October 20, 2023 • 21 mins
The Carolina Panthers entered the homestretch of the 2003 regular season eyeing the #1 seed in the NFC. At 8-2 Carolina boasted the best record in the conference, but a late season swoon doomed any designs of homefield advantage for Jake Delhomme and the Panthers. As the Panthers boarded their cross country flight for a week 15 tilt with Arizona - a team that had shown so much poise under pressure - now started to feel the weight of expectations.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Previously uncodiac.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The Panthers entered the home stretch of the season eyeing
the number one seed in the NFC. At eight and two,
Carolina boasted the best record in the conference, But for
Jake Delom and the Panthers, a late season swoon doomed
any designs of home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The bitter taste in their mouth again as they leave
Texas Stadium Final score Dallas Cowboys twenty four, Carolina Panthers twenty. Well,
it's over the Panthers for the first time in a
long time.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Blew a football game.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Final score for americsmon Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles twenty five the
Carolina Panthers sixteen.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We just can't get that win, just inclus the division and.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
The Falcons mastery over the Panthers continues as our offense
makes the worst defense in the league look like the
seventy Steelers. Unbelievable. It's over and over time. Final score
from the Georgia Dolby Atlanta Falcons twenty the Carolina Panthers fourteen.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
We knew he was there at some point because we
still had three more games left, but we just that
elusive win.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
As December descended, the cardiac cats found themselves tongue tied,
and for rookie offensive lineman Jordan Gross, the metaphor was
all too real.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
Bruce Nelson, who was another O ligneman, we were doing
his rookie dinner. I was there just enjoying it as
a rookie. My dinner had yet to come, and we
get these butterfly shrimp like these a coconut butterfly shrimp.
And when food comes, when you're part of an O
line eating together, like if appetizers come, you gotta move
quick or else they're gone. Right, So I grab a
big old coconut shrimp and bite down into it, and
(01:46):
all of a sudden, I'm like, oh my gosh, what happened?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Something stabbed me in the tongue.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
So I'm trying to play it cool because I'm a
rookie and with all these old guys, and I'm feeling
like with my turning my head down into my armpit,
you know, trying to hide and feel it. And as
near as I can tell, there was a fishbone in
this shrimp and it now impaled my tongue. Think of
a fin on a fish, like the top fin, the
dorsal fin. I guess it has a little bone that
(02:13):
kind of provides a rigidity at the nose end of
the fin well that somehow, through processing, got inside this shrimp.
So when I took a giant three hundred five pound
o lineman bite and it perfectly like my teeth shoved
down and this thing came through the shrimp flesh and
went into my tongue, but it was barbed, So I'm
(02:34):
trying to figure out what to do.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Try to pull this thing out.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
Well, sure enough, Todd Steucy catches me Messrind's.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Like gross, what's going on?
Speaker 6 (02:42):
And oh my god, it grows a fishbone in my tongue.
Well this everybody had been having wine and drinks and
so this became like, oh my god, the coolest thing ever.
So now next thing you know, I've got Matt Willig
and Steucie and Jeff Mitchell with a leatherman someone had
in their pocket trying to pull this bone out of
my tongue. We can't get it to go, and I'm
like bleeding everywhere. And somehow Pat Connor, who was our
(03:05):
team doctor at the time, happens to be dining at
this same establishment, so he stops his dinner. He takes
me to his office, numbs up my tongue, cuts it out,
and sends me back to dinner. My tongue was all swollen.
You don't do stitches on a tongue, evidently, So I
just sat there and they, you know, they were laughing
at me. By the time I got back, it was
like almost over. But I just remember thinking, like, what
a what a loser? What happened here? You know, this
(03:28):
is such a rookie move. That was the rookie dinner
experience for me.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
By Welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Moment Fires for prolling the ends on.
Speaker 7 (03:36):
Hey god, touchdom, big hole down the sideline.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
He's gone, and.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The Panthers are gonna pull another.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
One out of their head.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That was Tortianza touchdown, Fires over the medal?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Is that intercepting? Yes, it is up.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It is Gode Panthers of onon in it over time
heads a forty five to the forty. I thought it's right,
the oney ten fine touchdown.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yes, Charlotte, there is a super Bowl and we're in it. Cardiac.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The Panthers were reeling. They had lost three straight games.
They had missed multiple chances to clinch the division. Longtime
Panthers broadcaster Jim Zokie.
Speaker 8 (04:23):
That's the reality of the NFL. It's a long season.
Even then when it was sixteen games, I mean, they
went eleven to five, even with a three game losing
streak late in that season. The good thing for them
was it wasn't that competitive of a divisional race. You know,
they had built enough of a buffer where they had
space to do that. But you want to be playing
your best football late in the season. I mean, football
really is about who's playing their best football heading into
(04:44):
the playoffs, and this was a team that clearly started
heading the other direction, kind of like ooh, has the
magic worn off at the wrong time? Here in December,
there's certainly with some trepidation and maybe some concern about
this team maybe played their best football already and maybe
they're starting to.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Wear down as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
For a team that had won so many close games,
it was fair to wonder if a regression was inevitable.
Offensive lineman Kevin Donnelly.
Speaker 9 (05:09):
There's a lot of pressure because you start counting games,
you start seeing where everyone else in the division is.
Can you clinch this week? If we didn't clinch, Well,
we can clinch the next week.
Speaker 8 (05:18):
We've seen teams lose out. I mean, we've seen teams
that are like running away with their divisions and having
the best record.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
In football that completely flatten.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Out defensive lineman Al Wallace.
Speaker 10 (05:29):
I think that it's it's not a done deal at
eight and two. And it goes back to what I
said in the Tennessee game. Right, you're feeling good, You're
feeling you're at the top of the NFC South.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
How can we get this done?
Speaker 10 (05:40):
You're thinking now teams are maybe afraid that you're the
Carolina Panthers. You're gonna come out there. Stephen Davis is
gonna run for one hundred and fifty yards and you
know Steve Smith is gonna have nine catches for one
hundred plus yards. And we got the best defense in
the league, right, we got the best defensive front in
the league, and people put a target on us, and
we didn't respect that. We didn't respect the game enough.
(06:02):
And that's I think that was a lesson that we
all kind of learned through the process that no one
was gonna lay down for us because we were eight
and two. I think a lesson learned for us was
to just go out there and get back to the basics.
It really is a cliche thing, but we were on
a fancy team. We didn't have the fancy quarterback. We
had a budding superstar wide receiver. We had some old
(06:22):
and young guys. Look at Ricky Manning junior and what
he was able to do with his rookie season. For us,
we just went out there and got back to the
basics and decided we're gonna fly out to Arizona.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
We weren't coming back without some hats.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
As the Panthers boarded their cross country flight for a
week fifteen tilt with Arizona, a team that had shown
so much poise under pressure now started to feel the
weight of expectations. Quarterback Jake Delone, everybody feeling the pressure.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
There's no doubt.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
You're trying not to say it, but you can sense it.
You can feel it because two years removed, this team
is one in fifteen.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Defensive back Mike Minter.
Speaker 11 (07:00):
It was tough because we knew all we had to
do it with one game, right, and I think the
pressure of one game and we champs, right, I think
that you know, became a thing, and I think coach
did a great job of alleviating the pressure during that
week with Arizona.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
You know, I always used to tell him there were
two games away.
Speaker 9 (07:23):
From disaster, even at that point, and it happens.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
It comes.
Speaker 12 (07:27):
I've just been through it too many times, and.
Speaker 7 (07:29):
So we wanted to have three game slide.
Speaker 13 (07:31):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
We just had to get him out.
Speaker 7 (07:32):
Of that funk and uh, you know, keep him positive, loosen.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Up the mood a little bit.
Speaker 11 (07:38):
He told us to relax. Practices became fun, it became light.
He was more relaxed throughout the week, you know, doing practice,
doing meetings, having fun.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
But that's how you do it.
Speaker 7 (07:51):
It's the only way you do it.
Speaker 11 (07:52):
Is got to get people mind on other things other
than trying to clinch the division championship. Because it was tough, man,
I swear, because we was losing game. We're like, man,
you know, the demons are coming back. We're like, no,
we're not gonna let the demons come back. We're gonna
get this done. So for three weeks, you valiant yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
When the game started, a relaxed and ready Mike Minteror
got the Panthers off to a roaring start.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Back to thrown account swings it high and that's picked off.
That comes Mike Munner for Carolina far sideline twenty ten
to five touchdown.
Speaker 11 (08:32):
After that moment, like you still got some football to play.
But after that moment, it was it was like, we're
gonna win this game. Everybody on our sideline knew we
were gonna win win the game, and that was the
play to break break the tension that we've been feeling
for the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
While Mentor gave the Panthers an early lead, the game
was far from over. Jake Deloman. The offense struggled in
the first half.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And give Arizona credit.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
They were throwing the football all over the are playing
hard because they had a little snotty nose second year
quarterback Josh McCown who's now a quarterback coach, and they
had a rookie wide receiver named and Kwan Bolden, so
give him credit.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And McCown's gonna bootleg it out nearside right being chased
down there by Terry Cousin.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
He's at the ten, he's at the.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Five, torts the right pylon, touchdown, Arizona. Josh McCown making
like Michael Vick.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
The Panther's lone first half score was Mentor's pick six. Meanwhile,
Arizona took a halftime lead thanks to an NFL legendary
first single.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Arizona from the four hand off to Smith cuts it
out to the left, nice stutter stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
He'll take it in touchdown Emitt Smith.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
At halftime, we're in the locker room and you could
just steal the tension. Richard Williamson, a receiver, coach Richard
may rest in peace, played at Alabama, you know, and
everybody says the same thing. Coach Richardson, even Mussin Muhammad
and Steve Smith, you know, just krusty and kept on
their toes. He chewed us out as a football team
before we went out, and he just let us know,
(10:06):
like enough's enough, grow up and go finish it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
And everybody was like, you know, Richard's right.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
In the third quarter, a John Casey field goal cut
the Panthers deficit to four. Early in the fourth, a
dynamic running back put the Cardiac Cats in front back
to throw.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Again to Loone. Pumps, pumps, pumps again. Now throws it
up top. Foster got it.
Speaker 14 (10:33):
Two to one is the end, No down inside the
one yard line, the Sean Foster cut the ball down
the near sideline. Good throw by Dolon, and now the
Panthers have thrown the red flag.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
They think de Sean Foster got in the end zone.
Speaker 13 (10:48):
After reviewing the play, the receiver could hit the pylon
and the ball was over the plane.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Therefore it hit a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Please, but Arizona looked poised to play spoiler. The Cardinals
tied to the game at seventeen with a little more
than a minute left. It set the stage for a
cardiac finish.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
The game went back and forth, back and forth, and
then we had a two minute drive. And why they
tried to play Steve Smith man the man I'll never understand.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
The chemistry between Jake Delom and Steve smith had been
building all season long, or perhaps bubbling all season long.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
I think we were both young, still wet behind the ears,
not a lot of experience.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
Truth or lie. All right, here's the lie man. He
was just dynamic the truth. We would bicker like two
sisters about everything. He would get mad at me on depth,
I would get mad at him on velocity. And it
was to the point that if we weren't arguing, something
(11:55):
was wrong. I give you an example of our normal
be in the huddle. They call a play and he
would say something like, you gonna get your depth, can
you get the ball there? Stuff like that. Then as
we became really really good, it was what route do
you want? What route do you believe you can throw?
Speaker 1 (12:17):
We just kind of grew together.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
I know how talented he was, and I'm gonna throw
them the football, and I think he knew that I
wasn't afraid to throw them the football.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And it just kind of one of those It was
the perfect storm.
Speaker 15 (12:26):
Jake Delone would never hesitate. There could be four guys
covering Steve Smith and Jake would put it up there
and expect him to make a play.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
And then it became where it was it we were vickery.
It was the expectation from each other.
Speaker 15 (12:41):
And Steve Smith in turn, would expect the ball to
be coming his way no matter how many guys were
on him, and he would make the play. I think
that's the chemistry they had.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
You know, as much as you know, he might have talked,
and Steve didn't talk much in the huddle.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Steve did not talk much in the huddle.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He never came back and said, hey, I'm wide open
or he never did anything like that now, and I
think it's probably surprised as people.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
But it was more so if I missed him or something.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
The only thing he would have would have gotten the
huddle and he would have just said hey, It would
have gave me a look.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And I was said, I missed you, I didn't see you,
and he and he would he would have nod, and
I was all right, I'll get you.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
And if he dropped the pass and he wouldn't look
at me, I wan, I wasn't gonna berat him, but
he wouldn't look at me because he was just so devastated.
Speaker 15 (13:27):
I think they did a boat Jangles something.
Speaker 8 (13:32):
Steve just one of those players that really feeds off
the fans.
Speaker 15 (13:37):
Literally, so they were even building on this off the field,
the fact that they were. They were close, not only
in the locker room but in real life as well.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Uh, maybe you should work the counter for a while, Jake, Okay, boss.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Got a wood, need to get and have a.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
We just hit it off.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
On that final drive, the Panthers had the answer for
Arizona's defense. It was Delom throwing to Smith, so.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Diloman company moving left to right, hoping to get John
Casey on the field to try to win this game.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
I just remember they started playing Steve one on one
and I was like, this is not right, and I
called all the too many plays at the line. I'm like, no,
they're not doing am.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I seeing things? So I would just take the ball
throw to Steve and.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Here's Delom, well a p what's coming and he goes
near sideline. Smith makes the catching out of mound.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Taking the ball throw to Steve, Dallom.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Short drop flings it over fireside.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Smith again, Man, we have figured out we were pretty
darn good. They were outmatched, and the Arizona Cardinals at
the time, they were setting their ways that they had
believed at some point, even though the first three quarters
would indicate that that wasn't the case, that they were
going to play man cover and we took advantage of him.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Fifty two seconds to go in regulation, we're tired at
seventeen again, the Loan in the pocket swings it out
far side to Smith, makes the catch it and it
is just driven back into the turf.
Speaker 7 (15:06):
Earlier in the game, we tried to establish the run
and that's what really got us behind a little bit,
we're running up against a brick wall, and we switched
even though they didn't switch, and we went to the
pass game.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
And that's what really.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Helped Glitz is coming back to throw the long fires
fireside Smith has it goes out of bounds at the
thirty seven yard line.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
Steve's just difficult to guard and they're scared of it,
so they're gonna play off. So I would just, you know,
I actually use my brain for once and just kind
of take who took what they gave me.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Another quick out.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
The Smith makes the catch out of bounds with the
thirty one yard line, and with eight seconds to go,
it's time for John Casey.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
And we just methodically went down the field till we
got in field goal range and John was gonna come
out to kick, and there was no doubt John was
gonna make the kick and we're gonna win the division.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
So John Casey comes on for a field goal try
of forty nine yards from the left hash Mark sour
Brunn will hold. If it's good, the Panthers would be
just seconds away from a division title. We're ready to
go snap placement. Casey's kick is up.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
It is on the way, it is God.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
John Casey drills it from forty nine yards out four
seconds to go, four seconds.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
To a division title?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Have the Panthers have taken the lad twenty to seventeen
over Arizona.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
John Casey's forty nine yard field goal was his fourth
game winning kick of the season.
Speaker 8 (16:44):
I mean, you think about all those games we talk
about going overtime and on the road, they were decided
by threes, not six and sevens. So this is that's
John Casey being clutched too. We talk about Jake Delumbing clutched.
Not only was John Casey a prolific scorer, accurate, strong leg,
all the things you need from a great kicker. I
mean he was when the chips were down. He was
that guy that came through for you that needs to
(17:05):
be remembered as much as anything was. To get to
that point where you can even reach a super Bowl,
it took a guy like John Casey being reliable and
just being that that constant.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
No John Casey was, we were so confident, just hey,
you get to overtime. The first thing I did was
I'd look at Mike McCoy and Jim Skipper, like, hey,
what do we need to get Skippy would always give
me the timeouts, and Mike was like, hey, thirty six
yard line, thirty five, just getting just getting near it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
John's kick in the field goal.
Speaker 10 (17:30):
I just don't know if the guy's heartbeat got over
sixty beats per minute. That's how he's built his faith
and what he believes in and his confidence in himself
is what I believe made him the best kicker in
this franchise's history. To go out there and make all
those he is. He is the Cardiac Cats. That's how
they coined that phrase on the foot of John Casey Man.
(17:52):
He got us out of a lot of terrible situations
and he won a lot of football games for US.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Mighty. Casey's kick delivered more than a win. It gave
the Panthers the NFC South title and a huge sense
of relief.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
Going down the locker room to celebrate when they ever
been to get the first division title. It was it
was fantastic. We had a good time, but a lot
of that was, you know, we checked that off. Next
thing now is build momentum and try and do something
in the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (18:21):
It was sense of relief, you know, thinking about what
we poured into it in the summer thinking about all
the work, all the battles, the Cardiac Cats, the fan
base that had been so good to us that, man,
we cannot believe we are here after a seven to
nine season, following up a one in fifteen season, and
now we have an opportunity to make some noise in
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That was a big win to go out there.
Speaker 12 (18:41):
It's a long trip and that can wear on teams
as well. It's late in the season. Just a season
wears on a team, and you know, that was a
big canibult, you know, late in the season. It's kind
of a second win, so to speak.
Speaker 11 (18:53):
And what I remember about going into the locker room, man,
I mean we had the hats, the T shirts, the
sham dang.
Speaker 16 (19:01):
We excited about the fact that we did and we
hugging each other. We cried because think about all the
year that we've been there. I'm talking about the guys
that's been there from any of the struggle, and man, it.
Speaker 11 (19:15):
Was a joys moment to be a part of because
it's nothing like pressure being released.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
I didn't know. We got cool hats and T shirts.
That was the best part with me when we went
into the locker.
Speaker 6 (19:26):
Room we had NFC South champions hats, and I was thinking, Oh,
how did they make these already?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Like, I was just everything was so new and I
was so ignorant to how anything worked that that was
pretty funny that I was just so happy that we
got free hats.
Speaker 13 (19:40):
See Jackie Miles and Don Tone are passing out the
division championship hats and T shirts.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
That's something that this team earned. It wasn't given.
Speaker 13 (19:48):
Then it started back for the players in training camp,
but for the front office and the drafts and free
agency leading up to that. There were key moments throughout
the season by all three phases offense, defense, special teams.
But I think that team knew we weren't done. There's
still more work to accomplish.
Speaker 12 (20:05):
What in that game right there now makes it tangible
and it kind of wets your appetite to go like this,
I could win a super Bowl, you know, and every
player in that locker room wants to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Every player.
Speaker 12 (20:15):
That's what you play for. You play for money, and
you play for super Bowls. That's what you play for.
And now you're like, and let's not mess us up.
Everybody do their job let's not mess us up. That's
the chatter in the locker room because now you realize
that this is tangible.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
With a division title secured, the Panthers polished off in
eleven win season with easy victories against the Lions and
the Giants. To win against New York was especially sweet
for John Fox, the former Giants defensive coordinator.
Speaker 12 (20:42):
Whether you're a player or coach and you're competing against
an old team, you know the people in.
Speaker 7 (20:48):
The organization, You know some of the players.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
You know everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
That's a big thing in the NFL.
Speaker 12 (20:55):
You know, Mike Strahan or I was very close to
its still there the ownership.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You know, you're part of their family over five.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Years and you give me a close to people.
Speaker 12 (21:04):
But you know, when you compete against your friends, you
know you can beat a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
The Cardiac Cats were postseason bound for just the second
time in franchise history. Carolina would host Dallas in the
wild Card round, a game that would give the Panthers
franchise it's beating heart
Previously uncodiac.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
The Panthers entered the home stretch of the season eyeing
the number one seed in the NFC. At eight and two,
Carolina boasted the best record in the conference, But for
Jake Delom and the Panthers, a late season swoon doomed
any designs of home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The bitter taste in their mouth again as they leave
Texas Stadium Final score Dallas Cowboys twenty four, Carolina Panthers twenty. Well,
it's over the Panthers for the first time in a
long time.
Speaker 4 (00:35):
Blew a football game.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Final score for americsmon Stadium, Philadelphia Eagles twenty five the
Carolina Panthers sixteen.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
We just can't get that win, just inclus the division and.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
The Falcons mastery over the Panthers continues as our offense
makes the worst defense in the league look like the
seventy Steelers. Unbelievable. It's over and over time. Final score
from the Georgia Dolby Atlanta Falcons twenty the Carolina Panthers fourteen.
Speaker 5 (01:06):
We knew he was there at some point because we
still had three more games left, but we just that
elusive win.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
As December descended, the cardiac cats found themselves tongue tied,
and for rookie offensive lineman Jordan Gross, the metaphor was
all too real.
Speaker 6 (01:25):
Bruce Nelson, who was another O ligneman, we were doing
his rookie dinner. I was there just enjoying it as
a rookie. My dinner had yet to come, and we
get these butterfly shrimp like these a coconut butterfly shrimp.
And when food comes, when you're part of an O
line eating together, like if appetizers come, you gotta move
quick or else they're gone. Right, So I grab a
big old coconut shrimp and bite down into it, and
(01:46):
all of a sudden, I'm like, oh my gosh, what happened?
Speaker 1 (01:49):
Something stabbed me in the tongue.
Speaker 6 (01:52):
So I'm trying to play it cool because I'm a
rookie and with all these old guys, and I'm feeling
like with my turning my head down into my armpit,
you know, trying to hide and feel it. And as
near as I can tell, there was a fishbone in
this shrimp and it now impaled my tongue. Think of
a fin on a fish, like the top fin, the
dorsal fin. I guess it has a little bone that
(02:13):
kind of provides a rigidity at the nose end of
the fin well that somehow, through processing, got inside this shrimp.
So when I took a giant three hundred five pound
o lineman bite and it perfectly like my teeth shoved
down and this thing came through the shrimp flesh and
went into my tongue, but it was barbed, So I'm
(02:34):
trying to figure out what to do.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Try to pull this thing out.
Speaker 6 (02:36):
Well, sure enough, Todd Steucy catches me Messrind's.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
Like gross, what's going on?
Speaker 6 (02:42):
And oh my god, it grows a fishbone in my tongue.
Well this everybody had been having wine and drinks and
so this became like, oh my god, the coolest thing ever.
So now next thing you know, I've got Matt Willig
and Steucie and Jeff Mitchell with a leatherman someone had
in their pocket trying to pull this bone out of
my tongue. We can't get it to go, and I'm
like bleeding everywhere. And somehow Pat Connor, who was our
(03:05):
team doctor at the time, happens to be dining at
this same establishment, so he stops his dinner. He takes
me to his office, numbs up my tongue, cuts it out,
and sends me back to dinner. My tongue was all swollen.
You don't do stitches on a tongue, evidently, So I
just sat there and they, you know, they were laughing
at me. By the time I got back, it was
like almost over. But I just remember thinking, like, what
a what a loser? What happened here? You know, this
(03:28):
is such a rookie move. That was the rookie dinner
experience for me.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
By Welcome to the NFL.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Moment Fires for prolling the ends on.
Speaker 7 (03:36):
Hey god, touchdom, big hole down the sideline.
Speaker 4 (03:41):
He's gone, and.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
The Panthers are gonna pull another.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
One out of their head.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
That was Tortianza touchdown, Fires over the medal?
Speaker 4 (03:47):
Is that intercepting? Yes, it is up.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
It is Gode Panthers of onon in it over time
heads a forty five to the forty. I thought it's right,
the oney ten fine touchdown.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
Yes, Charlotte, there is a super Bowl and we're in it. Cardiac.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
The Panthers were reeling. They had lost three straight games.
They had missed multiple chances to clinch the division. Longtime
Panthers broadcaster Jim Zokie.
Speaker 8 (04:23):
That's the reality of the NFL. It's a long season.
Even then when it was sixteen games, I mean, they
went eleven to five, even with a three game losing
streak late in that season. The good thing for them
was it wasn't that competitive of a divisional race. You know,
they had built enough of a buffer where they had
space to do that. But you want to be playing
your best football late in the season. I mean, football
really is about who's playing their best football heading into
(04:44):
the playoffs, and this was a team that clearly started
heading the other direction, kind of like ooh, has the
magic worn off at the wrong time? Here in December,
there's certainly with some trepidation and maybe some concern about
this team maybe played their best football already and maybe
they're starting to.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
Wear down as the season goes on.
Speaker 2 (04:59):
For a team that had won so many close games,
it was fair to wonder if a regression was inevitable.
Offensive lineman Kevin Donnelly.
Speaker 9 (05:09):
There's a lot of pressure because you start counting games,
you start seeing where everyone else in the division is.
Can you clinch this week? If we didn't clinch, Well,
we can clinch the next week.
Speaker 8 (05:18):
We've seen teams lose out. I mean, we've seen teams
that are like running away with their divisions and having
the best record.
Speaker 1 (05:24):
In football that completely flatten.
Speaker 2 (05:25):
Out defensive lineman Al Wallace.
Speaker 10 (05:29):
I think that it's it's not a done deal at
eight and two. And it goes back to what I
said in the Tennessee game. Right, you're feeling good, You're
feeling you're at the top of the NFC South.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
How can we get this done?
Speaker 10 (05:40):
You're thinking now teams are maybe afraid that you're the
Carolina Panthers. You're gonna come out there. Stephen Davis is
gonna run for one hundred and fifty yards and you
know Steve Smith is gonna have nine catches for one
hundred plus yards. And we got the best defense in
the league, right, we got the best defensive front in
the league, and people put a target on us, and
we didn't respect that. We didn't respect the game enough.
(06:02):
And that's I think that was a lesson that we
all kind of learned through the process that no one
was gonna lay down for us because we were eight
and two. I think a lesson learned for us was
to just go out there and get back to the basics.
It really is a cliche thing, but we were on
a fancy team. We didn't have the fancy quarterback. We
had a budding superstar wide receiver. We had some old
(06:22):
and young guys. Look at Ricky Manning junior and what
he was able to do with his rookie season. For us,
we just went out there and got back to the
basics and decided we're gonna fly out to Arizona.
Speaker 7 (06:32):
We weren't coming back without some hats.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
As the Panthers boarded their cross country flight for a
week fifteen tilt with Arizona, a team that had shown
so much poise under pressure now started to feel the
weight of expectations. Quarterback Jake Delone, everybody feeling the pressure.
Speaker 1 (06:50):
There's no doubt.
Speaker 5 (06:51):
You're trying not to say it, but you can sense it.
You can feel it because two years removed, this team
is one in fifteen.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Defensive back Mike Minter.
Speaker 11 (07:00):
It was tough because we knew all we had to
do it with one game, right, and I think the
pressure of one game and we champs, right, I think
that you know, became a thing, and I think coach
did a great job of alleviating the pressure during that
week with Arizona.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
You know, I always used to tell him there were
two games away.
Speaker 9 (07:23):
From disaster, even at that point, and it happens.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
It comes.
Speaker 12 (07:27):
I've just been through it too many times, and.
Speaker 7 (07:29):
So we wanted to have three game slide.
Speaker 13 (07:31):
You know.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
We just had to get him out.
Speaker 7 (07:32):
Of that funk and uh, you know, keep him positive, loosen.
Speaker 4 (07:36):
Up the mood a little bit.
Speaker 11 (07:38):
He told us to relax. Practices became fun, it became light.
He was more relaxed throughout the week, you know, doing practice,
doing meetings, having fun.
Speaker 4 (07:50):
But that's how you do it.
Speaker 7 (07:51):
It's the only way you do it.
Speaker 11 (07:52):
Is got to get people mind on other things other
than trying to clinch the division championship. Because it was tough, man,
I swear, because we was losing game. We're like, man,
you know, the demons are coming back. We're like, no,
we're not gonna let the demons come back. We're gonna
get this done. So for three weeks, you valiant yourself.
Speaker 2 (08:17):
When the game started, a relaxed and ready Mike Minteror
got the Panthers off to a roaring start.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Back to thrown account swings it high and that's picked off.
That comes Mike Munner for Carolina far sideline twenty ten
to five touchdown.
Speaker 11 (08:32):
After that moment, like you still got some football to play.
But after that moment, it was it was like, we're
gonna win this game. Everybody on our sideline knew we
were gonna win win the game, and that was the
play to break break the tension that we've been feeling
for the last three weeks.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
While Mentor gave the Panthers an early lead, the game
was far from over. Jake Deloman. The offense struggled in
the first half.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
And give Arizona credit.
Speaker 5 (09:03):
They were throwing the football all over the are playing
hard because they had a little snotty nose second year
quarterback Josh McCown who's now a quarterback coach, and they
had a rookie wide receiver named and Kwan Bolden, so
give him credit.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
And McCown's gonna bootleg it out nearside right being chased
down there by Terry Cousin.
Speaker 4 (09:19):
He's at the ten, he's at the.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
Five, torts the right pylon, touchdown, Arizona. Josh McCown making
like Michael Vick.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
The Panther's lone first half score was Mentor's pick six. Meanwhile,
Arizona took a halftime lead thanks to an NFL legendary
first single.
Speaker 3 (09:38):
Arizona from the four hand off to Smith cuts it
out to the left, nice stutter stuff.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
He'll take it in touchdown Emitt Smith.
Speaker 5 (09:45):
At halftime, we're in the locker room and you could
just steal the tension. Richard Williamson, a receiver, coach Richard
may rest in peace, played at Alabama, you know, and
everybody says the same thing. Coach Richardson, even Mussin Muhammad
and Steve Smith, you know, just krusty and kept on
their toes. He chewed us out as a football team
before we went out, and he just let us know,
(10:06):
like enough's enough, grow up and go finish it.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
And everybody was like, you know, Richard's right.
Speaker 2 (10:15):
In the third quarter, a John Casey field goal cut
the Panthers deficit to four. Early in the fourth, a
dynamic running back put the Cardiac Cats in front back
to throw.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Again to Loone. Pumps, pumps, pumps again. Now throws it
up top. Foster got it.
Speaker 14 (10:33):
Two to one is the end, No down inside the
one yard line, the Sean Foster cut the ball down
the near sideline. Good throw by Dolon, and now the
Panthers have thrown the red flag.
Speaker 4 (10:45):
They think de Sean Foster got in the end zone.
Speaker 13 (10:48):
After reviewing the play, the receiver could hit the pylon
and the ball was over the plane.
Speaker 1 (10:55):
Therefore it hit a touchdown.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
Please, but Arizona looked poised to play spoiler. The Cardinals
tied to the game at seventeen with a little more
than a minute left. It set the stage for a
cardiac finish.
Speaker 5 (11:08):
The game went back and forth, back and forth, and
then we had a two minute drive. And why they
tried to play Steve Smith man the man I'll never understand.
Speaker 2 (11:17):
The chemistry between Jake Delom and Steve smith had been
building all season long, or perhaps bubbling all season long.
Speaker 5 (11:28):
I think we were both young, still wet behind the ears,
not a lot of experience.
Speaker 7 (11:33):
Truth or lie. All right, here's the lie man. He
was just dynamic the truth. We would bicker like two
sisters about everything. He would get mad at me on depth,
I would get mad at him on velocity. And it
was to the point that if we weren't arguing, something
(11:55):
was wrong. I give you an example of our normal
be in the huddle. They call a play and he
would say something like, you gonna get your depth, can
you get the ball there? Stuff like that. Then as
we became really really good, it was what route do
you want? What route do you believe you can throw?
Speaker 1 (12:17):
We just kind of grew together.
Speaker 5 (12:18):
I know how talented he was, and I'm gonna throw
them the football, and I think he knew that I
wasn't afraid to throw them the football.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
And it just kind of one of those It was
the perfect storm.
Speaker 15 (12:26):
Jake Delone would never hesitate. There could be four guys
covering Steve Smith and Jake would put it up there
and expect him to make a play.
Speaker 7 (12:35):
And then it became where it was it we were vickery.
It was the expectation from each other.
Speaker 15 (12:41):
And Steve Smith in turn, would expect the ball to
be coming his way no matter how many guys were
on him, and he would make the play. I think
that's the chemistry they had.
Speaker 5 (12:51):
You know, as much as you know, he might have talked,
and Steve didn't talk much in the huddle.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Steve did not talk much in the huddle.
Speaker 5 (12:58):
He never came back and said, hey, I'm wide open
or he never did anything like that now, and I
think it's probably surprised as people.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
But it was more so if I missed him or something.
Speaker 5 (13:10):
The only thing he would have would have gotten the
huddle and he would have just said hey, It would
have gave me a look.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
And I was said, I missed you, I didn't see you,
and he and he would he would have nod, and
I was all right, I'll get you.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
And if he dropped the pass and he wouldn't look
at me, I wan, I wasn't gonna berat him, but
he wouldn't look at me because he was just so devastated.
Speaker 15 (13:27):
I think they did a boat Jangles something.
Speaker 8 (13:32):
Steve just one of those players that really feeds off
the fans.
Speaker 15 (13:37):
Literally, so they were even building on this off the field,
the fact that they were. They were close, not only
in the locker room but in real life as well.
Speaker 6 (13:50):
Uh, maybe you should work the counter for a while, Jake, Okay, boss.
Speaker 4 (13:56):
Got a wood, need to get and have a.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
We just hit it off.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
On that final drive, the Panthers had the answer for
Arizona's defense. It was Delom throwing to Smith, so.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
Diloman company moving left to right, hoping to get John
Casey on the field to try to win this game.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
I just remember they started playing Steve one on one
and I was like, this is not right, and I
called all the too many plays at the line. I'm like, no,
they're not doing am.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
I seeing things? So I would just take the ball
throw to Steve and.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Here's Delom, well a p what's coming and he goes
near sideline. Smith makes the catching out of mound.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
Taking the ball throw to Steve, Dallom.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Short drop flings it over fireside.
Speaker 7 (14:37):
Smith again, Man, we have figured out we were pretty
darn good. They were outmatched, and the Arizona Cardinals at
the time, they were setting their ways that they had
believed at some point, even though the first three quarters
would indicate that that wasn't the case, that they were
going to play man cover and we took advantage of him.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
Fifty two seconds to go in regulation, we're tired at
seventeen again, the Loan in the pocket swings it out
far side to Smith, makes the catch it and it
is just driven back into the turf.
Speaker 7 (15:06):
Earlier in the game, we tried to establish the run
and that's what really got us behind a little bit,
we're running up against a brick wall, and we switched
even though they didn't switch, and we went to the
pass game.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
And that's what really.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
Helped Glitz is coming back to throw the long fires
fireside Smith has it goes out of bounds at the
thirty seven yard line.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
Steve's just difficult to guard and they're scared of it,
so they're gonna play off. So I would just, you know,
I actually use my brain for once and just kind
of take who took what they gave me.
Speaker 4 (15:38):
Another quick out.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
The Smith makes the catch out of bounds with the
thirty one yard line, and with eight seconds to go,
it's time for John Casey.
Speaker 5 (15:46):
And we just methodically went down the field till we
got in field goal range and John was gonna come
out to kick, and there was no doubt John was
gonna make the kick and we're gonna win the division.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
So John Casey comes on for a field goal try
of forty nine yards from the left hash Mark sour
Brunn will hold. If it's good, the Panthers would be
just seconds away from a division title. We're ready to
go snap placement. Casey's kick is up.
Speaker 4 (16:18):
It is on the way, it is God.
Speaker 3 (16:23):
John Casey drills it from forty nine yards out four
seconds to go, four seconds.
Speaker 4 (16:30):
To a division title?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
Have the Panthers have taken the lad twenty to seventeen
over Arizona.
Speaker 2 (16:38):
John Casey's forty nine yard field goal was his fourth
game winning kick of the season.
Speaker 8 (16:44):
I mean, you think about all those games we talk
about going overtime and on the road, they were decided
by threes, not six and sevens. So this is that's
John Casey being clutched too. We talk about Jake Delumbing clutched.
Not only was John Casey a prolific scorer, accurate, strong leg,
all the things you need from a great kicker. I
mean he was when the chips were down. He was
that guy that came through for you that needs to
(17:05):
be remembered as much as anything was. To get to
that point where you can even reach a super Bowl,
it took a guy like John Casey being reliable and
just being that that constant.
Speaker 5 (17:13):
No John Casey was, we were so confident, just hey,
you get to overtime. The first thing I did was
I'd look at Mike McCoy and Jim Skipper, like, hey,
what do we need to get Skippy would always give
me the timeouts, and Mike was like, hey, thirty six
yard line, thirty five, just getting just getting near it.
Speaker 1 (17:29):
John's kick in the field goal.
Speaker 10 (17:30):
I just don't know if the guy's heartbeat got over
sixty beats per minute. That's how he's built his faith
and what he believes in and his confidence in himself
is what I believe made him the best kicker in
this franchise's history. To go out there and make all
those he is. He is the Cardiac Cats. That's how
they coined that phrase on the foot of John Casey Man.
(17:52):
He got us out of a lot of terrible situations
and he won a lot of football games for US.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Mighty. Casey's kick delivered more than a win. It gave
the Panthers the NFC South title and a huge sense
of relief.
Speaker 9 (18:07):
Going down the locker room to celebrate when they ever
been to get the first division title. It was it
was fantastic. We had a good time, but a lot
of that was, you know, we checked that off. Next
thing now is build momentum and try and do something
in the playoffs.
Speaker 10 (18:21):
It was sense of relief, you know, thinking about what
we poured into it in the summer thinking about all
the work, all the battles, the Cardiac Cats, the fan
base that had been so good to us that, man,
we cannot believe we are here after a seven to
nine season, following up a one in fifteen season, and
now we have an opportunity to make some noise in
the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
That was a big win to go out there.
Speaker 12 (18:41):
It's a long trip and that can wear on teams
as well. It's late in the season. Just a season
wears on a team, and you know, that was a
big canibult, you know, late in the season. It's kind
of a second win, so to speak.
Speaker 11 (18:53):
And what I remember about going into the locker room, man,
I mean we had the hats, the T shirts, the
sham dang.
Speaker 16 (19:01):
We excited about the fact that we did and we
hugging each other. We cried because think about all the
year that we've been there. I'm talking about the guys
that's been there from any of the struggle, and man, it.
Speaker 11 (19:15):
Was a joys moment to be a part of because
it's nothing like pressure being released.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
I didn't know. We got cool hats and T shirts.
That was the best part with me when we went
into the locker.
Speaker 6 (19:26):
Room we had NFC South champions hats, and I was thinking, Oh,
how did they make these already?
Speaker 4 (19:31):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 6 (19:32):
Like, I was just everything was so new and I
was so ignorant to how anything worked that that was
pretty funny that I was just so happy that we
got free hats.
Speaker 13 (19:40):
See Jackie Miles and Don Tone are passing out the
division championship hats and T shirts.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
That's something that this team earned. It wasn't given.
Speaker 13 (19:48):
Then it started back for the players in training camp,
but for the front office and the drafts and free
agency leading up to that. There were key moments throughout
the season by all three phases offense, defense, special teams.
But I think that team knew we weren't done. There's
still more work to accomplish.
Speaker 12 (20:05):
What in that game right there now makes it tangible
and it kind of wets your appetite to go like this,
I could win a super Bowl, you know, and every
player in that locker room wants to win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
Every player.
Speaker 12 (20:15):
That's what you play for. You play for money, and
you play for super Bowls. That's what you play for.
And now you're like, and let's not mess us up.
Everybody do their job let's not mess us up. That's
the chatter in the locker room because now you realize
that this is tangible.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
With a division title secured, the Panthers polished off in
eleven win season with easy victories against the Lions and
the Giants. To win against New York was especially sweet
for John Fox, the former Giants defensive coordinator.
Speaker 12 (20:42):
Whether you're a player or coach and you're competing against
an old team, you know the people in.
Speaker 7 (20:48):
The organization, You know some of the players.
Speaker 4 (20:51):
You know everybody knows.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
That's a big thing in the NFL.
Speaker 12 (20:55):
You know, Mike Strahan or I was very close to
its still there the ownership.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
You know, you're part of their family over five.
Speaker 2 (21:02):
Years and you give me a close to people.
Speaker 12 (21:04):
But you know, when you compete against your friends, you
know you can beat a little bit harder.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
The Cardiac Cats were postseason bound for just the second
time in franchise history. Carolina would host Dallas in the
wild Card round, a game that would give the Panthers
franchise it's beating heart
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