December 4, 2025 • 44 mins
In the second hour of the show, Walker and Al Wallace discuss the upcoming offseason for the Charlotte 49ers, talk about where the Panthers stand as they head into their bye week and answer some questions from the text line for Al.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Wes and Walker Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I will acknowledge that I used to have to go
to Walmart.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
It's Wes this man say, I.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Have to go to Walmart like it's like a place
that you got the dollar bottom.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
He's like, I used to have to go and Walker
is as cheap as it giins when I didn't have
any money.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
At all in colin I mean, honestly, I can see
your brain from here. That's how far your noses up
in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This is unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Only on Sports Radio ninety two point seven FM WFNZ.
I'm not just dropping dollar bills on whatever I want
to get, but eater low.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Key West and Walker.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ. He's back Al Wallace
in the Chandler VAULTA Studios ninety two to seven FM
will put some of these segments up on our website
as well. If you want to go, check it out
WFNZ dot com and then search Wes and Walker anywhere
you get your podcast. We got our former Carolina Panthers
defensive end. We got them back in How you doing man.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm doing good man recovering from the holidays football season,
Carolina Panthers man getting it done, So it's not any
better than this. I'm a South Florida guy, but I
love the cooler weather.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So bring on some you too like that? Definitely that's rare.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, I mean Florida, Florida people hate it, hate the
colder weather.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Walker.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I grew up in South Florida with no central ac
so it was one hundred degrees and it was moist
and humid and wet when I grew up. So anytime
I can get some cool weather, Philly, Buffalo, Maryland, all
places I lived and played Carolina a little bit colder
than Florida.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I'm off that doesn't get any different, more different than
Buffalo though, No, I mean it's different, and by the way,
it's very different now. But anytime I think of Al
Wallace and Buffalo, I think about your famous phrase Buffalo
is where people's careers go to die.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Our good buddy Bobby hates, but it's my favorite. Yeah,
It's like your last stop on the train, right. Think
about all the former Carolina Panthers that went up there.
Of course Brandon Bean who was here when I was here.
Guys go up that. Shaq Thompson's he's there, that career
is getting ready to do.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's about the die track. Is there are so many guys?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Is there a new Buffalo now like in Las Vegas
kind of seems like a place for.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's the West Coast Buffalo. That's the that's the West
Coast version.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, right, let me know.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
On the fandal text line, where do you have to
go in order to put your career to pasture? Seven
oh four five, seven oh ninety six ten, it used
to be Buffalo. Perhaps that's still true, maybe only for
panthers now. It is wild to see how many panthers
go up.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
There might be a panthers thing, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
It might be a panthers thing. I did want to
ask you too about Florida Thanksgiving. How different that is
from the Thanksgivings that we have up here in North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
It's a blend, right. I have a Caribbean family, Behamian background,
so it's it's a little bit of traditional turkey and
dressing and potato salad, and there's a little bit of
Caribbean flavor in there with peas and rye. Somebody's gonna
smoke some ribs. It's gonna be some different things on
the ham and turkey and a bunch of other stuff.
Some fried chicken in there, a bunch of stuff. Well,
(03:07):
I mean, so you all four, all four more of it?
I so does every do you guys have a competition
with the family where everybody brings a different meat and
then or do you just say, hey, everybody bring it
all so we can have all of this good food
to eat. Yeah, it's not a competition. It is a
true gathering of the mind. So there's a list that
(03:27):
goes out probably a month before. And whoever is this
has a specialty of mac and cheese. You're on mac
and cheese for life. It's done. You own it until
you can't do it anymore. Okay, greens? Is it gonna
be some cabbage? Things like that? You know who's on
the sweet potatoes? The sweet potatoes? You candy yams or
casse role however you want to do it. But somebody's
(03:48):
always on it. My dad's he's the guy that's gonna be,
you know, smoking a turkey. It's not a fried turkey.
It's gonna be a smoke turkey, some ribs, some chicken
and all my aunts. Right, my dad's like me, only
all sisters. I'm an only boy, four younger sisters and
everybody contributes.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Man, it is a ton of y'all.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Got it down to a Matt science over there in
Delray Beach. That sounds phenomenal where people are usually arguing
about ham or turkey, and you just say why not both?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And then more, why don't we just have everything you like? Yeah,
don't stay in one lane. Let's be broad.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Sounds like you've had a great Thanksgiving. It has been
a tough year covering football for you, although only really
for the forty nine ers. It's been a roller coaster
covering the Carolina Panthers. I did want to touch on
the forty nine ers real quickly before we move on
to some Panthers conversation. Tim Albin the big news about
him and the Charla forty nine ers football program now
that they've started a collective, the Fuel the Future, I
(04:41):
believe funds that they have right now, they've raised over
three million dollars. We talked about that with Hunter Bailey,
where a lot of that money not only is going
to roster construction, but it's just going to football upgrades,
whatever that means, just upgrading the football program in its entirety.
We've discussed our belief in Tim Albin as a football coach.
They only have one win. It's the worst season that
(05:03):
we've ever seen, no doubt, wins, losses, talent on the field, injuries,
it was brutal. What are the things that you can
have faith in with this team as we transition to
the second year of Temps.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, I think if you can keep some of the
young pieces that they have, guys that were forcing the
action this year under Tim Albin, it is a good foundation.
It's gonna take some money. Of course, it's gonna take
some time, and we know the landscape of college football.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Does he have that time.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
If you're going to create a collective and you're gonna
try to raise some money for this football team, dump
it into the players. Don't waste your time with facilities.
They're fine. They're better than fine at Charlotte. I'm just
telling you facilities. Don't waste your time upgrading the locker
room or upgrading some practice facility or new equipment. Go
spend the money on players. It's the way you win.
(05:53):
When you win, that money will start pouring in. So
if you kind of mismanage it and you direct it
into the wrong area. I'm not going to be able
to put the guys on the field that are gonna
come up with more than one win on a season.
Tim Alban's a great guy. He's a football coach. The
staff is really good too. They got to find a
way to stay healthy one and then play football.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I can see the play.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
This team fought hard against every opponent, no matter what
it was. Now they got to have it come all together.
The only way to do that is go out and
get a one place.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well and man, look, I'm not even trying to show
any disrespect to previous football coaches, because they got a
lot of love for everybody that's coached at Charlotte before.
But there are times I actually haven't talked to Tim
Alben a lot about football like I have. I haven't
been a part of the coverage for Charlotte in Man
a couple of years worth of time. Same thing with
vif Pogi. I was there with Will Heatley and some
(06:41):
of the coordinators. I was there with Brad Lambert and
some of the coordinators. Tim Albin does he sound different
than compared to when talking about football with some of
the other guys that they've had here, like I guess,
and what I mean by that is it feels like
there was a CEO approach and there wasn't a whole
lot of Ex's and o's approach and some of the
conversations that we would have with previous figures. To me,
(07:02):
based on what I hear, it feels like Tim Albin
actually does no ball and has the right approach.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
We just now need to have the money to go
get the talent.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
The first true football mind, the first guy that just
sees the football. And I think it's gonna be hard
for him. Even when I watched the video that he
put out for the Fun, the Future, whatever it's called,
to raise the money, it doesn't feel like Tim Alban
and I think you have to have both right. You
have to be able to massage the pockets of the
guys and women that are going to raise money to
(07:31):
build this program. But at the same time, when I
talked to him, it's just the X and os will
heally love them, great to me, great to my family.
But he was the young potential what could be. And
then you get Biff Pogi and he was like the
circus master, right, the ring leader, the guy that was
going to get everybody talking about the program, but there
(07:52):
was no substance in the football. It was all about
the image and what he wanted to build from maybe
an optics damn point. This guy, Tim Albin is football
through and through the right questions, the right thought.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
And I'm like that.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
When I sit down for the coaches shows, it's X
and o's and you can see the light come on.
You can see it turn on, and he's gonna dig
a little deeper. He knows what's going on in every
single piece of that man, that French, that that team,
and I love it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, like I it's funny that you put words to it,
but I did feel it without articulating it. Tim Albin
does not look comfortable asking for the money. No, it
was my man, which which, by the way, I love
that you don't look comfortable doing that. I think it's great.
I do want the football, and it's what Hunter has
talked about. Just because we have him on weekly, I
reference our conversations with him, but that just speaking with
(08:37):
fans too. I think that responsibility, a lot of it
had been on the coaches in the past, and that
goes in with the higher when Mike Hill goes after
will Heatley. My man's on Jim Rome, he's on Paul
Fine Bomb. It's Club Leja Da. Got a shirt off,
he's with that. Yeah, he's wait a football game. He's
got Knowing the Nighter head on. And then but Pogy
(09:00):
I somehow was wearing less clothes frequently than will he
leave true, And so now Tim Allen's guy's clothes on.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Cool, keep your shirt on, and you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Want to talk football like it seems like a much
more serious coach. And to be fair, we have less
wins than any of those other coaches I've ever had
in a season. At the same time, the injuries and
the talent pool that got injured, the talent pool was
already worse than what we've seen with other teams in
the conference. Man, it's just like a recipe for disaster.
Like that's what's so frustrating. And so I just to
(09:31):
put it out there to all the forty nine ers fans.
We have a lot that listen, We have a lot
that click on our Charlotte forty nine Ers. Content with
all the bats surrounding us, I do think that as
a we have a smart fan base and that nobody
is calling for Tim Albins hat no, And that's how
it should be.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That's how it should be. You should be disappointed. You
want to see wins.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You want to go to Jerry Richardson Stadium and fill
it up, and that crowd was consistent. It's good win
or lose. That fan base shows up. And that's one
thing that I've noticed just coming into that role. But
you should feel excited about Tim Albot and what he
is as a football coach. And now we're gonna see
what he can do as a recruiter to build this team.
(10:11):
That first year is kind of break it down and
see what you have. The injuries decimated that roster, and
now you're gonna see what he can put together. I
think he understands now more than ever, what it's gonna
take to compete and what type of caliber a football
player that he needs to be. In the American Athletic Conference. Man,
the American is really damn good. We're going to see
(10:32):
that tomorrow with Tulane in North text it's gonna be
a really good matchup.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
All right.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
We got people on the fandel text line. Where is
the city, what is the NFL franchise? Where athletes careers
go to die seven oh four writes in Pittsburgh has
stepped up. They're the new Buffalo. Do you mean that
for Carolina? I know, I fun.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I guess Aaron Rodgers the Yeah, I don't know. I
got a okay?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Like is he I hate to think that DK's on
the clin but it is. He's declining. He is declining.
Bigcat Dan writes in Cleveland Buffet and Forester Rights in Jacksonville.
Those seem like maybe Jacksonville not as much. They seem
real young. Cleveland seems like a good example of that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, if you go to if you are in your
career and you go to Cleveland, you're you're loss.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It doesn't even matter how you do that.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
They don't have enough money for you to go and
suffer away in cold Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Was there a team that it didn't matter how much
money they would have given you, you wouldn't go to or
or is that just not the right approach?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I was. I wasn't fortunate enough to be in that
position as an undrafted guy. I wanted to play, I
wanted to get paid, I wanted all those things. But
as I kind of made my way through the NFL,
and that's Jacksonville. And now I started my career in Jacksonville.
So the thought of going back to Duvall in Jacksonville,
the city was just born and miserable. Yeah, I wouldn't
(11:55):
play in Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
No thing.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, that's what I was saying. I know, I know
that the story. We've talked about the story, how awesome
it is. And then once you did get to a
place where you could have a little leverage, hits it there. Yeah,
Jacksonville's the one where you're like, no, I don't want
to go. But Jacksonville's actually the team. I turned down
to stay with the Panthers right after the Super Bowl
because the money differential wasn't good enough. And I love
jack Dale, Reuel Dale Rio. He gave me my actual
(12:19):
true opportunity to come in and say, hey, man, you
could play.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You're gonna play. I don't care what you've been doing.
And prior to that, I was in the sense principle
of high school. So I believed him. He made true on.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That, But Jacksonville was offering you more at that time.
They were, but it was just like I'm not going back,
no shot. All right, there you go, man, Wall It's
a true Panther turn it down other big cats to
stay here with the Carolina Panthers. All right, we'll talk
more about that very franchise. What are Al's Bryce takes,
the Dave Canalis takes. Is the playoff push a real one.
We'll get to all of it coming up next. Sports
Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ West and Walker Sports
(13:04):
Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ No West for the week.
Just to remind you once more, people asking, Hey, what
happened to Wes Bryan? Is everything okay? He's good. He
just needed a break from me, I guess and floundy
a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Just needed to.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Tell me, but maybe a little bit more of you,
nah man, It was all of us.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It was here.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Maybe it was even the listeners a little bit, just
to take a step away. Forty nine ers backlash that
he received, and he'll be back next week and he'll
be in the Chandler VAULTA Studios. But right now, it's
Al Wallace, former Carolina Panthers defensive end, joining me on
the West and Walker Show, and let's talk about that
very franchise. Moving on from the forty nine ers. That
was a rough year to cover how would you describe
(13:43):
this season for Carolina going back and forth constantly? Roller
coaster seems to be a popular phrase. Are you cool
with what you're seeing?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Like? What are your overall thoughts on where the Panthers
are right now? Yeah? I have motion sickness.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I don't like it. I don't like the roller coaster.
I don't go on rides. My size dictates that I
can get away with not being on there. But you know,
this team is so damn good and it can be
terrible at times, and I think it's okay for him
to be both right now, Like year two of Dave Canalis,
we focus on Bryce Young, right, A lot of that
(14:16):
focus early in the season was the defense and whether
it's gonna step up. But I think we also have
to look at Dave Canalis, who is a second year
head coach, but just his third season calling plays. He
called plays one year in Tampa and then this is
his third year, second year with Bryce Sean, so he's
trying to figure it out too. And I know a
large part of that conversation is, you know, is the
(14:37):
play calling work in?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Does he know what he's doing? All those things?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
But look, I like what I see I see a
young group of guys. Tetoro McMillan's right there, Mike Jack
who got paid, Get j C. Horn back on the field.
The dog in the middle, Derek Brown is getting it
all done. This is gonna be a really good football team.
Are they ready this year? No, You're gonna see more inconsistency.
There's a month of football left, and I guarantee as
(15:04):
good as we felt coming off this victory against the
Los Angeles Rams, we're gonna feel terrible again. We're gonna
be scratching our hands, like, what the hell is this
team doing? Why would he throw it? Why would they
call that play? Over the course of the next mine
doesn't matter to the team. It is just the growing
pains of a franchise. That's right there, guys that I
think the Panthers are really close, but it's going to
be wildly inconsistent.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I want to talk to you a little bit more
about the coaching. I always go back to a tweet
that Seth Partner had. He's an NBA analytics mind, but
he said this once upon a time quote someone maybe
someone once told me, forty percent of being an NBA
coach is getting guys to play hard, thirty percent is
getting them to play together, twenty percent is sub patterns,
(15:46):
ten percent is scheme. Right, Like, how much of it,
how much of that applies to coaching in the NFL?
How much of it is scheme getting guys to play hard,
personnel decisions on game day like not to ask you
to create your own pie chart, and the responsibility. But
how much of it is some of the I guess
(16:08):
in tangibles that you have where guys want to play
hard for you and also outsmarting the other coach on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Is there any of this that applies.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
It's the sea where we use all the time, it's coacher,
it's identity. And I think for Dave Canalis, if you're
trying to divvy up a pie, I think half of
it is just trying to create a system that works,
and you're throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall,
not just in the first year, but the second year
as well. So I talked about him being a play caller,
(16:35):
but what about being a head coach and the play
caller and managing kind of the egos, the personalities, the
timing And I know you can go and call Pete
Carroll and some mentors and try to figure it all out.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You just don't know what the hell to do all
the time.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And that's what I see when I look at Bryce
and I look at this team, and you look at
some of the inconsistencies, and then I look at the
pure brilliance that they've been able to put together against
the Green Bay Packers on the road, against the top
team in the NFC, in the Los Angeles Rams in
your building, and it's just a team that really still
hasn't figured out who the hell they are. And I
(17:10):
think from week to week it's whether our game plan
that we've worked on works and then can we make
an adjustment how quickly can we pivot when it doesn't work?
And I think Dave has had a tough time with that.
If his original game plan doesn't work, it feels like
he cannot make an adjustment. But when it does, they
look brilliant. They can compete with any team in the league.
(17:31):
There's no reason, on paper or otherwise, the Carolina Panthers
should have been able to play the way they did
against the Rams, but they did so.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
The inconsistencies are hard to describe for Bryce or Dave
Canalis in my opinion, I think it's a little harder
to describe with Dave Canais because I think QB inconsistent
QB play man. Sometimes you miss throws, almost like missing
shots in the NBA, Like I get it if you're
not accurate one hundred percent of the time. And Bryce
has been inconsistent this year. That's a little more explainable
(18:00):
to me. With the coaching. Do sometimes you just missplay calls?
I mean, that's a little harder to me. What I
have landed on is that Dave Canalis gets a little
too infatuated with what the defense is showing him opposite
the line of scrimmage, rather than just playing a brand
of football you know to have been successful before, for instance,
(18:24):
not running the football. To put it real simple, he
decided we're going to run the football against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
They have excellent pass rushers. We're gonna run the football.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And it's not to say that you don't have different
nuances and branches from this original idea, original philosophy, but
against San Francisco you're running it well. When you did,
you just didn't do it a whole lot. And this
is a Panthers team that seemingly has run the ball
pretty effectively, whether it be Rico or healthy Cuba. And
I do emphasize healthy Cuba. So is that where you
(18:51):
land like to what do you describe the inconsistencies of Dave?
And I guess there is some inexperience here too, So
maybe I'm not giving that enough love here, But man like,
at some point, it is wild to see how much
it changes from a week to week.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Basis he doesn't trust himself.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It's not that he doesn't trust Bryce, and I know
that's been a narrative that I think is just absolutely ridiculous.
Now is he tied to Bryce? With Bryce his guy?
Does he love Bright? Who knows? Who cares? He's the quarterback,
He's the starting guy. It ain't gonna be Andy Dalton.
But what I believe Dave is struggling with is his
own identity. Is he certain about his third and three packages?
(19:28):
He's certain about his red zone operations? What is he
gonna do from the two yard line? What are the
decisions on fourth down? I don't know that he's certain
about that. If I think about Andy Reid, he knows
what he's gonna do, He's always known. There is no
mistake on that sheet where Andy's going right, Sean McVay,
he knows what he's gonna do. You don't have to
worry about that, Kyle Shanahan. These are some of the
best play calling minds. Ben Johnson in Chicago. You're telling
(19:53):
me he doesn't know what to do.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
He does.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So Dave canal Is is still figuring it out, and
that's fine. I think it should be fine for Panthers.
The result is it's gonna be a mixed bag, is
gonna look inconsistent at times. So once he finds that
rhythm and he feels confident in himself that this is
the right call. And I think you touched on it
a little bit for me, just because I have some
overthinkers in my circle, right, Yeah, you overthink it. They
(20:18):
think we're gonna run, so we're gonna pay. Just run
the damn ball like that's what you do. And instead
of allowing the defense to dictate what you come up
with as a plan for the week, be who you
are and you bend them to your will. When Dave
Canalis decides to do that, you've seen his success this year.
He's just gonna make teams bow dout to what they're
gonna do and that starts at the offensive line in
(20:39):
the running game.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
All right, So Al, I'll give you a refresher on
your career because I know you need one.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
You played with Carolina from O two to six, five
years here with the Carolina Panthers, and O two, the
Panthers finished seven and nine. The next year, you guys
win to the Super Bowl at eleven five? Am I stretching?
Am I working too hard to find any similarities with
this team and consistencies and comparing this team to O two?
(21:08):
Or do you see some of those similarities from your
first year here in Carolina?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
I think you see a lot of similarities if I'm
being honest. What I do know and I do find
refreshing when I watched the team, is that the same
dog in the fight? That team in two thousand and
two that lost seven games? They we found a balance,
We found that identity that I'm talking about. Just go
and look at the last just say, four games of
(21:32):
the season, and I'm pretty sure we knocked the Saints
out of the playoffs in their building in the dollars
to end that season. We went into the offseason pretty confident.
We're gonna be able to put together a better team.
And then here comes Stephen Davis, Here comes a couple
of here comes a bunch of other guys, Jake Long,
and we put the thing together in two thousand and two.
(21:52):
This team will not stop fighting. They're scrappy, they believe
in one another, They're gonna make plays. They really are
ignorant that they're not supposed to play with some of
these big teams in the NFC, and that's why you
go out and you upset guys and you beat teams
that on paper no one predicted that you would. And
I like that for this team. I like where they
are because no matter what the season ups and downs
(22:14):
has looked like, you tell me seven and six going
into a bye week and four weeks left in the season,
and we got a chance to compete for the division.
It feels very similar to my two to three teams.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yet how much of that three team is realized in
the off season that you guys are going to be good.
I know you guys were described as the cardiac Kats,
and the big difference is not knowing who your quarterback
was going to be. I guess yeah, because Jake Glom
comes in light and Pete right right, So how much
of it is kind of a surprise in the moment
after that game winning drive against Jacksonville compared to how
(22:46):
you felt about the team realistically in the off season.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, Jake was all of us. He was ow all.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I just told you I was working as an assistant principal.
I think teams has started to give up on guys
like Brentson Buckner, who was brought here to do that job.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
You got a young guy.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Think about t Mac and think about I do know
this guy's in the Hall of Fame, a young talented
Julius Peppers drafted at twenty years old out of Carolina.
There are so many similarities, and you just you don't
know what it is. You don't know how it's gonna work.
And then we have the Sean Foster, right, you bring
other pieces in, young Jordan Gross and then you say,
you know what we're gonna do is we're gonna put
(23:23):
these pieces together. How's it gonna work? We didn't know.
But what we all knew is that we are a
bunch of misfits. And if Jake can go out there
and come off the bench and get it done, I
could go in and back up a future Hall of
Famer and Julius Peppers. We just didn't know any better.
And I think this team at times when you see
him play, they just black out. They don't know that
they're supposed to be as good as I truly believe
(23:45):
they are.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I mean, you mentioned some of the young guys. I
since you're a pass rusher, I do want to get
some of your thoughts on Princely oumm Meellen a.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Nick Scort, do you work with those guys at all?
Have you worked with them? No? I have not worked
with those two guys. Are you still working with younger
pass rushers?
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I do, yeah, you know, in the off seat, And
so typically what I do is help prep those guys
for the combine and for their pro days to kind
of get a good showing in before they get selected
for the draft. Once they're with teams, it's just luck
of the draw. And we are around Thomas Davis and
you see Jonathan Stewart and obviously Steve Smith, senior guys
(24:18):
are around that building a lot, but working with them
on technique and things like that, not on a personal level.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
From what you see from Nick gorton what do you like,
what do you think the ceiling is the floor?
Speaker 1 (24:29):
All of it was your evaluation on the second round pick.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
That he is always in fifth gear, like he is
a motor out of this world. He's going to chase
down plays tremendous effort. What you learn in your rookie years,
what it takes right, how to clean up some of
the things that used to work for you in college,
that athleticism where you could be better than the guy
in front of you just on pure talent alone. And
(24:51):
now you're gonna have to become a student in the game.
You gotta have to work on your technique. You gotta
add some things to the bag. When you know move
one and two don't work, you need a third counter
on one single pass rush. Those are the things you
learn in this first offseason, right after that rookie season.
And then when I look at Princely man, I'm a
fan of Princeville because he plays special teams. He does
(25:14):
whatever this team asked him to do, and he is
for sure the most incredible athlete for his size, speed,
weight and all those things. And he's always gonna feel
like he has to catch it up with Nick or
teams didn't give him the same respect that s Goordon
has and that's gonna be a huge motivator. So I
just like watching that dude run down on special teams
(25:35):
and just fly all over the field just looking for
number three because he's gonna wreck some stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Man, He's fun to watch it. Do you like him
as a pass rusher though? And you think that he
can be something for Carolina as a pass rusher?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah? They're not.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
They weren't, you know, plug and play. These guys are
polished and ready to go. I mean, just look at
Carter up in New York. He his one and a
half sacks was the third overall pick, right, and I
know there's some other issues there. So I think it
takes a while for some guys to come out and
be just pure pass rushers that are going to be
able to put together five, six seven sacks in a
(26:07):
rookie season. That's Aden Hutchinson territory, and neither one of
those guys are that yet.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
But I like what I see. They have some raw
talent that just needs to be coached. Though.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Now I don't know if you talked about this with
Kyle on Tuesday, but you did have some comments with Kyle.
A couple of weeks ago, we aggregated baby Al Wallace
gave us some content and we talked about it on
Weston Walker. You had the comments about Nick Gorton after
that Saints game where he came out in public and
said we had some guys that basically thought that they
were hot stuff and maybe did practice that the comments
(26:37):
were that hit they did that they needed to practice
a little harder, that they thought that they had arrived.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
And it was a rookie saying that, now you hated it.
I hated it. Yeah, I hated it.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
And Kyle gets me right on Mondays or tuesdays after
the game, and I'm still in my emotional bag after
a lost look as a rookie. It's not your place
and there's the rhyme or reason to it, and I
know football is different, and then these guys are coming
from a different place than I did. But it wouldn't
be allowed like there would be some furniture moving in
the locker room. You just can't have it happen from
(27:10):
a young guy who's not wrong. He's not saying the
wrong thing. He just can't say the thing. So I
agree with Nick if heor yeah, if he has the
filling in the locker room that guys kind of you know,
shifted down a little bit after a big win and
people are feeling themselves. He knows what it looks like,
he knows what work goes into being really good. But
(27:31):
what you cannot do is speak out of turn, and
for a rookie, it's out of turn. The problem is
that he's allowed to be in front of the camera.
Can't do it now. I don't know if that's managed
by the locker room, but I guarantee you if you
go back and you look at two thousand and two,
there's not a whole lot of Julius Pepper's interview. And
it's not because he was acquire to say that's part
(27:52):
of it. That's part of it. But it was gonna
be Britz and Buck, there's gonna be Mike Rutger, even
myself as a backup. You don't put the camera in
the rookies faces. They're going to say something crazy.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Well, because so we had the content just the process
of a phone or interview where you got to get
all the highlights that you guys didn't have a chance
to set up camp here. But when we talked about
your comments on it, like I wanted to see clarity
on who you were most frustrated with and how to
do another pie chart. I'm sorry I got you work
in here today, but I know you got the frustration
(28:22):
for Nick Gorton making those kind of comments. How much
of your anger slash frustration was also towards the Vets
for allowing a rookie to have to be the one
that says it and or feel like he needs to
be the one to say it. Is there any frustration
in that or is it all on Nick coming out
and as you mentioned, being truthful like saying the right thing.
It's just he's not the one to say said thing.
(28:42):
How much was the frustration towards some of the Vets
on the team? Yeah, my frustration was absolutely with the Vets.
Secondarily it was with Nick Gordon because I'm going to
tell you exactly how I think it played out. This
was a conversation that was had by the veterans. They
said it, Yeah, some veteran whether we Dereck Brown.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
And I wasn't in that locker room, right, So I
don't want to pretend like I know who said what,
but I believe Nick heard that and then now the
camera's in his face and he said, well, it's safe
because big Bro said it, So I'm gonna say I'm
gonna repeat it. And I can't get in trouble for
something that wasn't my original thought.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But you can't do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can't
do it. You can't allow that to happen. Now.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Just imagine if Dereck Brown says that, or J. C.
Horn or somebody like that, Ashan Robinson, if they say that,
you're gonna be like, damn, this team needs to get
it together.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
That's great leadership.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
The same word said by the rookie is you gotta
get hands put on you, like somebody needs to take
him to the back locker room.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Like that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
You can't do that because now you're opening up the
curtain where it's not your place to do that as well.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well, And I think that's something we probably didn't discuss
as much at the time. Here was you are right
the messenger with the same message, you don't receive it
the same way. Because now we've compared this a little bit.
I heard Kyle doing the same thing with the kan
Ka nipple message. I don't know if you saw those
comments about the Hornets losey again, and then Con you
seem mad. He said, Hey, we got a style that
(30:04):
we got to play with and we didn't bring it
every single game, and that's unacceptable. And so when you
hear from the rookies, we love what the rookies are saying,
but it also uplifts himself more so than it lifts
uplifts the entire team. So you are right in that
I hear that from s Gorton, I hear that from Con.
I hear that from rookies. And now not only am
I loving the rookie because he says it right, oh, Sevao,
(30:26):
he's leadership.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Yeah, leadership about that.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We start questioning the Vets because of it, and so
I that that go right, like so that that makes
more sense to me, And you start questioning Derek Brown,
You start questioning why the Vets aren't saying it and
because they didn't go to the media with it. They
know better, right, And now they actually are the leaders.
They actually are the guys that are saying this isn't okay,
(30:50):
but it all gets misconstrued because the rookie is the
one saying it with the camera in.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Leader leaders don't do that, right, you keep it in
the house and you do it a different way. Also
in this this is not to disparage Nick s gorton, Man,
you better be bawling.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
You like to talk that boldly.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
About guys arriving and getting back to like, man, you
better have some sacks, you better have some plays. And
you know I didn't dig into the stats yea and
earned it. You can't do it.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So that's a good question comparing it to Kahan because
cod is that's right, because con is rookie of the
Month in the Eastern Conference should be winning Rookie of
the Year. Even whiles Bridges said it, he's been the
best player this season as a VET. Like, I guess
I'll ask you this, Julius Peppers. Let's say it does
happen to him. Is furniture still moving? If Pepper says
(31:39):
it because he is producing, No, it's not.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
It's different. Hey we're hey, we don't do that. This
is not what we do. But I think it's received differently.
If t Max says that, hey, we can't do that,
you're talking out of turn. Yeah, Like, don't let that
happen again. You get a guy like Mussi Muhammad or
you know Ricky pro says that to a young guy.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Hey, let's clean that up. We don't do that. This
is how it works. You teach him, but now haven't
earned it?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Al Wallace. People are asking who it is. I'll tell
you former Panthers defensive end Al Wallace in the Chandler
vaulta Studios on Western Walker Sports Radio ninety two to
seven WFNZ. Not to be weird about it, but Stanford
pe writes in Walk, how big is Al? Does he
make you look like a kid. The only reason I'm
going to bring this up is because I remember, all right,
our paths crossed a long time ago when my mom
(32:31):
worked at a dog kennel. Yeah, and Al brought in,
I mean, his cut up, jacked pit bull to be trained.
The only thing bigger than Al was his pit bull. Right,
just looked like a stone cold killer, as sweet as
he was. Although I don't know about how sweet he was.
I just know he needed to be trained. Al rolling
(32:51):
through the doorways, needed to turn to his side. And
this is peek, oh football playing career. What I remember
is you needing to duck and turned sideways to fit
through the kennel doors. And that's why I bring up
that Stanford p text because yes, yes, big Al Wallace,
there's a reason you can call them big Al Wallace.
I just always remember that as like an eight year
old with you and your monster pit bull.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Yeah, that's what you talk about back in the day. Man,
I look at some pictures of myself and I'm like, man, like,
what was I eating?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Well, we talked about it with Wes two, like Wes
being the offensive lineman going through the weight transformation that
they go through.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Y'all are crazy. It's only the offensive alignment. It's only
the offense alignment. Jordan grows those guys. I mean, well,
West is still like relatively athletic. Now he's got back issues,
but we talk about it with him. You look at
old playing like weight forest football. I just a monster,
an absolute beast at three point thirty weighs twenty more
(33:47):
pounds than I do, like and I got noodle arms
like y'all are crazy with the weight transformation.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Man.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Anyways, former Panther Al Wallace joining us in the channel
of VAULTA Studios. If you'll have more questions, feel free.
Fandal text line seven four five ninety six to ten.
We'll continue our Panthers conversation, but not before a neogenics
college football injury report from a man flound Dog.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Take it away, Floundy.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
All right, guys, and this is in neogenics college football
injury report neogenics where all you have to lose is
the pain. When it comes to the Big Twelve Championship
game tomorrow, there are a couple of guys that statuses
have been updated on. Baron Morton, the starring quarterback for
Texas Tech, is listed as probable for Saturday's matchup against BYU. Meanwhile,
(34:34):
BYU running back Sino Sione Moa is listed as probable
for Saturday's matchup Chase Roberts, their wide receiver listed as
probable as well, So it looks like they will be
a full go both of these teams for what should
be a very interesting Big twelve Championship.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
All right, good stuff from Flounder. More al Wall's coming
up next on WESN Walker Al Wallason Studio. One more
segment the Chandler vaulta Studio. CBE Injury Law dot Com,
Go to CB injurylat dot Com. One call. That's all
(35:13):
the Carolina's personal injury lawyers got some questions for you,
Al you up for it the Q and a portion
of your stint here on the Western Walker Show, Zach
from Philly says, can you ask al what more does
Derek Brown need to do before he's in the running
for Defensive Player of the Year or even comeback Player
of the year. We talked about comeback player of the year. Yeah,
(35:34):
possibly there Miles Garrett. Man, you can't beat Miles Garrett
this year, right, the.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Defensive player of the year.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
He's going to break the sack record and yeah he's
that's already done. So comeback is it is? I think
pretty good for Derek Brown. And the only thing that
he could get more recognition where Derek Brown can become
the Aaron Donald type guy on this team. Think about
Fletcher Cox when he was in phil those type of guys,
(36:01):
you know the difference. They were pass rushers, they got
to the quarterback. And I know Derek stamped this last
game with the fumble on Matthew Stafford. But until he
starts to put up sack numbers, you know he's not
gonna get that national recognition. Unfortunately, he is a passing league,
in a pass rusher league.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
On the d line.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
How justifiable is it that he's not getting that kind
of recognition, Like, is it somewhere in the middle or
should he be getting a lot more recognition for what
he's doing.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
He should be getting a lot more recognition.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
And Brian Baldigger is a guy that puts out a
weekly video of chaos with Derek Brown. This guy is
as dominant as anybody in the history of the game
at interior defensive line. He plays hard, he hustles, he
does all the right things, and he should be getting
more recognition. I think he's an All Pro this year
and that's not even putting up numbers the way he
(36:50):
did with one hundred and three tackles two years ago
before the injury.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Yeah, one last question on Derek Brown. I remember him.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I think it was reported either I forget the coaching
staff or Derek said it. I forget who said it,
But Derek Brown apparently asked for more opportunities to rush
the passer. What does that look like like when he
says that, What does that mean in terms of what
he's typically asked to do and what he's asking a
varo to do, and maybe in order for those sack numbers,
to go up.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yeah, I just think you're figuring he's dealing with double
teams on first and second down, he's chasing down plays
from the backside. He's literally tossing other three hundred pound men,
and you're going to bring in a guy that maybe
is a little quicker first step right, a little more
quick twitch to him, that can beat a guy one
on one. But what you don't realize is that Derek
Brown is going to push the pocket, which is going
(37:37):
to help everybody else in the sack that he got
on Matthew Stafford. It's a stunt. This guy is coming
around the edge to chase down Matthew Stafford. So that
is one of the examples where they kept him in
the game to do something you don't typically see a
guy of his size and stature do. That's run a
line stunt loop around the right edge to track down
a quarterback. Now he's not gonna catch every quarter back.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
He can get Rathew, so you can catch Matthew Stafford.
Catch that, all right? We just had this conversation during
the break. Oddly enough, cow Herd writes in for al
many years afterwards, I watched the Super Bowl game back
and it looked like Buckner. Brentson Buckner was a coach
on the field. I never knew he had that much
of an impact. Was that just my perception or the
reality of that year. We'd literally just had this conversation
(38:18):
during the break, and the answer to that question is yes,
he did have that big of an impact.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
He had that big of an impact, and he was
our big brother. He was absolutely our coach on the
Phil Sousland Siri, who was a longtime Alabama assistant coach,
an All American linebacker with Marino and that group at
pitt Look, buck understood so much football and we were
all young guys that he got us lined up. He
kept us just in tune to different keys and study
(38:46):
habits that we didn't come to the game with, and
he made us so much better. I give a lot
of credit to what you saw from that D line,
Brentson Buckner putting us in the very best position down
to the point where, just like quarterbacks make audible, buck
would see something making audible, call a line stunt and
have it hit home. In ninety nine percent of the time,
(39:07):
he wasn't reaping the benefits. He wasn't the guy that
was getting the sack so a rookie Julius Peppers who
played next to Brinson Buckner in his own right, he's
a Hall of Famer. But trust me when I tell
you some of the things that he saw that he
called games with Julius Peppers helped him come free because
he just he knew more than everybody. The guy is
one of the smartest football people I know. His memory
(39:29):
is incredible. He knows so much football. Shout out to
Brenton doctor Man. All Right, Homer Jeff writing in on
the Fandel text line, ask Al Wallace where he keeps
his NFC Championship ring with you Home in Florida, Home
in Florida with Pops II. He has, you know, the
pictures and some of the game balls and things like
that that I was able to accumulate over my just
(39:49):
crazy year in and out of the league. To talk
to about being an assistant principal, you know, instints from
Chicago to Miami to Carolina. But yeah, that stuff like that,
you know, it means a lot to a parent who
raises I'm the only boy, raises the sun and sees
him playing a Super Bowl. So winning the NFC Championship
against my former team, the Philadelphia Eagles in their building
(40:11):
was one of my highlights of my career.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I did have a couple of people ask about your
assistant principal days.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Look, when I was in school, it felt like the
assistant principal the main job was to stop the rough
housing and bouncer.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
How that's what I was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
How much did people try you? I mean, are they
kids and they're just not that Did they still try
you to.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
The very last day? Yeah, for a long time. They
just they thought I was a big dude. You don't
make an announcement right, And I was I think twenty
eight years old, so I was young. I didn't look
too much far off from their age, and you know,
it played in the NFL. So the clothes that I had,
like the dress clothes that looked like an assistant principal,
they cost a couple of bucks and I wore that
(40:54):
stuff the first couple of days. And after finding myself
at the bottom of a couple dust ups. Man, you know,
two three hundred dollars shoes get scuffed up or some
dress pants, You're like, no, we're not doing.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
This is high school. It was high school. Yeah, this
Lake's high school. Down in West brom Beach, Florida.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Okay, so high school. Yeah, they're just not gonna They're
not gonna care.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
It doesn't matter. They feel like they're invincible. Walker.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
I had a guy who didn't go to class. He
walked around, he were harassed. The whole school ran out
of the days that you could legally suspend him. So anyway,
he had some words for our front desk, you know, administrator,
and I got I got upset. I didn't like it.
And he said, I'm gonna I know what car you drive.
I'm going to see you. I've seen you at the
(41:36):
mall before. The next time I see you, it's on site.
And I did with my kids, and I had to
stick them into like a Spencer's store in the mall.
And I was prepared to square up against a teenage kid.
I was twenty eight, and I was all game for it,
like and then he was, oh, mister Wallace man.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
You know I like the idea of you shoving your
kids into a Spencer for a little bit, like, hey,
well place, what what you see at Spencer's is less
harmful than what you're about to see your dad do, right,
that is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Yeah, oh all right, and I was met with a
hug and telling his friends.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
You know, those kids were doing some things outside of school.
It's like, man, this dude is my assistant principal. He
played in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
So to get the word out, man, heart rate, fight
or flight? I was ready.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Well, next time, next time you try the assistant principal.
Just know my man is a football player and he's
with the smoke.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Yeah, so get das right you, Yeah, it was gonna
be some smoke.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Gets get the DAPs ready, you know, because you don't
want those hands ready for anything other than that happened
the man that you said that you were going to
fight a little while ago. That's Al Wallace, former assistant
principal Al Wallace here in the channel of VAULTA Studios
here on WESN. Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven
wfn Z. Before we get you out of here out
where can people catch you? Where are you talking? What
are you doing these days in terms of the content business.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Yeah, it's always you know, you can catch me on
Queen City News every Sunday morning, ten am.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
I'm working with a great group over there.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
Christian outiserc of course, and Gabe McDonald, all those guys
over there, just doing a great job of covering the
Panthers on Black and Blue, post game and Kickoff Live,
so the pregame and the postgame show. Most weeks doing
work over there, and do my work with the Charlotte
forty nine ers. So every now and then I'll venture
on social media and give my thoughts an opinion, but
(43:28):
mostly there on Queen City News Man, just keeping up
with Charlotte Sports and of course the Charlotte forty nine
ers finished up year six seven year with that program,
so looking forward to a lot.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yeah. Man, that's Al Wallace.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
You can hear him here also on Sports Rated ninety
two seven WFNZ frequently on with Kyle Bailey, and we'll
keep him around here every once in a while. Thanks again, Al,
appreciate it your times always. Thanks One more hour to
Go Sports Rated ninety two seven WFNZ. Listen to the
West and Walker Show we teased from noon to three
only on Sports Radio ninety two point seven fm FNZ,
(44:01):
the official home of the Charlotte Sports Fan
You're listening to the Wes and Walker Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
I will acknowledge that I used to have to go
to Walmart.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
It's Wes this man say, I.
Speaker 3 (00:07):
Have to go to Walmart like it's like a place
that you got the dollar bottom.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
He's like, I used to have to go and Walker
is as cheap as it giins when I didn't have
any money.
Speaker 4 (00:18):
At all in colin I mean, honestly, I can see
your brain from here. That's how far your noses up
in the air.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
This is unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Only on Sports Radio ninety two point seven FM WFNZ.
I'm not just dropping dollar bills on whatever I want
to get, but eater low.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Key West and Walker.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
Sports Radio ninety two seven WFNZ. He's back Al Wallace
in the Chandler VAULTA Studios ninety two to seven FM
will put some of these segments up on our website
as well. If you want to go, check it out
WFNZ dot com and then search Wes and Walker anywhere
you get your podcast. We got our former Carolina Panthers
defensive end. We got them back in How you doing man.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
I'm doing good man recovering from the holidays football season,
Carolina Panthers man getting it done, So it's not any
better than this. I'm a South Florida guy, but I
love the cooler weather.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
So bring on some you too like that? Definitely that's rare.
Speaker 2 (01:19):
Yeah, I mean Florida, Florida people hate it, hate the
colder weather.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Walker.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
I grew up in South Florida with no central ac
so it was one hundred degrees and it was moist
and humid and wet when I grew up. So anytime
I can get some cool weather, Philly, Buffalo, Maryland, all
places I lived and played Carolina a little bit colder
than Florida.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
I'm off that doesn't get any different, more different than
Buffalo though, No, I mean it's different, and by the way,
it's very different now. But anytime I think of Al
Wallace and Buffalo, I think about your famous phrase Buffalo
is where people's careers go to die.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Our good buddy Bobby hates, but it's my favorite. Yeah,
It's like your last stop on the train, right. Think
about all the former Carolina Panthers that went up there.
Of course Brandon Bean who was here when I was here.
Guys go up that. Shaq Thompson's he's there, that career
is getting ready to do.
Speaker 1 (02:11):
It's about the die track. Is there are so many guys?
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Is there a new Buffalo now like in Las Vegas
kind of seems like a place for.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
That's the West Coast Buffalo. That's the that's the West
Coast version.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, right, let me know.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
On the fandal text line, where do you have to
go in order to put your career to pasture? Seven
oh four five, seven oh ninety six ten, it used
to be Buffalo. Perhaps that's still true, maybe only for
panthers now. It is wild to see how many panthers
go up.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
There might be a panthers thing, that's right.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
It might be a panthers thing. I did want to
ask you too about Florida Thanksgiving. How different that is
from the Thanksgivings that we have up here in North Carolina.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
It's a blend, right. I have a Caribbean family, Behamian background,
so it's it's a little bit of traditional turkey and
dressing and potato salad, and there's a little bit of
Caribbean flavor in there with peas and rye. Somebody's gonna
smoke some ribs. It's gonna be some different things on
the ham and turkey and a bunch of other stuff.
Some fried chicken in there, a bunch of stuff. Well,
(03:07):
I mean, so you all four, all four more of it?
I so does every do you guys have a competition
with the family where everybody brings a different meat and
then or do you just say, hey, everybody bring it
all so we can have all of this good food
to eat. Yeah, it's not a competition. It is a
true gathering of the mind. So there's a list that
(03:27):
goes out probably a month before. And whoever is this
has a specialty of mac and cheese. You're on mac
and cheese for life. It's done. You own it until
you can't do it anymore. Okay, greens? Is it gonna
be some cabbage? Things like that? You know who's on
the sweet potatoes? The sweet potatoes? You candy yams or
casse role however you want to do it. But somebody's
(03:48):
always on it. My dad's he's the guy that's gonna be,
you know, smoking a turkey. It's not a fried turkey.
It's gonna be a smoke turkey, some ribs, some chicken
and all my aunts. Right, my dad's like me, only
all sisters. I'm an only boy, four younger sisters and
everybody contributes.
Speaker 1 (04:04):
Man, it is a ton of y'all.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Got it down to a Matt science over there in
Delray Beach. That sounds phenomenal where people are usually arguing
about ham or turkey, and you just say why not both?
Speaker 1 (04:15):
And then more, why don't we just have everything you like? Yeah,
don't stay in one lane. Let's be broad.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Sounds like you've had a great Thanksgiving. It has been
a tough year covering football for you, although only really
for the forty nine ers. It's been a roller coaster
covering the Carolina Panthers. I did want to touch on
the forty nine ers real quickly before we move on
to some Panthers conversation. Tim Albin the big news about
him and the Charla forty nine ers football program now
that they've started a collective, the Fuel the Future, I
(04:41):
believe funds that they have right now, they've raised over
three million dollars. We talked about that with Hunter Bailey,
where a lot of that money not only is going
to roster construction, but it's just going to football upgrades,
whatever that means, just upgrading the football program in its entirety.
We've discussed our belief in Tim Albin as a football coach.
They only have one win. It's the worst season that
(05:03):
we've ever seen, no doubt, wins, losses, talent on the field, injuries,
it was brutal. What are the things that you can
have faith in with this team as we transition to
the second year of Temps.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Yeah, I think if you can keep some of the
young pieces that they have, guys that were forcing the
action this year under Tim Albin, it is a good foundation.
It's gonna take some money. Of course, it's gonna take
some time, and we know the landscape of college football.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Does he have that time.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
If you're going to create a collective and you're gonna
try to raise some money for this football team, dump
it into the players. Don't waste your time with facilities.
They're fine. They're better than fine at Charlotte. I'm just
telling you facilities. Don't waste your time upgrading the locker
room or upgrading some practice facility or new equipment. Go
spend the money on players. It's the way you win.
(05:53):
When you win, that money will start pouring in. So
if you kind of mismanage it and you direct it
into the wrong area. I'm not going to be able
to put the guys on the field that are gonna
come up with more than one win on a season.
Tim Alban's a great guy. He's a football coach. The
staff is really good too. They got to find a
way to stay healthy one and then play football.
Speaker 1 (06:12):
I can see the play.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
This team fought hard against every opponent, no matter what
it was. Now they got to have it come all together.
The only way to do that is go out and
get a one place.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Well and man, look, I'm not even trying to show
any disrespect to previous football coaches, because they got a
lot of love for everybody that's coached at Charlotte before.
But there are times I actually haven't talked to Tim
Alben a lot about football like I have. I haven't
been a part of the coverage for Charlotte in Man
a couple of years worth of time. Same thing with
vif Pogi. I was there with Will Heatley and some
(06:41):
of the coordinators. I was there with Brad Lambert and
some of the coordinators. Tim Albin does he sound different
than compared to when talking about football with some of
the other guys that they've had here, like I guess,
and what I mean by that is it feels like
there was a CEO approach and there wasn't a whole
lot of Ex's and o's approach and some of the
conversations that we would have with previous figures. To me,
(07:02):
based on what I hear, it feels like Tim Albin
actually does no ball and has the right approach.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
We just now need to have the money to go
get the talent.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
The first true football mind, the first guy that just
sees the football. And I think it's gonna be hard
for him. Even when I watched the video that he
put out for the Fun, the Future, whatever it's called,
to raise the money, it doesn't feel like Tim Alban
and I think you have to have both right. You
have to be able to massage the pockets of the
guys and women that are going to raise money to
(07:31):
build this program. But at the same time, when I
talked to him, it's just the X and os will
heally love them, great to me, great to my family.
But he was the young potential what could be. And
then you get Biff Pogi and he was like the
circus master, right, the ring leader, the guy that was
going to get everybody talking about the program, but there
(07:52):
was no substance in the football. It was all about
the image and what he wanted to build from maybe
an optics damn point. This guy, Tim Albin is football
through and through the right questions, the right thought.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
And I'm like that.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
When I sit down for the coaches shows, it's X
and o's and you can see the light come on.
You can see it turn on, and he's gonna dig
a little deeper. He knows what's going on in every
single piece of that man, that French, that that team,
and I love it.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, like I it's funny that you put words to it,
but I did feel it without articulating it. Tim Albin
does not look comfortable asking for the money. No, it
was my man, which which, by the way, I love
that you don't look comfortable doing that. I think it's great.
I do want the football, and it's what Hunter has
talked about. Just because we have him on weekly, I
reference our conversations with him, but that just speaking with
(08:37):
fans too. I think that responsibility, a lot of it
had been on the coaches in the past, and that
goes in with the higher when Mike Hill goes after
will Heatley. My man's on Jim Rome, he's on Paul
Fine Bomb. It's Club Leja Da. Got a shirt off,
he's with that. Yeah, he's wait a football game. He's
got Knowing the Nighter head on. And then but Pogy
(09:00):
I somehow was wearing less clothes frequently than will he
leave true, And so now Tim Allen's guy's clothes on.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Cool, keep your shirt on, and you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Want to talk football like it seems like a much
more serious coach. And to be fair, we have less
wins than any of those other coaches I've ever had
in a season. At the same time, the injuries and
the talent pool that got injured, the talent pool was
already worse than what we've seen with other teams in
the conference. Man, it's just like a recipe for disaster.
Like that's what's so frustrating. And so I just to
(09:31):
put it out there to all the forty nine ers fans.
We have a lot that listen, We have a lot
that click on our Charlotte forty nine Ers. Content with
all the bats surrounding us, I do think that as
a we have a smart fan base and that nobody
is calling for Tim Albins hat no, And that's how
it should be.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
That's how it should be. You should be disappointed. You
want to see wins.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
You want to go to Jerry Richardson Stadium and fill
it up, and that crowd was consistent. It's good win
or lose. That fan base shows up. And that's one
thing that I've noticed just coming into that role. But
you should feel excited about Tim Albot and what he
is as a football coach. And now we're gonna see
what he can do as a recruiter to build this team.
(10:11):
That first year is kind of break it down and
see what you have. The injuries decimated that roster, and
now you're gonna see what he can put together. I
think he understands now more than ever, what it's gonna
take to compete and what type of caliber a football
player that he needs to be. In the American Athletic Conference. Man,
the American is really damn good. We're going to see
(10:32):
that tomorrow with Tulane in North text it's gonna be
a really good matchup.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
All right.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
We got people on the fandel text line. Where is
the city, what is the NFL franchise? Where athletes careers
go to die seven oh four writes in Pittsburgh has
stepped up. They're the new Buffalo. Do you mean that
for Carolina? I know, I fun.
Speaker 1 (10:51):
I guess Aaron Rodgers the Yeah, I don't know. I
got a okay?
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Like is he I hate to think that DK's on
the clin but it is. He's declining. He is declining.
Bigcat Dan writes in Cleveland Buffet and Forester Rights in Jacksonville.
Those seem like maybe Jacksonville not as much. They seem
real young. Cleveland seems like a good example of that.
Speaker 3 (11:14):
Yeah, if you go to if you are in your
career and you go to Cleveland, you're you're loss.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
It doesn't even matter how you do that.
Speaker 3 (11:19):
They don't have enough money for you to go and
suffer away in cold Cleveland.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Was there a team that it didn't matter how much
money they would have given you, you wouldn't go to or
or is that just not the right approach?
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (11:33):
I was. I wasn't fortunate enough to be in that
position as an undrafted guy. I wanted to play, I
wanted to get paid, I wanted all those things. But
as I kind of made my way through the NFL,
and that's Jacksonville. And now I started my career in Jacksonville.
So the thought of going back to Duvall in Jacksonville,
the city was just born and miserable. Yeah, I wouldn't
(11:55):
play in Jacksonville.
Speaker 1 (11:55):
No thing.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Well, that's what I was saying. I know, I know
that the story. We've talked about the story, how awesome
it is. And then once you did get to a
place where you could have a little leverage, hits it there. Yeah,
Jacksonville's the one where you're like, no, I don't want
to go. But Jacksonville's actually the team. I turned down
to stay with the Panthers right after the Super Bowl
because the money differential wasn't good enough. And I love
jack Dale, Reuel Dale Rio. He gave me my actual
(12:19):
true opportunity to come in and say, hey, man, you
could play.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
You're gonna play. I don't care what you've been doing.
And prior to that, I was in the sense principle
of high school. So I believed him. He made true on.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
That, But Jacksonville was offering you more at that time.
They were, but it was just like I'm not going back,
no shot. All right, there you go, man, Wall It's
a true Panther turn it down other big cats to
stay here with the Carolina Panthers. All right, we'll talk
more about that very franchise. What are Al's Bryce takes,
the Dave Canalis takes. Is the playoff push a real one.
We'll get to all of it coming up next. Sports
Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ West and Walker Sports
(13:04):
Radio ninety two to seven WFNZ No West for the week.
Just to remind you once more, people asking, Hey, what
happened to Wes Bryan? Is everything okay? He's good. He
just needed a break from me, I guess and floundy
a little bit more.
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Just needed to.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
Tell me, but maybe a little bit more of you,
nah man, It was all of us.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
It was here.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
Maybe it was even the listeners a little bit, just
to take a step away. Forty nine ers backlash that
he received, and he'll be back next week and he'll
be in the Chandler VAULTA Studios. But right now, it's
Al Wallace, former Carolina Panthers defensive end, joining me on
the West and Walker Show, and let's talk about that
very franchise. Moving on from the forty nine ers. That
was a rough year to cover how would you describe
(13:43):
this season for Carolina going back and forth constantly? Roller
coaster seems to be a popular phrase. Are you cool
with what you're seeing?
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Like? What are your overall thoughts on where the Panthers
are right now? Yeah? I have motion sickness.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
I don't like it. I don't like the roller coaster.
I don't go on rides. My size dictates that I
can get away with not being on there. But you know,
this team is so damn good and it can be
terrible at times, and I think it's okay for him
to be both right now, Like year two of Dave Canalis,
we focus on Bryce Young, right, A lot of that
(14:16):
focus early in the season was the defense and whether
it's gonna step up. But I think we also have
to look at Dave Canalis, who is a second year
head coach, but just his third season calling plays. He
called plays one year in Tampa and then this is
his third year, second year with Bryce Sean, so he's
trying to figure it out too. And I know a
large part of that conversation is, you know, is the
(14:37):
play calling work in?
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Does he know what he's doing? All those things?
Speaker 3 (14:40):
But look, I like what I see I see a
young group of guys. Tetoro McMillan's right there, Mike Jack
who got paid, Get j C. Horn back on the field.
The dog in the middle, Derek Brown is getting it
all done. This is gonna be a really good football team.
Are they ready this year? No, You're gonna see more inconsistency.
There's a month of football left, and I guarantee as
(15:04):
good as we felt coming off this victory against the
Los Angeles Rams, we're gonna feel terrible again. We're gonna
be scratching our hands, like, what the hell is this
team doing? Why would he throw it? Why would they
call that play? Over the course of the next mine
doesn't matter to the team. It is just the growing
pains of a franchise. That's right there, guys that I
think the Panthers are really close, but it's going to
be wildly inconsistent.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
I want to talk to you a little bit more
about the coaching. I always go back to a tweet
that Seth Partner had. He's an NBA analytics mind, but
he said this once upon a time quote someone maybe
someone once told me, forty percent of being an NBA
coach is getting guys to play hard, thirty percent is
getting them to play together, twenty percent is sub patterns,
(15:46):
ten percent is scheme. Right, Like, how much of it,
how much of that applies to coaching in the NFL?
How much of it is scheme getting guys to play hard,
personnel decisions on game day like not to ask you
to create your own pie chart, and the responsibility. But
how much of it is some of the I guess
(16:08):
in tangibles that you have where guys want to play
hard for you and also outsmarting the other coach on
the other side.
Speaker 1 (16:12):
Is there any of this that applies.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
It's the sea where we use all the time, it's coacher,
it's identity. And I think for Dave Canalis, if you're
trying to divvy up a pie, I think half of
it is just trying to create a system that works,
and you're throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall,
not just in the first year, but the second year
as well. So I talked about him being a play caller,
(16:35):
but what about being a head coach and the play
caller and managing kind of the egos, the personalities, the
timing And I know you can go and call Pete
Carroll and some mentors and try to figure it all out.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
You just don't know what the hell to do all
the time.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
And that's what I see when I look at Bryce
and I look at this team, and you look at
some of the inconsistencies, and then I look at the
pure brilliance that they've been able to put together against
the Green Bay Packers on the road, against the top
team in the NFC, in the Los Angeles Rams in
your building, and it's just a team that really still
hasn't figured out who the hell they are. And I
(17:10):
think from week to week it's whether our game plan
that we've worked on works and then can we make
an adjustment how quickly can we pivot when it doesn't work?
And I think Dave has had a tough time with that.
If his original game plan doesn't work, it feels like
he cannot make an adjustment. But when it does, they
look brilliant. They can compete with any team in the league.
(17:31):
There's no reason, on paper or otherwise, the Carolina Panthers
should have been able to play the way they did
against the Rams, but they did so.
Speaker 2 (17:39):
The inconsistencies are hard to describe for Bryce or Dave
Canalis in my opinion, I think it's a little harder
to describe with Dave Canais because I think QB inconsistent
QB play man. Sometimes you miss throws, almost like missing
shots in the NBA, Like I get it if you're
not accurate one hundred percent of the time. And Bryce
has been inconsistent this year. That's a little more explainable
(18:00):
to me. With the coaching. Do sometimes you just missplay calls?
I mean, that's a little harder to me. What I
have landed on is that Dave Canalis gets a little
too infatuated with what the defense is showing him opposite
the line of scrimmage, rather than just playing a brand
of football you know to have been successful before, for instance,
(18:24):
not running the football. To put it real simple, he
decided we're going to run the football against the Rams.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
They have excellent pass rushers. We're gonna run the football.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And it's not to say that you don't have different
nuances and branches from this original idea, original philosophy, but
against San Francisco you're running it well. When you did,
you just didn't do it a whole lot. And this
is a Panthers team that seemingly has run the ball
pretty effectively, whether it be Rico or healthy Cuba. And
I do emphasize healthy Cuba. So is that where you
(18:51):
land like to what do you describe the inconsistencies of Dave?
And I guess there is some inexperience here too, So
maybe I'm not giving that enough love here, But man like,
at some point, it is wild to see how much
it changes from a week to week.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Basis he doesn't trust himself.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
It's not that he doesn't trust Bryce, and I know
that's been a narrative that I think is just absolutely ridiculous.
Now is he tied to Bryce? With Bryce his guy?
Does he love Bright? Who knows? Who cares? He's the quarterback,
He's the starting guy. It ain't gonna be Andy Dalton.
But what I believe Dave is struggling with is his
own identity. Is he certain about his third and three packages?
(19:28):
He's certain about his red zone operations? What is he
gonna do from the two yard line? What are the
decisions on fourth down? I don't know that he's certain
about that. If I think about Andy Reid, he knows
what he's gonna do, He's always known. There is no
mistake on that sheet where Andy's going right, Sean McVay,
he knows what he's gonna do. You don't have to
worry about that, Kyle Shanahan. These are some of the
best play calling minds. Ben Johnson in Chicago. You're telling
(19:53):
me he doesn't know what to do.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
He does.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
So Dave canal Is is still figuring it out, and
that's fine. I think it should be fine for Panthers.
The result is it's gonna be a mixed bag, is
gonna look inconsistent at times. So once he finds that
rhythm and he feels confident in himself that this is
the right call. And I think you touched on it
a little bit for me, just because I have some
overthinkers in my circle, right, Yeah, you overthink it. They
(20:18):
think we're gonna run, so we're gonna pay. Just run
the damn ball like that's what you do. And instead
of allowing the defense to dictate what you come up
with as a plan for the week, be who you
are and you bend them to your will. When Dave
Canalis decides to do that, you've seen his success this year.
He's just gonna make teams bow dout to what they're
gonna do and that starts at the offensive line in
(20:39):
the running game.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
All right, So Al, I'll give you a refresher on
your career because I know you need one.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
All Right.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
You played with Carolina from O two to six, five
years here with the Carolina Panthers, and O two, the
Panthers finished seven and nine. The next year, you guys
win to the Super Bowl at eleven five? Am I stretching?
Am I working too hard to find any similarities with
this team and consistencies and comparing this team to O two?
(21:08):
Or do you see some of those similarities from your
first year here in Carolina?
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (21:11):
I think you see a lot of similarities if I'm
being honest. What I do know and I do find
refreshing when I watched the team, is that the same
dog in the fight? That team in two thousand and
two that lost seven games? They we found a balance,
We found that identity that I'm talking about. Just go
and look at the last just say, four games of
(21:32):
the season, and I'm pretty sure we knocked the Saints
out of the playoffs in their building in the dollars
to end that season. We went into the offseason pretty confident.
We're gonna be able to put together a better team.
And then here comes Stephen Davis, Here comes a couple
of here comes a bunch of other guys, Jake Long,
and we put the thing together in two thousand and two.
(21:52):
This team will not stop fighting. They're scrappy, they believe
in one another, They're gonna make plays. They really are
ignorant that they're not supposed to play with some of
these big teams in the NFC, and that's why you
go out and you upset guys and you beat teams
that on paper no one predicted that you would. And
I like that for this team. I like where they
are because no matter what the season ups and downs
(22:14):
has looked like, you tell me seven and six going
into a bye week and four weeks left in the season,
and we got a chance to compete for the division.
It feels very similar to my two to three teams.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yet how much of that three team is realized in
the off season that you guys are going to be good.
I know you guys were described as the cardiac Kats,
and the big difference is not knowing who your quarterback
was going to be. I guess yeah, because Jake Glom
comes in light and Pete right right, So how much
of it is kind of a surprise in the moment
after that game winning drive against Jacksonville compared to how
(22:46):
you felt about the team realistically in the off season.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
Yeah, Jake was all of us. He was ow all.
Speaker 3 (22:52):
I just told you I was working as an assistant principal.
I think teams has started to give up on guys
like Brentson Buckner, who was brought here to do that job.
Speaker 1 (23:00):
You got a young guy.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
Think about t Mac and think about I do know
this guy's in the Hall of Fame, a young talented
Julius Peppers drafted at twenty years old out of Carolina.
There are so many similarities, and you just you don't
know what it is. You don't know how it's gonna work.
And then we have the Sean Foster, right, you bring
other pieces in, young Jordan Gross and then you say,
you know what we're gonna do is we're gonna put
(23:23):
these pieces together. How's it gonna work? We didn't know.
But what we all knew is that we are a
bunch of misfits. And if Jake can go out there
and come off the bench and get it done, I
could go in and back up a future Hall of
Famer and Julius Peppers. We just didn't know any better.
And I think this team at times when you see
him play, they just black out. They don't know that
they're supposed to be as good as I truly believe
(23:45):
they are.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
Well.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
I mean, you mentioned some of the young guys. I
since you're a pass rusher, I do want to get
some of your thoughts on Princely oumm Meellen a.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Nick Scort, do you work with those guys at all?
Have you worked with them? No? I have not worked
with those two guys. Are you still working with younger
pass rushers?
Speaker 3 (23:58):
I do, yeah, you know, in the off seat, And
so typically what I do is help prep those guys
for the combine and for their pro days to kind
of get a good showing in before they get selected
for the draft. Once they're with teams, it's just luck
of the draw. And we are around Thomas Davis and
you see Jonathan Stewart and obviously Steve Smith, senior guys
(24:18):
are around that building a lot, but working with them
on technique and things like that, not on a personal level.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
From what you see from Nick gorton what do you like,
what do you think the ceiling is the floor?
Speaker 1 (24:29):
All of it was your evaluation on the second round pick.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
That he is always in fifth gear, like he is
a motor out of this world. He's going to chase
down plays tremendous effort. What you learn in your rookie years,
what it takes right, how to clean up some of
the things that used to work for you in college,
that athleticism where you could be better than the guy
in front of you just on pure talent alone. And
(24:51):
now you're gonna have to become a student in the game.
You gotta have to work on your technique. You gotta
add some things to the bag. When you know move
one and two don't work, you need a third counter
on one single pass rush. Those are the things you
learn in this first offseason, right after that rookie season.
And then when I look at Princely man, I'm a
fan of Princeville because he plays special teams. He does
(25:14):
whatever this team asked him to do, and he is
for sure the most incredible athlete for his size, speed,
weight and all those things. And he's always gonna feel
like he has to catch it up with Nick or
teams didn't give him the same respect that s Goordon
has and that's gonna be a huge motivator. So I
just like watching that dude run down on special teams
(25:35):
and just fly all over the field just looking for
number three because he's gonna wreck some stuff.
Speaker 2 (25:39):
Man, He's fun to watch it. Do you like him
as a pass rusher though? And you think that he
can be something for Carolina as a pass rusher?
Speaker 1 (25:45):
Yeah? They're not.
Speaker 3 (25:46):
They weren't, you know, plug and play. These guys are
polished and ready to go. I mean, just look at
Carter up in New York. He his one and a
half sacks was the third overall pick, right, and I
know there's some other issues there. So I think it
takes a while for some guys to come out and
be just pure pass rushers that are going to be
able to put together five, six seven sacks in a
(26:07):
rookie season. That's Aden Hutchinson territory, and neither one of
those guys are that yet.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
But I like what I see. They have some raw
talent that just needs to be coached. Though.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Now I don't know if you talked about this with
Kyle on Tuesday, but you did have some comments with Kyle.
A couple of weeks ago, we aggregated baby Al Wallace
gave us some content and we talked about it on
Weston Walker. You had the comments about Nick Gorton after
that Saints game where he came out in public and
said we had some guys that basically thought that they
were hot stuff and maybe did practice that the comments
(26:37):
were that hit they did that they needed to practice
a little harder, that they thought that they had arrived.
Speaker 1 (26:41):
And it was a rookie saying that, now you hated it.
I hated it. Yeah, I hated it.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
And Kyle gets me right on Mondays or tuesdays after
the game, and I'm still in my emotional bag after
a lost look as a rookie. It's not your place
and there's the rhyme or reason to it, and I
know football is different, and then these guys are coming
from a different place than I did. But it wouldn't
be allowed like there would be some furniture moving in
the locker room. You just can't have it happen from
(27:10):
a young guy who's not wrong. He's not saying the
wrong thing. He just can't say the thing. So I
agree with Nick if heor yeah, if he has the
filling in the locker room that guys kind of you know,
shifted down a little bit after a big win and
people are feeling themselves. He knows what it looks like,
he knows what work goes into being really good. But
(27:31):
what you cannot do is speak out of turn, and
for a rookie, it's out of turn. The problem is
that he's allowed to be in front of the camera.
Can't do it now. I don't know if that's managed
by the locker room, but I guarantee you if you
go back and you look at two thousand and two,
there's not a whole lot of Julius Pepper's interview. And
it's not because he was acquire to say that's part
(27:52):
of it. That's part of it. But it was gonna
be Britz and Buck, there's gonna be Mike Rutger, even
myself as a backup. You don't put the camera in
the rookies faces. They're going to say something crazy.
Speaker 2 (28:01):
Well, because so we had the content just the process
of a phone or interview where you got to get
all the highlights that you guys didn't have a chance
to set up camp here. But when we talked about
your comments on it, like I wanted to see clarity
on who you were most frustrated with and how to
do another pie chart. I'm sorry I got you work
in here today, but I know you got the frustration
(28:22):
for Nick Gorton making those kind of comments. How much
of your anger slash frustration was also towards the Vets
for allowing a rookie to have to be the one
that says it and or feel like he needs to
be the one to say it. Is there any frustration
in that or is it all on Nick coming out
and as you mentioned, being truthful like saying the right thing.
It's just he's not the one to say said thing.
(28:42):
How much was the frustration towards some of the Vets
on the team? Yeah, my frustration was absolutely with the Vets.
Secondarily it was with Nick Gordon because I'm going to
tell you exactly how I think it played out. This
was a conversation that was had by the veterans. They
said it, Yeah, some veteran whether we Dereck Brown.
Speaker 3 (29:01):
And I wasn't in that locker room, right, So I
don't want to pretend like I know who said what,
but I believe Nick heard that and then now the
camera's in his face and he said, well, it's safe
because big Bro said it, So I'm gonna say I'm
gonna repeat it. And I can't get in trouble for
something that wasn't my original thought.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
But you can't do it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can't
do it. You can't allow that to happen. Now.
Speaker 3 (29:21):
Just imagine if Dereck Brown says that, or J. C.
Horn or somebody like that, Ashan Robinson, if they say that,
you're gonna be like, damn, this team needs to get
it together.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
That's great leadership.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
The same word said by the rookie is you gotta
get hands put on you, like somebody needs to take
him to the back locker room.
Speaker 1 (29:38):
Like that's crazy.
Speaker 3 (29:39):
You can't do that because now you're opening up the
curtain where it's not your place to do that as well.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Well, And I think that's something we probably didn't discuss
as much at the time. Here was you are right
the messenger with the same message, you don't receive it
the same way. Because now we've compared this a little bit.
I heard Kyle doing the same thing with the kan
Ka nipple message. I don't know if you saw those
comments about the Hornets losey again, and then Con you
seem mad. He said, Hey, we got a style that
(30:04):
we got to play with and we didn't bring it
every single game, and that's unacceptable. And so when you
hear from the rookies, we love what the rookies are saying,
but it also uplifts himself more so than it lifts
uplifts the entire team. So you are right in that
I hear that from s Gorton, I hear that from Con.
I hear that from rookies. And now not only am
I loving the rookie because he says it right, oh, Sevao,
(30:26):
he's leadership.
Speaker 1 (30:27):
Yeah, leadership about that.
Speaker 2 (30:29):
We start questioning the Vets because of it, and so
I that that go right, like so that that makes
more sense to me, And you start questioning Derek Brown,
You start questioning why the Vets aren't saying it and
because they didn't go to the media with it. They
know better, right, And now they actually are the leaders.
They actually are the guys that are saying this isn't okay,
(30:50):
but it all gets misconstrued because the rookie is the
one saying it with the camera in.
Speaker 3 (30:54):
Leader leaders don't do that, right, you keep it in
the house and you do it a different way. Also
in this this is not to disparage Nick s gorton, Man,
you better be bawling.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
You like to talk that boldly.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
About guys arriving and getting back to like, man, you
better have some sacks, you better have some plays. And
you know I didn't dig into the stats yea and
earned it. You can't do it.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So that's a good question comparing it to Kahan because
cod is that's right, because con is rookie of the
Month in the Eastern Conference should be winning Rookie of
the Year. Even whiles Bridges said it, he's been the
best player this season as a VET. Like, I guess
I'll ask you this, Julius Peppers. Let's say it does
happen to him. Is furniture still moving? If Pepper says
(31:39):
it because he is producing, No, it's not.
Speaker 3 (31:41):
It's different. Hey we're hey, we don't do that. This
is not what we do. But I think it's received differently.
If t Max says that, hey, we can't do that,
you're talking out of turn. Yeah, Like, don't let that
happen again. You get a guy like Mussi Muhammad or
you know Ricky pro says that to a young guy.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
Hey, let's clean that up. We don't do that. This
is how it works. You teach him, but now haven't
earned it?
Speaker 2 (32:08):
Al Wallace. People are asking who it is. I'll tell
you former Panthers defensive end Al Wallace in the Chandler
vaulta Studios on Western Walker Sports Radio ninety two to
seven WFNZ. Not to be weird about it, but Stanford
pe writes in Walk, how big is Al? Does he
make you look like a kid. The only reason I'm
going to bring this up is because I remember, all right,
our paths crossed a long time ago when my mom
(32:31):
worked at a dog kennel. Yeah, and Al brought in,
I mean, his cut up, jacked pit bull to be trained.
The only thing bigger than Al was his pit bull. Right,
just looked like a stone cold killer, as sweet as
he was. Although I don't know about how sweet he was.
I just know he needed to be trained. Al rolling
(32:51):
through the doorways, needed to turn to his side. And
this is peek, oh football playing career. What I remember
is you needing to duck and turned sideways to fit
through the kennel doors. And that's why I bring up
that Stanford p text because yes, yes, big Al Wallace,
there's a reason you can call them big Al Wallace.
I just always remember that as like an eight year
old with you and your monster pit bull.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Yeah, that's what you talk about back in the day. Man,
I look at some pictures of myself and I'm like, man, like,
what was I eating?
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Well, we talked about it with Wes two, like Wes
being the offensive lineman going through the weight transformation that
they go through.
Speaker 3 (33:27):
Y'all are crazy. It's only the offensive alignment. It's only
the offense alignment. Jordan grows those guys. I mean, well,
West is still like relatively athletic. Now he's got back issues,
but we talk about it with him. You look at
old playing like weight forest football. I just a monster,
an absolute beast at three point thirty weighs twenty more
(33:47):
pounds than I do, like and I got noodle arms
like y'all are crazy with the weight transformation.
Speaker 1 (33:52):
Man.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Anyways, former Panther Al Wallace joining us in the channel
of VAULTA Studios. If you'll have more questions, feel free.
Fandal text line seven four five ninety six to ten.
We'll continue our Panthers conversation, but not before a neogenics
college football injury report from a man flound Dog.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
Take it away, Floundy.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
All right, guys, and this is in neogenics college football
injury report neogenics where all you have to lose is
the pain. When it comes to the Big Twelve Championship
game tomorrow, there are a couple of guys that statuses
have been updated on. Baron Morton, the starring quarterback for
Texas Tech, is listed as probable for Saturday's matchup against BYU. Meanwhile,
(34:34):
BYU running back Sino Sione Moa is listed as probable
for Saturday's matchup Chase Roberts, their wide receiver listed as
probable as well, So it looks like they will be
a full go both of these teams for what should
be a very interesting Big twelve Championship.
Speaker 2 (34:51):
All right, good stuff from Flounder. More al Wall's coming
up next on WESN Walker Al Wallason Studio. One more
segment the Chandler vaulta Studio. CBE Injury Law dot Com,
Go to CB injurylat dot Com. One call. That's all
(35:13):
the Carolina's personal injury lawyers got some questions for you,
Al you up for it the Q and a portion
of your stint here on the Western Walker Show, Zach
from Philly says, can you ask al what more does
Derek Brown need to do before he's in the running
for Defensive Player of the Year or even comeback Player
of the year. We talked about comeback player of the year. Yeah,
(35:34):
possibly there Miles Garrett. Man, you can't beat Miles Garrett
this year, right, the.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Defensive player of the year.
Speaker 3 (35:41):
He's going to break the sack record and yeah he's
that's already done. So comeback is it is? I think
pretty good for Derek Brown. And the only thing that
he could get more recognition where Derek Brown can become
the Aaron Donald type guy on this team. Think about
Fletcher Cox when he was in phil those type of guys,
(36:01):
you know the difference. They were pass rushers, they got
to the quarterback. And I know Derek stamped this last
game with the fumble on Matthew Stafford. But until he
starts to put up sack numbers, you know he's not
gonna get that national recognition. Unfortunately, he is a passing league,
in a pass rusher league.
Speaker 1 (36:18):
On the d line.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
How justifiable is it that he's not getting that kind
of recognition, Like, is it somewhere in the middle or
should he be getting a lot more recognition for what
he's doing.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
He should be getting a lot more recognition.
Speaker 3 (36:29):
And Brian Baldigger is a guy that puts out a
weekly video of chaos with Derek Brown. This guy is
as dominant as anybody in the history of the game
at interior defensive line. He plays hard, he hustles, he
does all the right things, and he should be getting
more recognition. I think he's an All Pro this year
and that's not even putting up numbers the way he
(36:50):
did with one hundred and three tackles two years ago
before the injury.
Speaker 1 (36:53):
Yeah, one last question on Derek Brown. I remember him.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I think it was reported either I forget the coaching
staff or Derek said it. I forget who said it,
But Derek Brown apparently asked for more opportunities to rush
the passer. What does that look like like when he
says that, What does that mean in terms of what
he's typically asked to do and what he's asking a
varo to do, and maybe in order for those sack numbers,
to go up.
Speaker 3 (37:15):
Yeah, I just think you're figuring he's dealing with double
teams on first and second down, he's chasing down plays
from the backside. He's literally tossing other three hundred pound men,
and you're going to bring in a guy that maybe
is a little quicker first step right, a little more
quick twitch to him, that can beat a guy one
on one. But what you don't realize is that Derek
Brown is going to push the pocket, which is going
(37:37):
to help everybody else in the sack that he got
on Matthew Stafford. It's a stunt. This guy is coming
around the edge to chase down Matthew Stafford. So that
is one of the examples where they kept him in
the game to do something you don't typically see a
guy of his size and stature do. That's run a
line stunt loop around the right edge to track down
a quarterback. Now he's not gonna catch every quarter back.
Speaker 2 (37:57):
He can get Rathew, so you can catch Matthew Stafford.
Catch that, all right? We just had this conversation during
the break. Oddly enough, cow Herd writes in for al
many years afterwards, I watched the Super Bowl game back
and it looked like Buckner. Brentson Buckner was a coach
on the field. I never knew he had that much
of an impact. Was that just my perception or the
reality of that year. We'd literally just had this conversation
(38:18):
during the break, and the answer to that question is yes,
he did have that big of an impact.
Speaker 3 (38:22):
He had that big of an impact, and he was
our big brother. He was absolutely our coach on the
Phil Sousland Siri, who was a longtime Alabama assistant coach,
an All American linebacker with Marino and that group at
pitt Look, buck understood so much football and we were
all young guys that he got us lined up. He
kept us just in tune to different keys and study
(38:46):
habits that we didn't come to the game with, and
he made us so much better. I give a lot
of credit to what you saw from that D line,
Brentson Buckner putting us in the very best position down
to the point where, just like quarterbacks make audible, buck
would see something making audible, call a line stunt and
have it hit home. In ninety nine percent of the time,
(39:07):
he wasn't reaping the benefits. He wasn't the guy that
was getting the sack so a rookie Julius Peppers who
played next to Brinson Buckner in his own right, he's
a Hall of Famer. But trust me when I tell
you some of the things that he saw that he
called games with Julius Peppers helped him come free because
he just he knew more than everybody. The guy is
one of the smartest football people I know. His memory
(39:29):
is incredible. He knows so much football. Shout out to
Brenton doctor Man. All Right, Homer Jeff writing in on
the Fandel text line, ask Al Wallace where he keeps
his NFC Championship ring with you Home in Florida, Home
in Florida with Pops II. He has, you know, the
pictures and some of the game balls and things like
that that I was able to accumulate over my just
(39:49):
crazy year in and out of the league. To talk
to about being an assistant principal, you know, instints from
Chicago to Miami to Carolina. But yeah, that stuff like that,
you know, it means a lot to a parent who
raises I'm the only boy, raises the sun and sees
him playing a Super Bowl. So winning the NFC Championship
against my former team, the Philadelphia Eagles in their building
(40:11):
was one of my highlights of my career.
Speaker 2 (40:13):
I did have a couple of people ask about your
assistant principal days.
Speaker 1 (40:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:17):
Look, when I was in school, it felt like the
assistant principal the main job was to stop the rough
housing and bouncer.
Speaker 1 (40:25):
How that's what I was. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (40:28):
How much did people try you? I mean, are they
kids and they're just not that Did they still try
you to.
Speaker 3 (40:33):
The very last day? Yeah, for a long time. They
just they thought I was a big dude. You don't
make an announcement right, And I was I think twenty
eight years old, so I was young. I didn't look
too much far off from their age, and you know,
it played in the NFL. So the clothes that I had,
like the dress clothes that looked like an assistant principal,
they cost a couple of bucks and I wore that
(40:54):
stuff the first couple of days. And after finding myself
at the bottom of a couple dust ups. Man, you know,
two three hundred dollars shoes get scuffed up or some
dress pants, You're like, no, we're not doing.
Speaker 1 (41:04):
This is high school. It was high school. Yeah, this
Lake's high school. Down in West brom Beach, Florida.
Speaker 2 (41:09):
Okay, so high school. Yeah, they're just not gonna They're
not gonna care.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
It doesn't matter. They feel like they're invincible. Walker.
Speaker 3 (41:15):
I had a guy who didn't go to class. He
walked around, he were harassed. The whole school ran out
of the days that you could legally suspend him. So anyway,
he had some words for our front desk, you know, administrator,
and I got I got upset. I didn't like it.
And he said, I'm gonna I know what car you drive.
I'm going to see you. I've seen you at the
(41:36):
mall before. The next time I see you, it's on site.
And I did with my kids, and I had to
stick them into like a Spencer's store in the mall.
And I was prepared to square up against a teenage kid.
I was twenty eight, and I was all game for it,
like and then he was, oh, mister Wallace man.
Speaker 2 (41:54):
You know I like the idea of you shoving your
kids into a Spencer for a little bit, like, hey,
well place, what what you see at Spencer's is less
harmful than what you're about to see your dad do, right,
that is phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
Yeah, oh all right, and I was met with a
hug and telling his friends.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
You know, those kids were doing some things outside of school.
It's like, man, this dude is my assistant principal. He
played in the NFL.
Speaker 1 (42:21):
So to get the word out, man, heart rate, fight
or flight? I was ready.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
Well, next time, next time you try the assistant principal.
Just know my man is a football player and he's
with the smoke.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
Yeah, so get das right you, Yeah, it was gonna
be some smoke.
Speaker 2 (42:36):
Gets get the DAPs ready, you know, because you don't
want those hands ready for anything other than that happened
the man that you said that you were going to
fight a little while ago. That's Al Wallace, former assistant
principal Al Wallace here in the channel of VAULTA Studios
here on WESN. Walker Sports Radio ninety two to seven
wfn Z. Before we get you out of here out
where can people catch you? Where are you talking? What
are you doing these days in terms of the content business.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
Yeah, it's always you know, you can catch me on
Queen City News every Sunday morning, ten am.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
I'm working with a great group over there.
Speaker 3 (43:06):
Christian outiserc of course, and Gabe McDonald, all those guys
over there, just doing a great job of covering the
Panthers on Black and Blue, post game and Kickoff Live,
so the pregame and the postgame show. Most weeks doing
work over there, and do my work with the Charlotte
forty nine ers. So every now and then I'll venture
on social media and give my thoughts an opinion, but
(43:28):
mostly there on Queen City News Man, just keeping up
with Charlotte Sports and of course the Charlotte forty nine
ers finished up year six seven year with that program,
so looking forward to a lot.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
Yeah. Man, that's Al Wallace.
Speaker 2 (43:39):
You can hear him here also on Sports Rated ninety
two seven WFNZ frequently on with Kyle Bailey, and we'll
keep him around here every once in a while. Thanks again, Al,
appreciate it your times always. Thanks One more hour to
Go Sports Rated ninety two seven WFNZ. Listen to the
West and Walker Show we teased from noon to three
only on Sports Radio ninety two point seven fm FNZ,
(44:01):
the official home of the Charlotte Sports Fan
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