs and it
(15:17):
would make everything go sky high from not just the
restaurant tours side of that, but all the other businesses
that you venture in. Have you seen an impact of
tariffs if not, or has it been minimal?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Has it been great? Not at all? What are you
saying about the economy right now as a whole.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Yeah, I think we have seen some impact, right I
think the initial shock and all of the tariffs forced
people to think. It forced people, It forced businesses to think.
It forced business leaders to develop alternative strategies and alternative
plans and maybe think about sourcing differently, think about inventory differently,
(15:57):
think about all the commodities that they buy differently. And
so the good thing about our country is we're resilient.
You know, I truly believe that we're the most powerful
country for a reason because we're smart, we're resilient, and
we know how to adapt, you know, similar to being
you know, in a two minute situation.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
They called us the.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Carolina the Cardiac caps for a reason, right, and you
get Jake Delane at the line of scrimmage me Smitty
Ricky prol Right. You know, no matter what you throw
at us, we're calling audibles, right, and we're going to
figure it out, and eventually we're gonna score. We're gonna
put it in the end zone. We might be down
for a second, but we figure it out. And I
think that's the heartbeat of this country is that a
(16:37):
lot of our business leaders are starting to figure it out.
And so have we felt an impact, you know, I
think we have. I think we've seen some of the impacts.
But I think we'll adjust and eventually land on a
spot that you know, the economy will come back growing again.
And you see that in the market. You see it
in the stock market, you see it with some of
(16:58):
the commodity prices that are starting to normalize, but there's
going to be a new normal with tariffs and the challenges.
Can we figure out how to navigate it and still
be successful.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
When we return, we'll start talking about the Carolina Panthers
and all their struggles. So with that being said, let's
ring on over to the WVT newsroom with Anna Erickson.
We'll go back to breaking with Brett Jensen on this
Tuesday night. All right, as we go up until eight o'clock,
continuing my one on one sit down interview with miss
Sin Mohammad, the Carolina Panthers wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Great and again, he was a legend in this area.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
He helped take the Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship
Game once and these Super Bowl ones and it was
there were some really, really good teams. But now he's
a big time successful businessman and stepping away from the
field of football. So with that being said, let's continue
our conversation with missus Mohammad.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
But you know, Derek brings a very unique skill set.
You know, he's very tied into the athlete community. He's
developed this platform around engaging athletes and the we call
it access and influence community. So there's you know, kind
of actors and operators and all kinds of different things
(18:10):
and entertainers and and basketball players, and so he's created
this platform that engages that access and influence community. It's
a great way for us to source stills. It's a
great way for us unique opportunities, very unique opportunities. It's
a great way for us to leverage that platform to
(18:31):
build businesses and build value in the businesses that we're
going to invest in. And and they're just a smart guy.
He got his NBA from wake Forest. After he played
he played about ten years. He was a leader over
in NBA Europe on the union side, and you know,
played for the Knicks here obviously was drafted by the Hornets.
And you know, there's just this really smart guy and
(18:53):
a value add to our team. And so when you
think about action, right, we're focused on that small to
midcapped five to fifteen million dollar businesses in the food
and beverage space. We partnered with operators. One of our
operators was really focused on health and wellness. He was
(19:14):
a former CEO of g NC, the nutritional product company.
His name is Josh Burrs, and Josh has joined the
team Ewans was a Chapel Hill guy, right, So we've
got that tied to the Carolinas once again. And Josh
is going to help us source great deals, evaluate great deals,
build businesses, and sell businesses. And our mantras we want
(19:36):
to buy right, we want to build right, and then
we want to sell right.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Another gentleman that has joined us.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That is really focused on that food service sized guy
named James Floyd spent most of his career as an
executive with McDonald's and then he left there joined Cleveland
Capital that basically invested in health and wellness. They invested
in the con called Beyond Meats and I think everybody
knows that, and so he's really a great operator, works
(20:08):
with our management team, came on board to help us
with our current portfolio. So we've known James for a
long time and James is going to really be focused
on the food service side. So the combination of having
guys who can source deals great, we can add value
to these companies, We can add that access and influence
component to it and then be able to build those
(20:29):
business and sell those businesses. We think is the right
way to think about investing. And so that small to
MidCap space. When you think about those operators, they need help, right,
They need these the expertise, and they need that access
and influence to you know, really bring notoriety and bring
real value to their businesses. And so you know that's
our strategy. We think it's a winning strategy, and we're
(20:51):
excited about it.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Well, I want to switch to the Panthers because I
know everyone listening right now you're just blowing their minds
because you suddenly he just stepped out of Wall Street
and not a lock of So let's get to the
locker room side for a second. I was asked this
this morning, where is the main issues with the Carolina Panthers.
You were at New England this weekend. You saw what happened.
(21:15):
I know they had bad things with special teams this weekend,
but it seems like maybe something different every week. When
you look at this team specifically, what stands out to you.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
The most That may be the biggest issue.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Belief.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I mean, for me, I think it's having that confidence
and belief that you know you're gonna compete and win.
It helps when you've been there and done that. I
don't know how many people on the team have actually
been a part of a winning program at the NFL level.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
College is different.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
NFL is a whole different animal than than playing college football,
But I don't see that same resilient, con consistency and
belief that they could compete.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
At that level. I think they have the talent.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
I think we've seen in spurts that they have the talent,
but showing up and doing it on a consistent basis
is something that they're lacking. So they've got to learn
how to be consistent, show up, be the same performer
every day, and have a level of excellence that you
perform at. And a lot of that comes from, you know,
(22:27):
just believing because you're going to get punched in the face.
I think Mike Tyson said, you know, everybody has a
perfect game plan right until they get punched in the mouth,
so you know what happens at that point. And I
think you know how we've responded to that has been inconsistent.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Well, I mean, how long did it take you to
have the belief? I mean you were really bad teams
early on in your career, Like even had the number
one overall pick with Julius Peppers because you guys were
so bad. One of the first game they lost fifteenth
straight if I remember correctly, how long did it take
you and members on your team to develop the believe hey,
you know what we actually can win? We like So
(23:03):
I guess my question is how long did it take
you and how long do you think it will take them?
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Well, you know, Brett, when I was drafted to Carolina,
I was spoiled my first year. I came in on
a team of veterans in nineteen ninety six and we
played in the NFC Championship game against Green Bay. You know,
obviously green Bay went on to win the Super Bowl
that year, but we were right there, and so I
knew what it felt like to win. I knew what
(23:27):
it looked like to be successful, and that was the
standard for me and my development. I had great coaches,
I had teammates that knew what it took to win,
and that was the standard. So, you know, fast forward,
we had injuries, we had a lot of different things happen.
I think, you know, there was some leadership that came in.
(23:48):
It probably wasn't that great as well, but.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You know, we had some talented guys.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
The year that we drafted Julius Peppers obviously, we had
Steve Smith as well, and that year that you're talking
about when we went to Minnesota, we opened up the
year and won in Minnesota. Steve Smith returned a kickoff,
you know, the first time he touched the ball on offense,
and we did well, come home nine to eleven hits, right,
(24:17):
And that locker room after that, I think was filled
with a lot of guys who were questioning if they
wanted to play football or not. And so I think
we were good in spurts, but not good enough to
you know, to win games. Went one in fifteen. Two
years later we're in the Super Bowl. So, you know,
did we have what it took? Absolutely? The year before
we went to the Super Bowl, we're a five hundred
team and we were on the brink of going to
(24:39):
the playoffs, and I think we were in a you know,
almost a shootout with the Saints at the end of
the year before you know, they outscored us and by
so many points and they wind up going and it
was more of a point thing than it was about,
you know, wins and losses.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
So the following year we're in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think we've always possessed on the teams that I
played with the fabric to be great, the belief that
we were good enough to be there and better than
the teams that we were playing. And this team has
a lot of guys that can play football, but they
don't have the formula, that formula of how to win
(25:21):
football games. And I think that is something that has
to be developed through experience, and either you bring that
experience in or you develop it in house. And so
we're seeing a work in progress right now.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Here's the thing about Mistu Muhammad. I randomly met him
one night in nineteen ninety six, right after he had
gotten drafted, you know, out of Michigan State as a
wide receiver, and I think he'd been maybe been to
town maybe six months, and I met him one night,
and then he and I worked together, you know, several
years later doing sports radio at wfn Z.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So it was this very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Time, Tames, and so I've always enjoyed talking to him
as the first time I've been able to talk to
him in a while. But when we come back, we're
going to conclude my interview with mister Muhammad talking about
the Carolina Panthers as well. All right, So with all
that being said, now let's wing on over to the
WBT Traffic Center with Pam Warner. Welcome back to Breaking
with Brett Jensen for just a few more minutes here
(26:22):
as we go up until eight o'clock. As I continue
and give you the conclusion of my interview with mister Mohammad,
the Carolina Panthers legend, who's now a very successful businessman
whose office is in South Park overlooking South Park, and
that's where I met him today.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And here's the wrap up of my interview with the
great wide Receiver.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I know this is going to be an impossible question
to answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How
long do you think they are away from even just
getting five hundred?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
That's a good question. I don't know right now.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
I just want him to win two games in a row,
right so, and I want them to play well even
if they don't win two games in a row.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
The ebbs and flows.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
In the NFL season, you know, you have to be
able to sustain those from a mental standpoint, and just
don't get too high with the high, don't get too
low with the lows. And I think emotionally right now,
from what I see is, you know you're just really
riding some big waves and not being able to maintain
that kind of even mindset. And so I know that's
(27:31):
a long winded way of saying that it's very unpredictable
because we really don't have that established blueprint for success yet,
and I think we have to try to develop that first.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
All right, So the last thing here with mister Muhammad
is we're coming from his office over looking South Park.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Is beautiful office over looking South Park.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So I add, and every single interview the exact same way,
with the exact same question. I did it yesterday with
three Congress, and I'm going to do what to do
with you today?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Mister Muhammad?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Is there anything that I didn't ask you that you
would like to discuss, or anything that you would just
like to say to the listeners or have the listeners
know about you or what you're doing, or anything in general?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
You know, I think you've done a great job of
covering just about every you know, every you know, area
that we that we came to talk about. I think
one of the things I would say that maybe, I mean,
I think people already know that I that I love
the Carolina Panthers, and I think that you know, overall,
(28:38):
this city is just doing a great job. And and
in our city government, right I think, you know, I
think there's a lot of you know, sort of critical
things that are going on right now, and I think
we're all pitching in.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
I think that the tone of what's going on in
our country right now, I think is so important for
all Americans to understand that we're all on the same team,
right and you know, most of our citizens here, most
of our countrymen here, we all love each other, right,
And I just think we have to remember that in
this day and time is that, you know, we have
(29:17):
to have confidence in our our city government, our government
in general. We have to have confidence in our head
coach and our ownership and uh. And then I think
also we just need to have confidence in each other
because I think we collectively we're all on the same team.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
We're the we're the greatest country in the world.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
And I think we should all just just all remember
that in these days and times right now.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You want to give a quick plug for your company,
real quick?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Yeah, no, ACT some Capital Partners, you know, check us out.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It's ACT some CP and dot com And you know,
I think what we want to do we want to
be the best at protecting our health and wellness and
and and investing in small and MidCap companies in products
and services. You know that will change the way we live,
(30:08):
right because you know, if you have a healthy life,
you have a happy life, and I think that's where
we want to be one to be the best at that.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Well.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Mison Monas, seriously thank you for taking the time to
speak with me today in the middle of your business day.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So thank you for doing this. It's been it's about
ten twelve years. This is the last time I.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Saw you so and the last time I saw you
we were and we were doing radio then too, So
again I was seriously thanks for taking the time to
talk to us from your office and I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
My pleasure. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Again, thanks to mister Mohammed for agreeing to sit down
with me. It was initially just going to be like
an eight ten minute interview and next thing.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
You know, it wound up being for the entire hour.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
So I know it was again right in the middle
of the business day earlier today, So again thanks to
him to taking the time and talk to me and everything.
It was just really cool of him and it was
nice to see him again after so many years when
we actually used to work together doing sports radio again.
Thanks to miss and Mohammed and everyone who helps set
that up today, I really do appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
So tomorrow, guess what, We've got a lot of stuff
going on tomorrow. The city is gonna have a press
conference about Cat's safety tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Oh No, an actual.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Appearance from the mysterious and never seen vy Lyles.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
We'll talk to her hopefully, hopefully she'll take questions.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
We'll see as well as the city manager, Marcus Jones,
who's also making a very rare appearance. So we'll talk
to them hopefully at their big press conference tomorrow morning.
And also I got an interview coming up with the
state Fire Marshall tomorrow as well about all the stuff
going on in western North Carolina. So until then, everyone,
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jenson.
News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Brett Jenson here with you on this Tuesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
He's got a special edition for you tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Seven oh four or five seven oh eleven ten is
the telephone number as always, it's also the WBT text
line of course, driven by Liberty Buick and GMC and guys,
make sure you follow me on except Brett Underscore Jensen
for all the licened breaking news in and around the
Charlotte area.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
So I do have a special show for you tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
If any of you are NFL fans, or even if
you're not, but you've lived in Charlotte for any period
of time, you will know the name Mussin Mohammad. He
was one of the greatest, one of the two greatest
wide receivers ever to play for the Carolina Panthers, the
other one, of course, being Steve Smith.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
He played alongside.
Speaker 2 (00:42):
Steve Smith when they went to the Super Bowl and
everything else well. Misson Mohammad was drafted by the Carolina
Panthers in nineteen ninety six, played a very long career
with the Panthers and he still lives here in Charlotte,
and he's a businessman now, a very very successful businessman,
investing in company's buying come, including one restaurant that you
may actually recognize that I actually do enjoy going to.
(01:05):
So I was able to go to Missin Mohammad's office
in South Park, overlooking the entire vastness of South Park
from his wonderful view high up on the floors in
the building that he works in. And so here's my interview,
exclusive sit down, an interview with Missin Mohammad about life
after football, but also the Carolina Panthers and what's going
(01:25):
on with them. So sitting with Missin Mohammad in his
office overlooking south Park, and Moss, I want to ask you,
when did you start realizing you wanted to become a businessman?
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Was it while you were playing?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Were you already looking into the future while you were playing?
Speaker 1 (01:40):
Or was it something that happened? All right, I've got
to figure out what I'm going to do with my.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Life, man, you know, that's a great question. I often
characterized myself bra as a serial entrepreneur trapped in a
football player's body. So I've been this webon wired this
way for a very long time. I knew that I
wanted to be a business person. I always thought of
myself as more dynamic than just a football player.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
I just had all this.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Athletic ability, and the game came pretty easy to me.
But I've always loved business. I've always wanted to be
involved with it.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
So talk about your very first venture into business. Was
it something small? Was it something big? Were you nervous, like,
just talk about the first time you said, Okay, we're
going to invest in this or we're going to do that.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
Well, you know, it's interesting.
Speaker 3 (02:28):
I got involved with some you know, real estate early
on in my career and and and did quite well.
I partnered with a home builder here and we developed
some properties, we bought some rental properties and did some
some revamps on those and uh and and was very successful.
(02:49):
But you know, early on in my career, I got
introduced to Ronnie Lott, Joe Montana, and Harris Bartan and
really started to you know, sort of develop a document
around alternative investments and looking at venture capital and private equity.
And they had a platform called Champion Ventures, which got
(03:10):
to go out to Pebble Beach every year, right played
golf in the off season and then you know, get
exposed to, you know, just some a completely different side
of investment that I had been exposed to early in
my young career.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
So now you're getting into venture capital and all that
stuff that you're talking about. First, did you take business
classes when you were at Michigan State or was this
something brand new that you had to learn along the
way post career?
Speaker 1 (03:37):
Like, how did that come about? How did you learn
about it?
Speaker 4 (03:40):
You know, trial and error.
Speaker 3 (03:42):
I cut my teeth the hard way, and we made
some great investments, we made some that weren't so great
along the way. But I think, you know, most of
my business acumen came just through mentorship relationships. I did
take some some educational classes and some business classes at Wharton,
(04:02):
you know, during my career here at with the Panthers,
but you know, for the most part, it was you know,
it's kind of trial and error, you know, and learning,
you know, kind of the hard way or a good way,
but there was real application and just diving in and
and having an intellectual curiosity around, you know, getting involved
(04:25):
with business. I didn't necessarily want to just outsource the
investment side of you know, my income and my portfolio.
I wanted to understand it, and I did get involved
in an intimate way.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
So this is going to be a question for all
the businessmen that are listening right now, and also all
the athletes.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Is it harder being a.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Successful businessman or a successful football player?
Speaker 4 (04:48):
For me?
Speaker 3 (04:48):
Probably probably business, right, I mean I think, you know,
the learning curve obviously was some kind of steep.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
We took some of the edge off of that.
Speaker 3 (04:59):
But you know, I've had a a pretty successful athletic career.
I mean it was a lot of hard work, but
I was a natural athlete. I think for the most part,
I feel like I'm a natural businessman. But I had
an opportunity from the time I was walking, you know,
(05:20):
throughout my whole life. From the time I was walking,
I got involved with sports, and you know, business not
so much, right, It takes capital to get involved with business.
So my real business career didn't start till I was
in my you know, kind of mid twenties, where my
athletic career probably started when I was seven years old,
and so you know, that part became very natural, and
(05:42):
it was easy to get involved with a lot of
different sports, and you know, high school, I played you know,
like five different sports, So it's pretty interesting.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
I remember, so I'm covering Clemson and this, and I
remember I'm living in Anderson, South Carolina, and right there
at the exit, one of the biggest hangouts was the
Wild Wings. And I was living down there, still coming
up and doing w F and Z once a week,
but I was living down there covering Clemson when I
found out that you your firm had bought Wild Wings.
(06:10):
So talk about that just the whole what because that
was a big deal at the time. It's like, oh
Usa owns Wild Wings like that was and there were
a lot of It wasn't just one or two, there
were a lot of them.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
Can you talk about that one?
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:22):
So, and we still own that one in Anderson. It's
a great location. We've got a great opera down there.
But you know, we got involved with just investing in
the food and beverage industry overall. And I picked the
food and beverage industry because I just loved that sector.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
It's one of the most stable sectors. I know.
Speaker 3 (06:42):
People think about food and beverage like, you know, it's
very risky, but it's one of the only sectors that
has consistently grown. People have to eat right, and so
it's consistently grown. How we invest in the sector is
one of the things. We look at different consumer trends
and so forth, and the need for a higher value meal,
(07:04):
the dining experience right, and also the fact that we
have dual income households and people want to go out
to eat more. So all of these underlying trends are
just driving how we think about how we want to invest.
And we came across the Wilding Cafe deal, which I
think we thought fit our profile extremely well, and so
we want to buying a company. We wind up growing
(07:25):
it and growing it aggressively and did quite well with it,
and we still own it. We had to, you know,
because of COVID and dining rooms getting closed. We went
through some restructuring, but we've emerged out of that and
uh and now we're back growing the concept again. But
it's a it's a great concept. It has this nostalgia
to it and so many, you know, great memories for
(07:46):
so many people that went down to you know, Charleston
or going out to Hilton Head and you know, it
has all these great destinations. But we love that brand
and just excited to see it back on the right
path again.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Well, and I'm not saying this just because you're sitting
next to me, because I don't blow smoke to people
that i'm interviewing. But true story, this is my all
time favorite wing is the ranch flavored wing at the
Wild Wings that used to be like called like Colorado
or I can't remember what it was like back in
the day, but it was the ranch dressing flavor of
(08:19):
the ranch wings.
Speaker 1 (08:20):
My all time favorite flavor wing all time.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
You know, We've got thirty three flavors there, and I'm
pretty sure that might be a favorite of a lot.
Speaker 4 (08:29):
Of people listening to this broadcast.
Speaker 3 (08:31):
And but yeah, we had you know, the thing about
Wild We Cafe was just a great experience, right. I mean,
you go into a place like that and you've got
live music, you've got all the TVs, you got entertainment.
I think it really captures what it means to be
an American, right and what happens as an American on
the weekend. It's an escape and everybody loves sports and
(08:53):
everybody loves music. And so this was a brand that
we felt really sort of captured some of the under
line trends that we talk about when we're talking about
what is driving successful businesses in America. So yeah, I
mean the flavors are great.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
You know. I love ranch a lot of too.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
So when we return, we'll continue my interview with Miss Muhammad,
who's now a leading businessman in the city of Charlotte.
All right, but right now we're going to swing on
over to the WBT Traffic Center with Pam Warner. Welcome
back to Breaking with Brett Jensen on this Tuesday night,
as I continue my sit down one on one interview
(09:34):
with Carolina Panthers legend and great Miss Mohammad, who's now
a very successful businessman in the city of Charlotte and
the surrounding area. So we continue my interview with mister Mohammad,
continue my conversation with former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Misson Muhammad,
who has called Charlotte home ever since his playing days ended.
So we talked about, you know, the wild Wings and
(09:56):
some other things, and how you'd got into business. What
are some of the things that you're looking at doing
now going forward, not just today but maybe next year.
Speaker 1 (10:03):
Or two years down the line. What interests you right now?
Speaker 3 (10:07):
You know, I'm still food and beverage, you know, I
felt like when we started this firm, we wanted to
pick sectors that we believed in long term, right and
things that you know, capture consumer trends and things that
were resilient and durable. And we had a lot of
relationships in and we have a lot of deal flow
(10:28):
and can really build a business around. So we're sticking
with food and beverage. I think in food and beverage
now people are more conscious about what they put in
their bodies. They're more conscious about the ingredients and clean
label functional ingredients and products, and so that's where we
want to focus, right, We want to focus on healthy
(10:49):
for You concepts.
Speaker 4 (10:51):
We want to focus on.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
More sort of CpG products and services, ingredients, sauces and
spices and things like that. I think we still we'll
look at food service concepts that are sort of in
that restaurant sector, but food service, but.
Speaker 4 (11:08):
We're going to look primarily.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
At you know, kind of consumer packaged goods, ingredients, products,
services and things around that that are centered around healthy
for you. And so going forward, you know, we're going
to raise a fund that's really going to focus on that,
and we think with our access and influence, our partnership
(11:32):
with operators and experts within this sector. We feel like
we can source some really good deals, some unique opportunities,
and take advantage of those businesses that are in that
kind of five to fifteen million dollars of EBITDA and
scale those businesses and take them to the next level.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
You know, either whether he's right or wrong, or you
agree or disagree.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
R F. K.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Junior when he became head of Health and Human Services,
brought a lot of attention to health and food and
stuff like that. And that's all recently, but this is
something obviously, as a professional athlete you've had to worry
about probably ever since your days in high school.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Guaranteed at least college.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Yeah, no, absolutely, I mean I think this administration obviously
focusing on health and wellness. I think the previous administration
with the Obama's and Michelle Obama focus on the same thing.
So this is a continuing trend and I think, you know, fundamentally,
people are more focused about what they put in their
bodies every single day, and I think those trends are
(12:29):
here to stay. I think those are fundamental shifts and
how we eat, how we drink, how we think about
what we want to put in our bodies, and that's
where we want to focus.
Speaker 4 (12:38):
And that's where I've been focused.
Speaker 3 (12:39):
I mean, my whole career was spent thinking about nutrition
and being a healthy athlete, and you know, how to
optimize performance, right, and so there's a lot of science,
there's a lot of you know, you know, just overall
focus and thought process behind how to improve that. And
you know, it starts with you know, obviously some of
(13:01):
these trends probably have been there for a long time
with athletes, but now I think the common citizen now
and consumer is far more focused on that than it
has been in the past. And we think that those
tres Like I said, those trends are here to stay,
and we think have some great opportunities to invest in
businesses that are focused on that.
Speaker 1 (13:21):
Why did you stay in Charlotte? Why didn't you go
back to Michigan with all the family and everything else.
Why did you stay in Charlotte?
Speaker 4 (13:27):
Well that's a good question. You know.
Speaker 3 (13:30):
When I came to Charlotte and we started, you know,
building our family here. My wife and I got married
the same year that I got drafted here and started
building our family. We fell in love with this city,
you know, and I now have lived in Charlotte longer
than I lived in Michigan, and it's always been home.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
And you know, we love the Carolinas. We love the weather.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
You know, I'm okay taking the ice bath every now
and then, but I love going outside in sun bathing.
So and you know, just being strategically located in an
area one of the fastest growing cities in the Southeast.
But you know, we can take an international flight anywhere
we want to go in the world from Charlotte. If
we want to go to the beach, we can go
(14:20):
to the beach, If we want to go to the mountains,
we can go to the mountains. If we want to
dip down to Atlanta, you know, could do that as well.
And so it's so strategically, you know, located in the
country and we can go anywhere we want to be
and we can enjoy you know, all four seasons. The
fall is probably the best for me. I love this
time of year, not just because it's football season, but
(14:41):
I love when the trees are changing colors, and I
love you know, I love the people here. I think
it all comes down to that that, you know, the fans,
the people here, and they've embraced us, and we've embraced
this community, and it's this place we just want to
call home.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
When we come back, We're go talk to missum Mohammad
about the Carolina Panthers and how often he keeps s
up with the Carolina Panthers and follows them and watches
them and everything else. But I do want one more
question that I want to ask you about business before
we get into the Panthers. You have a front row
seat to the economy in the business world. There was
a lot of concern early on about tariffs and it
(15:17):
would make everything go sky high from not just the
restaurant tours side of that, but all the other businesses
that you venture in. Have you seen an impact of
tariffs if not, or has it been minimal?
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Has it been great? Not at all? What are you
saying about the economy right now as a whole.
Speaker 3 (15:34):
Yeah, I think we have seen some impact, right I
think the initial shock and all of the tariffs forced
people to think. It forced people, It forced businesses to think.
It forced business leaders to develop alternative strategies and alternative
plans and maybe think about sourcing differently, think about inventory differently,
(15:57):
think about all the commodities that they buy differently. And
so the good thing about our country is we're resilient.
You know, I truly believe that we're the most powerful
country for a reason because we're smart, we're resilient, and
we know how to adapt, you know, similar to being
you know, in a two minute situation.
Speaker 4 (16:16):
They called us the.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
Carolina the Cardiac caps for a reason, right, and you
get Jake Delane at the line of scrimmage me Smitty
Ricky prol Right. You know, no matter what you throw
at us, we're calling audibles, right, and we're going to
figure it out, and eventually we're gonna score. We're gonna
put it in the end zone. We might be down
for a second, but we figure it out. And I
think that's the heartbeat of this country is that a
(16:37):
lot of our business leaders are starting to figure it out.
And so have we felt an impact, you know, I
think we have. I think we've seen some of the impacts.
But I think we'll adjust and eventually land on a
spot that you know, the economy will come back growing again.
And you see that in the market. You see it
in the stock market, you see it with some of
(16:58):
the commodity prices that are starting to normalize, but there's
going to be a new normal with tariffs and the challenges.
Can we figure out how to navigate it and still
be successful.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
When we return, we'll start talking about the Carolina Panthers
and all their struggles. So with that being said, let's
ring on over to the WVT newsroom with Anna Erickson.
We'll go back to breaking with Brett Jensen on this
Tuesday night. All right, as we go up until eight o'clock,
continuing my one on one sit down interview with miss
Sin Mohammad, the Carolina Panthers wide receiver.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
Great and again, he was a legend in this area.
Speaker 2 (17:31):
He helped take the Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship
Game once and these Super Bowl ones and it was
there were some really, really good teams. But now he's
a big time successful businessman and stepping away from the
field of football. So with that being said, let's continue
our conversation with missus Mohammad.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
But you know, Derek brings a very unique skill set.
You know, he's very tied into the athlete community. He's
developed this platform around engaging athletes and the we call
it access and influence community. So there's you know, kind
of actors and operators and all kinds of different things
(18:10):
and entertainers and and basketball players, and so he's created
this platform that engages that access and influence community. It's
a great way for us to source stills. It's a
great way for us unique opportunities, very unique opportunities. It's
a great way for us to leverage that platform to
(18:31):
build businesses and build value in the businesses that we're
going to invest in. And and they're just a smart guy.
He got his NBA from wake Forest. After he played
he played about ten years. He was a leader over
in NBA Europe on the union side, and you know,
played for the Knicks here obviously was drafted by the Hornets.
And you know, there's just this really smart guy and
(18:53):
a value add to our team. And so when you
think about action, right, we're focused on that small to
midcapped five to fifteen million dollar businesses in the food
and beverage space. We partnered with operators. One of our
operators was really focused on health and wellness. He was
(19:14):
a former CEO of g NC, the nutritional product company.
His name is Josh Burrs, and Josh has joined the
team Ewans was a Chapel Hill guy, right, So we've
got that tied to the Carolinas once again. And Josh
is going to help us source great deals, evaluate great deals,
build businesses, and sell businesses. And our mantras we want
(19:36):
to buy right, we want to build right, and then
we want to sell right.
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Another gentleman that has joined us.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That is really focused on that food service sized guy
named James Floyd spent most of his career as an
executive with McDonald's and then he left there joined Cleveland
Capital that basically invested in health and wellness. They invested
in the con called Beyond Meats and I think everybody
knows that, and so he's really a great operator, works
(20:08):
with our management team, came on board to help us
with our current portfolio. So we've known James for a
long time and James is going to really be focused
on the food service side. So the combination of having
guys who can source deals great, we can add value
to these companies, We can add that access and influence
component to it and then be able to build those
(20:29):
business and sell those businesses. We think is the right
way to think about investing. And so that small to
MidCap space. When you think about those operators, they need help, right,
They need these the expertise, and they need that access
and influence to you know, really bring notoriety and bring
real value to their businesses. And so you know that's
our strategy. We think it's a winning strategy, and we're
(20:51):
excited about it.
Speaker 2 (20:52):
Well, I want to switch to the Panthers because I
know everyone listening right now you're just blowing their minds
because you suddenly he just stepped out of Wall Street
and not a lock of So let's get to the
locker room side for a second. I was asked this
this morning, where is the main issues with the Carolina Panthers.
You were at New England this weekend. You saw what happened.
(21:15):
I know they had bad things with special teams this weekend,
but it seems like maybe something different every week. When
you look at this team specifically, what stands out to you.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
The most That may be the biggest issue.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
Belief.
Speaker 3 (21:30):
I mean, for me, I think it's having that confidence
and belief that you know you're gonna compete and win.
It helps when you've been there and done that. I
don't know how many people on the team have actually
been a part of a winning program at the NFL level.
Speaker 4 (21:47):
College is different.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
NFL is a whole different animal than than playing college football,
But I don't see that same resilient, con consistency and
belief that they could compete.
Speaker 4 (22:04):
At that level. I think they have the talent.
Speaker 3 (22:05):
I think we've seen in spurts that they have the talent,
but showing up and doing it on a consistent basis
is something that they're lacking. So they've got to learn
how to be consistent, show up, be the same performer
every day, and have a level of excellence that you
perform at. And a lot of that comes from, you know,
(22:27):
just believing because you're going to get punched in the face.
I think Mike Tyson said, you know, everybody has a
perfect game plan right until they get punched in the mouth,
so you know what happens at that point. And I
think you know how we've responded to that has been inconsistent.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
Well, I mean, how long did it take you to
have the belief? I mean you were really bad teams
early on in your career, Like even had the number
one overall pick with Julius Peppers because you guys were
so bad. One of the first game they lost fifteenth
straight if I remember correctly, how long did it take
you and members on your team to develop the believe hey,
you know what we actually can win? We like So
(23:03):
I guess my question is how long did it take
you and how long do you think it will take them?
Speaker 3 (23:07):
Well, you know, Brett, when I was drafted to Carolina,
I was spoiled my first year. I came in on
a team of veterans in nineteen ninety six and we
played in the NFC Championship game against Green Bay. You know,
obviously green Bay went on to win the Super Bowl
that year, but we were right there, and so I
knew what it felt like to win. I knew what
(23:27):
it looked like to be successful, and that was the
standard for me and my development. I had great coaches,
I had teammates that knew what it took to win,
and that was the standard. So, you know, fast forward,
we had injuries, we had a lot of different things happen.
I think, you know, there was some leadership that came in.
(23:48):
It probably wasn't that great as well, but.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
You know, we had some talented guys.
Speaker 3 (23:55):
The year that we drafted Julius Peppers obviously, we had
Steve Smith as well, and that year that you're talking
about when we went to Minnesota, we opened up the
year and won in Minnesota. Steve Smith returned a kickoff,
you know, the first time he touched the ball on offense,
and we did well, come home nine to eleven hits, right,
(24:17):
And that locker room after that, I think was filled
with a lot of guys who were questioning if they
wanted to play football or not. And so I think
we were good in spurts, but not good enough to
you know, to win games. Went one in fifteen. Two
years later we're in the Super Bowl. So, you know,
did we have what it took? Absolutely? The year before
we went to the Super Bowl, we're a five hundred
team and we were on the brink of going to
(24:39):
the playoffs, and I think we were in a you know,
almost a shootout with the Saints at the end of
the year before you know, they outscored us and by
so many points and they wind up going and it
was more of a point thing than it was about,
you know, wins and losses.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
So the following year we're in the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think we've always possessed on the teams that I
played with the fabric to be great, the belief that
we were good enough to be there and better than
the teams that we were playing. And this team has
a lot of guys that can play football, but they
don't have the formula, that formula of how to win
(25:21):
football games. And I think that is something that has
to be developed through experience, and either you bring that
experience in or you develop it in house. And so
we're seeing a work in progress right now.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Here's the thing about Mistu Muhammad. I randomly met him
one night in nineteen ninety six, right after he had
gotten drafted, you know, out of Michigan State as a
wide receiver, and I think he'd been maybe been to
town maybe six months, and I met him one night,
and then he and I worked together, you know, several
years later doing sports radio at wfn Z.
Speaker 1 (25:58):
So it was this very interesting.
Speaker 2 (25:59):
Time, Tames, and so I've always enjoyed talking to him
as the first time I've been able to talk to
him in a while. But when we come back, we're
going to conclude my interview with mister Muhammad talking about
the Carolina Panthers as well. All right, So with all
that being said, now let's wing on over to the
WBT Traffic Center with Pam Warner. Welcome back to Breaking
with Brett Jensen for just a few more minutes here
(26:22):
as we go up until eight o'clock. As I continue
and give you the conclusion of my interview with mister Mohammad,
the Carolina Panthers legend, who's now a very successful businessman
whose office is in South Park overlooking South Park, and
that's where I met him today.
Speaker 1 (26:37):
And here's the wrap up of my interview with the
great wide Receiver.
Speaker 2 (26:48):
I know this is going to be an impossible question
to answer, but I'm going to ask it anyway. How
long do you think they are away from even just
getting five hundred?
Speaker 4 (26:56):
That's a good question. I don't know right now.
Speaker 3 (26:59):
I just want him to win two games in a row,
right so, and I want them to play well even
if they don't win two games in a row.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
The ebbs and flows.
Speaker 3 (27:11):
In the NFL season, you know, you have to be
able to sustain those from a mental standpoint, and just
don't get too high with the high, don't get too
low with the lows. And I think emotionally right now,
from what I see is, you know you're just really
riding some big waves and not being able to maintain
that kind of even mindset. And so I know that's
(27:31):
a long winded way of saying that it's very unpredictable
because we really don't have that established blueprint for success yet,
and I think we have to try to develop that first.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
All right, So the last thing here with mister Muhammad
is we're coming from his office over looking South Park.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
Is beautiful office over looking South Park.
Speaker 2 (27:52):
So I add, and every single interview the exact same way,
with the exact same question. I did it yesterday with
three Congress, and I'm going to do what to do
with you today?
Speaker 1 (28:02):
Mister Muhammad?
Speaker 2 (28:03):
Is there anything that I didn't ask you that you
would like to discuss, or anything that you would just
like to say to the listeners or have the listeners
know about you or what you're doing, or anything in general?
Speaker 3 (28:15):
You know, I think you've done a great job of
covering just about every you know, every you know, area
that we that we came to talk about. I think
one of the things I would say that maybe, I mean,
I think people already know that I that I love
the Carolina Panthers, and I think that you know, overall,
(28:38):
this city is just doing a great job. And and
in our city government, right I think, you know, I
think there's a lot of you know, sort of critical
things that are going on right now, and I think
we're all pitching in.
Speaker 4 (28:54):
You know.
Speaker 3 (28:54):
I think that the tone of what's going on in
our country right now, I think is so important for
all Americans to understand that we're all on the same team,
right and you know, most of our citizens here, most
of our countrymen here, we all love each other, right,
And I just think we have to remember that in
this day and time is that, you know, we have
(29:17):
to have confidence in our our city government, our government
in general. We have to have confidence in our head
coach and our ownership and uh. And then I think
also we just need to have confidence in each other
because I think we collectively we're all on the same team.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
We're the we're the greatest country in the world.
Speaker 3 (29:37):
And I think we should all just just all remember
that in these days and times right now.
Speaker 1 (29:41):
You want to give a quick plug for your company,
real quick?
Speaker 4 (29:43):
Yeah, no, ACT some Capital Partners, you know, check us out.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
It's ACT some CP and dot com And you know,
I think what we want to do we want to
be the best at protecting our health and wellness and
and and investing in small and MidCap companies in products
and services. You know that will change the way we live,
(30:08):
right because you know, if you have a healthy life,
you have a happy life, and I think that's where
we want to be one to be the best at that.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Well.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
Mison Monas, seriously thank you for taking the time to
speak with me today in the middle of your business day.
Speaker 1 (30:20):
So thank you for doing this. It's been it's about
ten twelve years. This is the last time I.
Speaker 2 (30:24):
Saw you so and the last time I saw you
we were and we were doing radio then too, So
again I was seriously thanks for taking the time to
talk to us from your office and I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
My pleasure. Thanks for coming.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
Again, thanks to mister Mohammed for agreeing to sit down
with me. It was initially just going to be like
an eight ten minute interview and next thing.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
You know, it wound up being for the entire hour.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
So I know it was again right in the middle
of the business day earlier today, So again thanks to
him to taking the time and talk to me and everything.
It was just really cool of him and it was
nice to see him again after so many years when
we actually used to work together doing sports radio again.
Thanks to miss and Mohammed and everyone who helps set
that up today, I really do appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (31:04):
All right.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
So tomorrow, guess what, We've got a lot of stuff
going on tomorrow. The city is gonna have a press
conference about Cat's safety tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (31:12):
Oh No, an actual.
Speaker 2 (31:13):
Appearance from the mysterious and never seen vy Lyles.
Speaker 1 (31:17):
We'll talk to her hopefully, hopefully she'll take questions.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
We'll see as well as the city manager, Marcus Jones,
who's also making a very rare appearance. So we'll talk
to them hopefully at their big press conference tomorrow morning.
And also I got an interview coming up with the
state Fire Marshall tomorrow as well about all the stuff
going on in western North Carolina. So until then, everyone,
my name is Brett Jensen, and you have been listening
to Breaking with Brett Jenson.
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