August 5, 2025 • 20 mins
Today on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy recap Tuesday's rainy practice, preview this week's joint practice with the Browns, discuss the Panthers very special guest at Fan Fest, and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy half Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hello friends, and welcome to our dry Dry studio where
we're bringing you today's Happy half hour training camp, daily editions.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mess out there.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yeah, us being dry right now is not far for
the course today. That may be the most drenched I've
gotten at a football practice ever. And I used to
live in Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, for the old heads around here who remember the
Jacksonville preseason game where people were sitting knee deep in
water in the seating.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bowl, it was like that out there. It was a mess.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
But hopefully, you know what, Hopefully you are enjoying this
someplace dry. Hopefully you have maintained a safe posture throughout
the day. You're not driving around looking at videos like
you millennials apparently do a lot of Just.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Remember bread multitaskers.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Brad Panovitch's first law turn around, don't drown your car
is not a boat being said. They had to practice
some ball in that and it was damp. It just
kept on all day long.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I think I actually said this in an article today,
But like deluge was a light word, that didn't even
do it justice. It was a pretty hard rain, no storms, thankfully,
so they were able to still practice as usual. There
was no lightning in the area or anything like that,
but it was a slow moving cell that just kind
of got right over uptown Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And sat and sat on top of that and.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Sat for about the hour and forty minutes that they practiced.
That was the hardest period of frame I think we've
had today. It was during that time. But as Canalis
said afterwards, you know, this is a lot of good
experience for what we could face early in the season
given some of the storms. I mean, we're in the
middle of hurricane season right here. You know, we're close
enough to the Atlantic Coast and the golf for that
(01:51):
to kind of affect this area. Jacksonville Week one, it
could either be hot or rainy, but it's going to
be one of those two, and they've had both of
those in camp to kind.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Of deal with.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But yeah, it was. It was a wet day, but
guys were having fun. You know, I think I don't
know if I've ever heard Lathan Ransom as loud in
a practice as he was today. That man likes playing
in the rain, yea. And you know, obviously it makes
the ball a little slippery, it makes it everything a
tiny bit more difficult. But it also is when you
see these guys kind of become kids again and just
(02:24):
get out there and have fun.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, Matt, show them what it looked like out there
on the field. I mean when t Max running around
out there. Yeah, that doesn't even do it, justh And that's.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Only because that's a really good camera that is picking
up team back.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
There are three heroes out here I want to shout
out right out of the top, beginning with Don Toner
and the equipment staff who had everybody everything they needed
to be out there on that practice field today. Number two,
Danny Licito and the ground screw. Those guys have done
an incredible job. The two grass practice fields out back
were in perfect shape. They drain well, there's probably some divots.
(02:59):
Sorry about that, Danny. They didn't come from me in
case anybody asked, But those guys did a great job.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And heroes to our hero level three.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Was Alex Harco, Andrew Stein and all our videographers who
are out there on the field getting these shots.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There's so much cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Rain just makes for dramatic art, it does, and we
had people out there collecting it. But the football, yeah,
football got a little loose every now and then. It's
not great for catching balls and that kind of stuff,
but those guys were out there having fun.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Whether it was late and ransom.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I just think it kind of got to a point
where they're just playing. Yeah, and it's kind of like
when you're a kid and jumping in puddles and stuff.
I just think there's something primal about playing in those
kind of conditions that brings out the fun element of
this thing, in addition to it being really hard work
and super important.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know, I've talked about this here and there. I
lived for ten years in Central Florida, which is very
very Florida, junglely Florida, you know, a lot of Spanish
moss and palm trees and stuff like that, and then
lived in Green Bay for a couple of years. And
I was walking out to practice this morning and I
kind of just like stopped and smelled the air. There's
a very specific smell, and as somebody who grew up
(04:10):
in Alabama, I smelled it a lot. There's a very specific.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It's a very specific smell to Alabama. Yes, it Coulcur.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I saw your face and I knew some of those coming.
There's a very specific smell of a summer storm coming
through the pine trees, and you could smell it walking
out to practice this morning, and I was like, hmm,
this is gonna be a fun day. It was a
wet one too, but guys adjusted, they rolled with it
and they got through practice. You know, like you said,
(04:36):
that makes the ball a little slippery. Canal has compared
it to trying to trap a greased pig when you're
dealing with the wet ball out there and conditions like that.
But it made for a fun day.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, it was a good time.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Everybody's splashing around in puddles like a bunch of little kids.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Ultimately, that's what these guys are, and that's why we
enjoy this so much because everybody was having a good time.
It's going to be a little different tomorrow, however, because
it's still gonna rain. It's still gonna be wet in Charlotte,
So again, be careful out there. But our dear personal friends,
the Cleveland Browns are coming to join us out here,
and I hope they brought their water wings, maybe a
(05:13):
life jacket or something to go along with their pads
and helmets because they gonna get wet too.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, Canalis said that. Kevin Stefanski texted him this morning
and said, so, I see the forecast says it's gonna
rain for the next thirty seven days or something like that,
and that sounds about right. Again, it won't be hot,
but you know, it does make some choices have to
come up for you know, who might be out there
(05:38):
who might not. And that's gonna be a case again
tomorrow as well. But they're gonna be out there. As
long as it's not lightning. They can practice in the rain.
You know, it's like the old amusement park rule. As
long as the roller coasters run and everything's fine. So
as long as it's not lightning, they can stay out there.
And what does that do though, because joint practices are
more intense just by late, by nature the law. So
(06:02):
how does that balance out? Because, like we said, they
had a lot of fun out there today. They were laughing,
they were jumping around, they were making splashes. How does
that How did those conditions tomorrow balance against a much
more intense competitive practice, right?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What a different team.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The one thing I know about joint practices haven't seen
a handful of them in my day, is if it's
really really hot, it's going to be a fight. Yeah,
And I think this is going to refocus everybody and
remind them that, you know, this is about working on
the football. Austin Corbett was great talking about that. Austin's
reached old head status and he still knows a handful
(06:38):
of those guys in Cleveland since they're the team that
drafted him many moons ago. But he was talking about listen, man,
it's about the work. It's about let's get some good
practice in against somebody else and let's get to Friday
night when that game is so it's gonna be interesting.
But Dave Canalis did say, and this didn't have anything
to do with the rain and the weather and the conditions.
(06:59):
He did say probably leaning toward holding Dereck Brown out
of practice tomorrow. That's got more to do with that
little oblique rib thing he's got going on. He said,
you know, when Derek gets in there and starts throwing
people around, as Derek Brown is wont to do, you
don't want to maggravate and something like that, because the
one thing about Derek is and they almost have to
protect him from himself sometimes that cat knows one speed
(07:21):
and so if you tell him, all.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Right, Derek, you can practice, but don't go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, no, that doesn't work. There is Derek Brown speed period.
He doesn't have gears.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And he got a good bit of work today.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, he probably did more work on the field today
and team sections than we've seen him previously. They've been
kind of easing him into it because of the knee
and because he's Derek Brown.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I mean, he's one of those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think as we talk about the game on Friday
night and to recap in case you missed us last week,
which if you did, what's wrong with you? Starters are
going to play Friday night against the Browns. Dave wants
to get him out there, get him a little run.
That doesn't need Every starter is going to be out there,
I mean, cats like Derreck Brown, cats like Taylor Moten.
(08:05):
I don't think we're necessarily expecting Friday night against the Browns. So,
especially in Taylor's case, he's probably gonna practice tomorrow, So
get a look at him against the Really, you know,
the Brown's got some dudes on the other side of
the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So I am curious and I wanted to go look
to see if Miles Garrett was would practice tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I am not as tuned into that.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I'm I'm working very hard to stay as focused as
I can on one football team. It's almost like everything
during training camp, anything that happens outside of this building,
in the footprint of this place is lost to me.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
It's like.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Whatever Love Island, whatever TV show you people are watching
now nothing. I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
The Miles Garrett thing came into my mind today because
he will be here tomorrow, all right, And so that
you know now, I want to know what is the
offensive line going to get to face tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
We will check him with our dear personal friend Mary K. Cabot,
a Cleveland Plaine dealer who we loved.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
You watch her acceptance speech last week?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, and uh,
if you haven't watched, to go watch it you absolutely should.
MK's and legend. Looking forward to seeing her and all
our old friends in the media, but also just want
to see what it looks like against another team. I mean,
right now, we know what the Panthers look like going
against each other. We've got a pretty good idea of
team act versus JC and Mike Jackson. You know, Mike
(09:28):
talked today about you know, most teams have a big
corner in a little corner, and you get some kind
of contrast.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
What if Panthers got two Biggins And.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So we've seen what t mac looks like against those
two guys, Let's see what he looks like against somebody else's.
Let's see what that offensive line looks like against a
pretty talented Browns defensive front, you know, And I just
think that competition is something it's a good it's a
good checkpoint to see. You can kind of fool yourself
every now and in when you're practicing against your own
(09:59):
but when you start going against other people, you get
into preseason games, that's when you get a better Since
you know, a couple of years ago when the Jets
were here, you kind of figured out then, oh.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That defense is giving a lot of people trouble.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
But it was giving the Panthers a lot of trouble
that day, and that was one of those things that
kind of came to pass early on in that season.
So it'll be good competition, it'll be good to see
what it looks like against somebody else. But before we
get to that, I want to circle back to Saturday
Nights fan Fest. First of all, if you weren't there,
what's wrong with you? It was a great night. Weather
(10:34):
was perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You might have.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Drizzled a little early on, but nothing like while we're
dealing out there today, and good time was had by all.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Fans were into it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I mean, players have talked since then about how excited
they were to hear people excited for them, because it's
been a minute. I mean, the Panthers got on a
little run into last year, but then you've been away
from everybody for a little bit and this is the
first time they've been in front of people, and I
think they wanted to show off a little bit. Yeah,
and they were kind of digging on the energy they
(11:04):
got back from the people.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, they did show off to the point that there
was one particular moment that really showed off. And we've
got to bring it up because Lathan Ransom gave us
a peek behind the curtain today. There was a fake
punt where Sam Martin threw out to Lathan Ransom and
he ran just about ninety yards, but Jimmy Horn kind
of flew in at the last second with a touchdown
saving tackle on a fake like we said a fake punt.
(11:29):
Lathan said that they came up with that right before
FanFest started. Yeap that he said, coach, I'm assuming Tracy
Smith should have clarified that, but walked up to him.
I was like, let me see your eyes. You got
it in your eyes tonight, like can you do this?
They've never rept it in practice. They literally just went
out there to see if it would work and gave
the fans a fun moment that really got people going
(11:50):
and kind of showed you know, what this team might
be able to do. I think over forty thousand fans
were there.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yep, it was a good number, good crowd. People were
fired up, fireworks, lasers after the act. Everybody was enjoying that.
It was a good show.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And it was a full scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, the football was live and the football was pretty
good too. That was the other thing that kind of
came through. There were a couple of moments, you know,
Lathan put a hit on TJ. Luthor, who you know
as Dave Kanal said, probably gonna get some mail from
the league on that one. But he's been he's been
flying around in the last couple of days. I don't
think we've got more coming on him later this afternoon
(12:24):
on Panthers dot Com. But Leathan Ransom's a guy who
you can see making some kind of impact on this team,
even if it's on special teams. At Ohio State, where
he was a captain, he blocked a couple points in
his career, He's been useful on special teams. He's also
still in the mix for a starting job. I mean,
Nick Scott's in there for the time being. DEMONI Richardson's
(12:44):
trying to get his name in there as well, and
so's Leithan Ransom. So we'll see how some of that
stuff develops. But the real highlight, and I'm gonna turn
this over to you because you were all over this
to me one of the coolest things ever. And Matt
put it up on the screen.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Make a Wish kid Jace Garland came to join us
Saturday night at FanFest and was one of the most
special things we've seen in this stadium in a while.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
It really was. And this was the first Make a
Wish recipient that has requested to do something with the Panthers.
Since twenty eighteen, there's been a couple of people that
have done it since twenty eighteen, but it was those
requests were from twenty eighteen, I found out the other night,
and so this was a big moment for the organization
and our community relations team got to give props to them.
(13:33):
They went all out on a short notice and kind
of made this a day for Jase that surpass far
surpassed even his expectations. Jase is from just outside of
Asheville and he was about a year and a half
ago diagnosed with a rare blood condition that had developed
to the point that it was a precursor to leukemia.
(13:55):
And so he received a blood marrow transplant at a
eleven years old and it's something that he will always have,
but they the hope is that with the transplant he
will be safe from the potential of cancer moving forward,
but it's something obviously they'll have to monitor for the
rest of his life. And his wish that he put
(14:17):
in back in April of twenty twenty four was I
want to be quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, and it
came about and they were able to get him here
for fan Fest on Saturday he arrived. What was really
cool too, was to see the progression of Jase throughout
the day because he got here and it was clearly
very overwhelmed. There was a lot going on. You know,
(14:37):
you walk in and there's you know, Surper and the
percussions and the top Cats and A'shawn Robinson is moving
out of your way so that you can walk down
the line for it. It's a lot to take in
at once. And he gets inside and you know, he
goes up and Dave Canalis happens to be walking through
the lobby and at this point Jace didn't even know
(14:59):
what he who was doing. It was still a surprise,
so he was probably really confused when Canalis walks over
to him and goes, okay, we got to play for
you. You just remember, like keep your eyes down, don't look
up to you across the line. And he's like, I
don't know what he's talking about. And that's when he
found out he was gonna get to be quarterback for
the day. So went up signed a contract with Dan
Morgan and Dan went through the whole contract with him.
(15:21):
It was so funny. Dan talked about it being a
long term deal. We're gonna pay you a lot of money,
you know, general general manager talk. That's right, We're down
on the field getting ready. It's after kickoff and Jason's
sitting on the bench and I went over and crouched
down in front of him and I was like, how
you feeling. He's like, yeah, are they really kind of
pay me money?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Probably not, buddy, But you get more than what a
lot of people could buy.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And it was it was a day full of events.
I mean, he comes in, he signs the contract with Dan,
he has a press conference, he meets the team, he
goes to the equipment room, gets fitted for helmets and
jerseys and all that kind of stuff. He's sitting in
meeting with the quarterbacks. The meeting room, he got the
whole experience.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
The meeting room was probably the coolest experience of the day,
at least for me just watching from the side, and
I think for Jase as well, because at that point
it was still, like I said, very very overwhelming. You know,
he goes into the team meeting room. There's ninety guys,
there's all the coaches. He has to make the free
throw shot, which is something they make every guy do
when he joins the team. He makes it, but it's
still a lot and then he goes into the quarterback
(16:24):
meeting room and it's just you know him, Bryce, Andy, Jack,
Brad ZiT, Will Herringer and then one of the assistants
their Dean, And that was when he was able to
relax for the first time all day and just kind
of talk to the guys. And they spent a lot
of time just talking to him about life and what
was going on and what he liked in school and whatnot.
(16:44):
They went over to play with him for that night
and what he was gonna run, and then he drew
up a play as well that Brad told him, you know, Butybe,
we'll try to get it in week one, and so
they went over that and what he wanted them to
do on that play, and we walked out of that
room and I I didn't get to include this in
the story that we put on Panthers dot Com. It
just never really naturally fit. But and I hate it
(17:05):
didn't fit because it was such a sweet moment. We
walk out of the room and he kind of stops,
He looks up at me and he goes, those guys
are really really cool and I was like, yeah, they are,
And I was like, you know what, And they think
the same thing about you. The best moment of the
day though, was there was some downtime after everything was done,
but it was too early to go out to the field,
and so Bryce took him back into the team meeting
(17:26):
room just to shoot the ball around, which is something
Bryce does a lot during downtime. And they're just shooting
and there, and you know, he's asking questions left and
right because he's twelve years old and that's what they do.
And then he kind of stopped and he's like, this
is a dream come true. And Bryce was like me too, man,
me too, Like yeah, it was just a really really
cool moment. And in the touchdown, such.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
A neat thing.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And I mean, he scores a touchdown front of forty
thousand people, they're all cheer and form.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
I love this picture right here on this screen. I
mean this place.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You've heard me go on and on about the mythology
of keep pounding, having known Sam Mills, been around when
he gave that speech, to know what it means to
so many people, both inside this football facility and outside.
I mean, that's become a mantra for people at you know,
Atrium Hell, I mean every hospital in two states basically
it's a rallying cry for people who are going through
(18:15):
tough stuff. So to see Jays get in here and listen.
He was clearly affected by this, but so was Bryce. Yeah,
and so was Andy, and so was Jack, and so
was everybody that came in contact with it.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So was Tracy Hartman or chef.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
I was talking to her today, I said, you know,
God bless you for to I mean, because you could
just see everybody was down on one knee making eye
contact with Jays throughout the day. It was just such
a neat experience for him, and it speaks to the
power of what you know, this is the good. We
can play ball games, you know, sometimes they win, sometimes
they lose, but this right here, that's a difference made
(18:51):
in somebody's life.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And it, like you said, it affects the guys too
and kind of reminds them what's important. And you know
that at one point they were probably a kid too,
just wanted to play this game, and you never know
what life can throw you. Jonathan Brooks obviously still recovering
from an acl so that means he's not going to play.
He spends a lot of time on the sideline watching,
so he spent a lot of time with Jason during
the quote unquote game the scrim right and ran into
(19:15):
him today and I was like, I was like, JV,
I don't know if you know how much that meant
to Jase because he was nervous, but you really really
calmed him down. And he's like, Hey, that's my guy now,
like we're bonded. And he's like he's like, I'm really
glad I got to sit with him and just kind
of hang out with him.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It is super cool. If you haven't read that story yet,
I highly recommend it. Cassie broke down the entire day
on Panthers dot Com. We've got a video version of
it on our YouTube channel right now. It truly was
one of the cool, cool things we get to do around.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It may be the coolest day I've had since I've
been here.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
It is.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
It's a good thing, and I'm glad that Jason and
his family were able to enjoy it. But like I said,
I'm glad everybody in this building got to experience something
like that too, because it does remind you them pact
that it can have on other people. So we will
we will leave you with that. We'll get back to
some football tomorrow. It's gonna be wet, so be careful
(20:09):
out there. Oh, by the way, speaking of the smartest
man in the building today, we found out from Mike
Jackson is rookie wide receiver Tedoa McMillan. Somebody asked Mike
jack about rookie Talent Show and he said, I gotta
tell you, t Max kind of smart.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
He got up there and started singing gospel. And you
can't boo God, ship boot God.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So remember that when you're out there driving around in
the rain, not watching videos on YouTube, no matter what
you're doing behind the wheel, get your rubber duck, put
on your life jacket, be careful out there, and we'll
see you tomorrow here on the Happy Half Hour.
Happy half Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Hello friends, and welcome to our dry Dry studio where
we're bringing you today's Happy half hour training camp, daily editions.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Mess out there.
Speaker 3 (00:15):
Yeah, us being dry right now is not far for
the course today. That may be the most drenched I've
gotten at a football practice ever. And I used to
live in Florida.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah, for the old heads around here who remember the
Jacksonville preseason game where people were sitting knee deep in
water in the seating.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Bowl, it was like that out there. It was a mess.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
But hopefully, you know what, Hopefully you are enjoying this
someplace dry. Hopefully you have maintained a safe posture throughout
the day. You're not driving around looking at videos like
you millennials apparently do a lot of Just.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Remember bread multitaskers.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
Brad Panovitch's first law turn around, don't drown your car
is not a boat being said. They had to practice
some ball in that and it was damp. It just
kept on all day long.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I think I actually said this in an article today,
But like deluge was a light word, that didn't even
do it justice. It was a pretty hard rain, no storms, thankfully,
so they were able to still practice as usual. There
was no lightning in the area or anything like that,
but it was a slow moving cell that just kind
of got right over uptown Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
And sat and sat on top of that and.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
Sat for about the hour and forty minutes that they practiced.
That was the hardest period of frame I think we've
had today. It was during that time. But as Canalis
said afterwards, you know, this is a lot of good
experience for what we could face early in the season
given some of the storms. I mean, we're in the
middle of hurricane season right here. You know, we're close
enough to the Atlantic Coast and the golf for that
(01:51):
to kind of affect this area. Jacksonville Week one, it
could either be hot or rainy, but it's going to
be one of those two, and they've had both of
those in camp to kind.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
Of deal with.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
But yeah, it was. It was a wet day, but
guys were having fun. You know, I think I don't
know if I've ever heard Lathan Ransom as loud in
a practice as he was today. That man likes playing
in the rain, yea. And you know, obviously it makes
the ball a little slippery, it makes it everything a
tiny bit more difficult. But it also is when you
see these guys kind of become kids again and just
(02:24):
get out there and have fun.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, Matt, show them what it looked like out there
on the field. I mean when t Max running around
out there. Yeah, that doesn't even do it, justh And that's.
Speaker 3 (02:33):
Only because that's a really good camera that is picking
up team back.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
There are three heroes out here I want to shout
out right out of the top, beginning with Don Toner
and the equipment staff who had everybody everything they needed
to be out there on that practice field today. Number two,
Danny Licito and the ground screw. Those guys have done
an incredible job. The two grass practice fields out back
were in perfect shape. They drain well, there's probably some divots.
(02:59):
Sorry about that, Danny. They didn't come from me in
case anybody asked, But those guys did a great job.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
And heroes to our hero level three.
Speaker 2 (03:08):
Was Alex Harco, Andrew Stein and all our videographers who
are out there on the field getting these shots.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
There's so much cool stuff.
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Rain just makes for dramatic art, it does, and we
had people out there collecting it. But the football, yeah,
football got a little loose every now and then. It's
not great for catching balls and that kind of stuff,
but those guys were out there having fun.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Whether it was late and ransom.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
I just think it kind of got to a point
where they're just playing. Yeah, and it's kind of like
when you're a kid and jumping in puddles and stuff.
I just think there's something primal about playing in those
kind of conditions that brings out the fun element of
this thing, in addition to it being really hard work
and super important.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Of course.
Speaker 3 (03:49):
You know, I've talked about this here and there. I
lived for ten years in Central Florida, which is very
very Florida, junglely Florida, you know, a lot of Spanish
moss and palm trees and stuff like that, and then
lived in Green Bay for a couple of years. And
I was walking out to practice this morning and I
kind of just like stopped and smelled the air. There's
a very specific smell, and as somebody who grew up
(04:10):
in Alabama, I smelled it a lot. There's a very specific.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
It's a very specific smell to Alabama. Yes, it Coulcur.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
I saw your face and I knew some of those coming.
There's a very specific smell of a summer storm coming
through the pine trees, and you could smell it walking
out to practice this morning, and I was like, hmm,
this is gonna be a fun day. It was a
wet one too, but guys adjusted, they rolled with it
and they got through practice. You know, like you said,
(04:36):
that makes the ball a little slippery. Canal has compared
it to trying to trap a greased pig when you're
dealing with the wet ball out there and conditions like that.
But it made for a fun day.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Yeah, it was a good time.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Everybody's splashing around in puddles like a bunch of little kids.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (04:50):
Ultimately, that's what these guys are, and that's why we
enjoy this so much because everybody was having a good time.
It's going to be a little different tomorrow, however, because
it's still gonna rain. It's still gonna be wet in Charlotte,
So again, be careful out there. But our dear personal friends,
the Cleveland Browns are coming to join us out here,
and I hope they brought their water wings, maybe a
(05:13):
life jacket or something to go along with their pads
and helmets because they gonna get wet too.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
Yeah, Canalis said that. Kevin Stefanski texted him this morning
and said, so, I see the forecast says it's gonna
rain for the next thirty seven days or something like that,
and that sounds about right. Again, it won't be hot,
but you know, it does make some choices have to
come up for you know, who might be out there
(05:38):
who might not. And that's gonna be a case again
tomorrow as well. But they're gonna be out there. As
long as it's not lightning. They can practice in the rain.
You know, it's like the old amusement park rule. As
long as the roller coasters run and everything's fine. So
as long as it's not lightning, they can stay out there.
And what does that do though, because joint practices are
more intense just by late, by nature the law. So
(06:02):
how does that balance out? Because, like we said, they
had a lot of fun out there today. They were laughing,
they were jumping around, they were making splashes. How does
that How did those conditions tomorrow balance against a much
more intense competitive practice, right?
Speaker 1 (06:17):
What a different team.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
The one thing I know about joint practices haven't seen
a handful of them in my day, is if it's
really really hot, it's going to be a fight. Yeah,
And I think this is going to refocus everybody and
remind them that, you know, this is about working on
the football. Austin Corbett was great talking about that. Austin's
reached old head status and he still knows a handful
(06:38):
of those guys in Cleveland since they're the team that
drafted him many moons ago. But he was talking about listen, man,
it's about the work. It's about let's get some good
practice in against somebody else and let's get to Friday
night when that game is so it's gonna be interesting.
But Dave Canalis did say, and this didn't have anything
to do with the rain and the weather and the conditions.
(06:59):
He did say probably leaning toward holding Dereck Brown out
of practice tomorrow. That's got more to do with that
little oblique rib thing he's got going on. He said,
you know, when Derek gets in there and starts throwing
people around, as Derek Brown is wont to do, you
don't want to maggravate and something like that, because the
one thing about Derek is and they almost have to
protect him from himself sometimes that cat knows one speed
(07:21):
and so if you tell him, all.
Speaker 1 (07:24):
Right, Derek, you can practice, but don't go ahead.
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Yeah, no, that doesn't work. There is Derek Brown speed period.
He doesn't have gears.
Speaker 1 (07:31):
And he got a good bit of work today.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
Yeah, he probably did more work on the field today
and team sections than we've seen him previously. They've been
kind of easing him into it because of the knee
and because he's Derek Brown.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
I mean, he's one of those guys.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I think as we talk about the game on Friday
night and to recap in case you missed us last week,
which if you did, what's wrong with you? Starters are
going to play Friday night against the Browns. Dave wants
to get him out there, get him a little run.
That doesn't need Every starter is going to be out there,
I mean, cats like Derreck Brown, cats like Taylor Moten.
(08:05):
I don't think we're necessarily expecting Friday night against the Browns. So,
especially in Taylor's case, he's probably gonna practice tomorrow, So
get a look at him against the Really, you know,
the Brown's got some dudes on the other side of
the ball.
Speaker 3 (08:19):
So I am curious and I wanted to go look
to see if Miles Garrett was would practice tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
I am not as tuned into that.
Speaker 2 (08:27):
I'm I'm working very hard to stay as focused as
I can on one football team. It's almost like everything
during training camp, anything that happens outside of this building,
in the footprint of this place is lost to me.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
You know.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
It's like.
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Whatever Love Island, whatever TV show you people are watching
now nothing. I have no idea.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
The Miles Garrett thing came into my mind today because
he will be here tomorrow, all right, And so that
you know now, I want to know what is the
offensive line going to get to face tomorrow?
Speaker 2 (08:57):
We will check him with our dear personal friend Mary K. Cabot,
a Cleveland Plaine dealer who we loved.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
You watch her acceptance speech last week?
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yes, as a matter of fact, I did, and uh,
if you haven't watched, to go watch it you absolutely should.
MK's and legend. Looking forward to seeing her and all
our old friends in the media, but also just want
to see what it looks like against another team. I mean,
right now, we know what the Panthers look like going
against each other. We've got a pretty good idea of
team act versus JC and Mike Jackson. You know, Mike
(09:28):
talked today about you know, most teams have a big
corner in a little corner, and you get some kind
of contrast.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
What if Panthers got two Biggins And.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
So we've seen what t mac looks like against those
two guys, Let's see what he looks like against somebody else's.
Let's see what that offensive line looks like against a
pretty talented Browns defensive front, you know, And I just
think that competition is something it's a good it's a
good checkpoint to see. You can kind of fool yourself
every now and in when you're practicing against your own
(09:59):
but when you start going against other people, you get
into preseason games, that's when you get a better Since
you know, a couple of years ago when the Jets
were here, you kind of figured out then, oh.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
That defense is giving a lot of people trouble.
Speaker 2 (10:11):
But it was giving the Panthers a lot of trouble
that day, and that was one of those things that
kind of came to pass early on in that season.
So it'll be good competition, it'll be good to see
what it looks like against somebody else. But before we
get to that, I want to circle back to Saturday
Nights fan Fest. First of all, if you weren't there,
what's wrong with you? It was a great night. Weather
(10:34):
was perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
You might have.
Speaker 2 (10:36):
Drizzled a little early on, but nothing like while we're
dealing out there today, and good time was had by all.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Fans were into it.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
I mean, players have talked since then about how excited
they were to hear people excited for them, because it's
been a minute. I mean, the Panthers got on a
little run into last year, but then you've been away
from everybody for a little bit and this is the
first time they've been in front of people, and I
think they wanted to show off a little bit. Yeah,
and they were kind of digging on the energy they
(11:04):
got back from the people.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
Yeah, they did show off to the point that there
was one particular moment that really showed off. And we've
got to bring it up because Lathan Ransom gave us
a peek behind the curtain today. There was a fake
punt where Sam Martin threw out to Lathan Ransom and
he ran just about ninety yards, but Jimmy Horn kind
of flew in at the last second with a touchdown
saving tackle on a fake like we said a fake punt.
(11:29):
Lathan said that they came up with that right before
FanFest started. Yeap that he said, coach, I'm assuming Tracy
Smith should have clarified that, but walked up to him.
I was like, let me see your eyes. You got
it in your eyes tonight, like can you do this?
They've never rept it in practice. They literally just went
out there to see if it would work and gave
the fans a fun moment that really got people going
(11:50):
and kind of showed you know, what this team might
be able to do. I think over forty thousand fans
were there.
Speaker 2 (11:55):
Yep, it was a good number, good crowd. People were
fired up, fireworks, lasers after the act. Everybody was enjoying that.
It was a good show.
Speaker 3 (12:02):
And it was a full scrimmage.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
Yeah, the football was live and the football was pretty
good too. That was the other thing that kind of
came through. There were a couple of moments, you know,
Lathan put a hit on TJ. Luthor, who you know
as Dave Kanal said, probably gonna get some mail from
the league on that one. But he's been he's been
flying around in the last couple of days. I don't
think we've got more coming on him later this afternoon
(12:24):
on Panthers dot Com. But Leathan Ransom's a guy who
you can see making some kind of impact on this team,
even if it's on special teams. At Ohio State, where
he was a captain, he blocked a couple points in
his career, He's been useful on special teams. He's also
still in the mix for a starting job. I mean,
Nick Scott's in there for the time being. DEMONI Richardson's
(12:44):
trying to get his name in there as well, and
so's Leithan Ransom. So we'll see how some of that
stuff develops. But the real highlight, and I'm gonna turn
this over to you because you were all over this
to me one of the coolest things ever. And Matt
put it up on the screen.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Make a Wish kid Jace Garland came to join us
Saturday night at FanFest and was one of the most
special things we've seen in this stadium in a while.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
It really was. And this was the first Make a
Wish recipient that has requested to do something with the Panthers.
Since twenty eighteen, there's been a couple of people that
have done it since twenty eighteen, but it was those
requests were from twenty eighteen, I found out the other night,
and so this was a big moment for the organization
and our community relations team got to give props to them.
(13:33):
They went all out on a short notice and kind
of made this a day for Jase that surpass far
surpassed even his expectations. Jase is from just outside of
Asheville and he was about a year and a half
ago diagnosed with a rare blood condition that had developed
to the point that it was a precursor to leukemia.
(13:55):
And so he received a blood marrow transplant at a
eleven years old and it's something that he will always have,
but they the hope is that with the transplant he
will be safe from the potential of cancer moving forward,
but it's something obviously they'll have to monitor for the
rest of his life. And his wish that he put
(14:17):
in back in April of twenty twenty four was I
want to be quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, and it
came about and they were able to get him here
for fan Fest on Saturday he arrived. What was really
cool too, was to see the progression of Jase throughout
the day because he got here and it was clearly
very overwhelmed. There was a lot going on. You know,
(14:37):
you walk in and there's you know, Surper and the
percussions and the top Cats and A'shawn Robinson is moving
out of your way so that you can walk down
the line for it. It's a lot to take in
at once. And he gets inside and you know, he
goes up and Dave Canalis happens to be walking through
the lobby and at this point Jace didn't even know
(14:59):
what he who was doing. It was still a surprise,
so he was probably really confused when Canalis walks over
to him and goes, okay, we got to play for
you. You just remember, like keep your eyes down, don't look
up to you across the line. And he's like, I
don't know what he's talking about. And that's when he
found out he was gonna get to be quarterback for
the day. So went up signed a contract with Dan
Morgan and Dan went through the whole contract with him.
(15:21):
It was so funny. Dan talked about it being a
long term deal. We're gonna pay you a lot of money,
you know, general general manager talk. That's right, We're down
on the field getting ready. It's after kickoff and Jason's
sitting on the bench and I went over and crouched
down in front of him and I was like, how
you feeling. He's like, yeah, are they really kind of
pay me money?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
Is it?
Speaker 3 (15:41):
Probably not, buddy, But you get more than what a
lot of people could buy.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
And it was it was a day full of events.
I mean, he comes in, he signs the contract with Dan,
he has a press conference, he meets the team, he
goes to the equipment room, gets fitted for helmets and
jerseys and all that kind of stuff. He's sitting in
meeting with the quarterbacks. The meeting room, he got the
whole experience.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
The meeting room was probably the coolest experience of the day,
at least for me just watching from the side, and
I think for Jase as well, because at that point
it was still, like I said, very very overwhelming. You know,
he goes into the team meeting room. There's ninety guys,
there's all the coaches. He has to make the free
throw shot, which is something they make every guy do
when he joins the team. He makes it, but it's
still a lot and then he goes into the quarterback
(16:24):
meeting room and it's just you know him, Bryce, Andy, Jack,
Brad ZiT, Will Herringer and then one of the assistants
their Dean, And that was when he was able to
relax for the first time all day and just kind
of talk to the guys. And they spent a lot
of time just talking to him about life and what
was going on and what he liked in school and whatnot.
(16:44):
They went over to play with him for that night
and what he was gonna run, and then he drew
up a play as well that Brad told him, you know, Butybe,
we'll try to get it in week one, and so
they went over that and what he wanted them to
do on that play, and we walked out of that
room and I I didn't get to include this in
the story that we put on Panthers dot Com. It
just never really naturally fit. But and I hate it
(17:05):
didn't fit because it was such a sweet moment. We
walk out of the room and he kind of stops,
He looks up at me and he goes, those guys
are really really cool and I was like, yeah, they are,
And I was like, you know what, And they think
the same thing about you. The best moment of the
day though, was there was some downtime after everything was done,
but it was too early to go out to the field,
and so Bryce took him back into the team meeting
(17:26):
room just to shoot the ball around, which is something
Bryce does a lot during downtime. And they're just shooting
and there, and you know, he's asking questions left and
right because he's twelve years old and that's what they do.
And then he kind of stopped and he's like, this
is a dream come true. And Bryce was like me too, man,
me too, Like yeah, it was just a really really
cool moment. And in the touchdown, such.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
A neat thing.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
And I mean, he scores a touchdown front of forty
thousand people, they're all cheer and form.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
I love this picture right here on this screen. I
mean this place.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
You've heard me go on and on about the mythology
of keep pounding, having known Sam Mills, been around when
he gave that speech, to know what it means to
so many people, both inside this football facility and outside.
I mean, that's become a mantra for people at you know,
Atrium Hell, I mean every hospital in two states basically
it's a rallying cry for people who are going through
(18:15):
tough stuff. So to see Jays get in here and listen.
He was clearly affected by this, but so was Bryce. Yeah,
and so was Andy, and so was Jack, and so
was everybody that came in contact with it.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
So was Tracy Hartman or chef.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
I was talking to her today, I said, you know,
God bless you for to I mean, because you could
just see everybody was down on one knee making eye
contact with Jays throughout the day. It was just such
a neat experience for him, and it speaks to the
power of what you know, this is the good. We
can play ball games, you know, sometimes they win, sometimes
they lose, but this right here, that's a difference made
(18:51):
in somebody's life.
Speaker 3 (18:53):
And it, like you said, it affects the guys too
and kind of reminds them what's important. And you know
that at one point they were probably a kid too,
just wanted to play this game, and you never know
what life can throw you. Jonathan Brooks obviously still recovering
from an acl so that means he's not going to play.
He spends a lot of time on the sideline watching,
so he spent a lot of time with Jason during
the quote unquote game the scrim right and ran into
(19:15):
him today and I was like, I was like, JV,
I don't know if you know how much that meant
to Jase because he was nervous, but you really really
calmed him down. And he's like, Hey, that's my guy now,
like we're bonded. And he's like he's like, I'm really
glad I got to sit with him and just kind
of hang out with him.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
It is super cool. If you haven't read that story yet,
I highly recommend it. Cassie broke down the entire day
on Panthers dot Com. We've got a video version of
it on our YouTube channel right now. It truly was
one of the cool, cool things we get to do around.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It may be the coolest day I've had since I've
been here.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
It is.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
It's a good thing, and I'm glad that Jason and
his family were able to enjoy it. But like I said,
I'm glad everybody in this building got to experience something
like that too, because it does remind you them pact
that it can have on other people. So we will
we will leave you with that. We'll get back to
some football tomorrow. It's gonna be wet, so be careful
(20:09):
out there. Oh, by the way, speaking of the smartest
man in the building today, we found out from Mike
Jackson is rookie wide receiver Tedoa McMillan. Somebody asked Mike
jack about rookie Talent Show and he said, I gotta
tell you, t Max kind of smart.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
He got up there and started singing gospel. And you
can't boo God, ship boot God.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
So remember that when you're out there driving around in
the rain, not watching videos on YouTube, no matter what
you're doing behind the wheel, get your rubber duck, put
on your life jacket, be careful out there, and we'll
see you tomorrow here on the Happy Half Hour.
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