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October 11, 2024 • 13 mins
Celebrate 30 seasons of Carolina Panthers football with Jim Szoke. Join him as he sits down with the key figures who shaped the past 29 seasons, reminiscing on the moments that made Panther history. This week's guest is former Panthers quarterback, Steve Beuerlein.

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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Quarterbacks.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Steve Berlin played in the NFL from nineteen eighty seven
to two thousand and three. Five of those years were
with Carolina from nineteen ninety six to two thousand and
While his tenure with the Panthers did not end well,
he now looks back with great memories of the great times.

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And we talk about it all with.

Speaker 2 (00:15):
The man who were in the nickname Bronco Burline from
one iconic play.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
Thirty Seasons of Panther Football, a celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures contributed to the organizational success.

Speaker 2 (00:32):
All right, catching up with one of the great quarterbacks
in Panthers history, played seventeen years in the league, Steve Burline.
And Steve, when you look back at the years you
played with this team, I mean I look at Bryce Young.
He took the sixty two sacks last year. I remember
you had that. You had that same experience and you
toughed it out. He had some great years. You have
one of your best years as a pro. Here's a
Carolina Panther. But when you see Bryce going through that,

(00:54):
you feel a little sympathy because you know what that
feels like a little bit.

Speaker 4 (00:57):
Yeah, I mean you have to be sympathetic to it,
because I don't think anybody can really understand the toll
that that takes on on a person.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Not not only physically, but mentally.

Speaker 4 (01:11):
To to get hit like that and to be able
to still find a way to keep focusing on what
needs to be done next. You got to let go
of what's happened, you know, whether you know it was
a blitch you missed or whether it was somebody getting.

Speaker 1 (01:26):
Beat off the line of scrimmage.

Speaker 4 (01:28):
You get hit, you've got to mentally be able to
tough it out, fight through it, and focus on the
next play. That's a very difficult thing to do, and
that's really one of my big concerns about Bryce. You know,
he's he's a pretty slight guy in terms of overall
physical stature. I mean, you know, long term, how is
he going to be able to hold up? And that's

(01:49):
that's got to be a priority for the Panthers moving
forward to try to find a way to keep him
clean on his.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
Feet, because it does take a toll.

Speaker 4 (01:57):
I can tell you you know, I looked at it
as part of my job because I wasn't very mobile.
I knew I had to take hits if I was
going to be able to play in the in the NFL,
because you know, those guys know how to get to
the quarterback and as a pocket passer not able to
move very well.

Speaker 1 (02:15):
We'll just leave it at that.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
But for the Green Bay game, I did take it
to the house that day, Yes, from the five yard line,
but that's because nobody in the stadium was expecting that play.
But you know, the bottom line is that if you're
not going to be able to get out of the
pocket and extend plays, you're gonna get hit. And Bryce
is more mobile than me, obviously, but he's not a runner,

(02:40):
and he's he's going to have to find a way to.

Speaker 1 (02:44):
You know, get rid of.

Speaker 4 (02:46):
The football and put on a little bit of weight
though too. I think that's gonna be one of the
big question marks as he evolves into his career, as
he develops, is he going to be able to take
that kind of a beating, even if it's, you know,
not as bad as the sixty two sacks, Even if
he's getting getting hit forty times a game, four times
a year, fifty times a year.

Speaker 1 (03:08):
Over the course of.

Speaker 4 (03:09):
Time that accumulates, it takes a toll and that's gonna
be the question I think about Bryce moving forward.

Speaker 1 (03:15):
For you.

Speaker 2 (03:15):
You know, I mentioned that first because I think if
you as a leader and a tough guy, but you
were very good. I mean, you led the league in
passing yards to when you're with the Panthers here too.
But you also bailed this team out of a tough
situation with Kerry Collins as we look back at that
time and so forth, and you stepped right in as
a leader at a time when this franchise needed their
quarterback to step up and be president and play good ball.

Speaker 4 (03:35):
Well, you know, I always have believed that, you know,
you've got to have a few qualities as a quarterback.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
In the NFL. Everybody's a little bit different, but you've
got to have.

Speaker 4 (03:47):
A few qualities that you really stand out. And for me,
you know, physically, I wasn't you know, the big stereotypical
six foot four, six foot five quarterback that could move
and do all those kind of things. I was a
little bit more of, you know, a scrapper, I would

(04:08):
like to say, I guess.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
And I knew that my strengths were not.

Speaker 4 (04:14):
Only was I looked at myself as a good passer,
a guy that can make all the throws and go
to the right guys. But the real strength areas were
leadership and confidence, and I think as a quarterback, those
are two things that you have to have to be
successful at this level. And you know, being a leader
always came very natural to me. I always took it

(04:34):
very seriously. I always made it a very high priority
and made it extremely you know, important all the different
teams I played for, and especially when I got my
opportunity here to step in when Carrie went through his
tough times and I got that opportunity, I wanted my
teammates to know that I was ready and that don't

(04:56):
worry about me, and if you trust me, we're going
to find a way to get this done now. We
You know, we always came up a little bit short
when you looked at the big picture. We were always
one or two games out of the playoffs. But there's
no team in the NFL that played harder than we did.
We need a little bit more support and more talent,
I think back in those days, but we played hard

(05:18):
and we fought our guts out, and I was so
proud to be a part of those teams because we
never quit.

Speaker 2 (05:25):
And that's like me and a lot of the fans
I thought it was. It was tough to see you
go the way that you did. And won't get a
specifics of that, but it was kind of a very
you know, beginning of season and you know, you've been
such a great player for this organization. How long did
it take to get over that? And you're back with
all these guys now celebrating thirty years of Panthers football.
You know, what did you kind of you get beyond

(05:46):
that and get the Panthers kind of back in your heart.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Well, I can tell you this, it wasn't as hard
on you as it was on me. And you know, I.

Speaker 4 (05:54):
Really felt that I deserved better because of all I
had given to the Panthers in my pre his five years.
And you know, I really was bitter about how it
all went down. And again we won't get into the details.
Like you said, it's not important. You know, what's done
is done. But it was very hard pill for me
to swallow, and I really considered at that point retiring

(06:17):
from the NFL because I was like, if I can
get released at this point in my career, after all
I did for this organization, it's just not worth it anymore,
and it took me a long time to kind of
get past that. Fortunately, I was very good friends with
I still am very good friends with Mike Shanahan, who
at the time was a coach of the Broncos.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
And he's the only coach that I would have gone
back to play for.

Speaker 4 (06:40):
And I'm grateful that that opportunity came up and then
I did it.

Speaker 1 (06:44):
But I was still very bitter about.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
How this thing went down and what got me through it.
And you remember this gym, you know, when when I
decided it was time to retire after my seventeenth year,
I was playing for the Broncos, but I really wanted
to retire as a Panther, and I called up mister
Richardson and asked him if we could, if we could
come to some kind of an agreement to do that,

(07:07):
and he did not hesitate to say yes, that would
be awesome, because I think he felt really bad about
the way it went down because it was George Seaffert's
decision and nobody was in support of it. Nobody was
in favor of it, and I think it gave some
closure to both mister Richardson and me and the rest
of the Panther organization to kind of have me retire
as a Panther. And so that's how I got past it.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
For those who don't remember, out of that, the aftermath
was a one and fifteen season and the last year
of George Seafford being here. So I didn't play out
on the football field the way they thought it would either.
But I'm glad you to have you back in the
fold here. You mentioned Mike Shanahan. You finished your career there,
and he also brought you into the league with the
Raiders at the beginning as well. So just a little
bit more about you know what, But Mike Shannhan meant
to you as a person and as.

Speaker 4 (07:51):
A coach, well, you know, he did mean an awful
lot to me. He actually got there my second year
in the NFL. My first year, Tom Florees was still
the coach of the Raiders, but I was put on
injury reserve, kind of red shirted. You know, we won't
talk about how we got through. Back in those days,
they could they could find ways to kind of create
little injury scenarios where they were they were able to.

Speaker 1 (08:16):
Kind of red shirt me that first year, and.

Speaker 4 (08:18):
And then Mike Shadahan came in that second year, and
you know, I was a fourth round draft choice in
my second year in the NFL, had never played. I
have no idea what he saw in me, but but
he named me his starting quarterback going into the season.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
He really felt like I could.

Speaker 4 (08:38):
Get it done and I could be a successful quarterback
at this level and that that confidence that he had
in me meant an awful lot. And you know it really,
even though it didn't work out great, he only lasted
twenty games with the Raiders. H four games into the
second year, he was gone. Al Davis wanted to start
Jay Schrader, Mike Shanahan wanted to start me. Well, Al

(08:59):
Davis usually wins those battles, and so I was Mike
Shanahan was gone. And but then I went on and had,
you know, all the different things that happened during my
seventeen year career, and to have a chance to finish
up under Mike Shanahan, who was the first coach to
give me a chance to play in the NFL, was
a great way to kind of wrap it all up
and finish it out.

Speaker 1 (09:18):
So I was very appreciative of it. And we're still
very close to this day.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
So you come into the league obviously out of Notre
Dame four kids, and what were you telling me your
youngest daughter is headed to Notre Dame now right?

Speaker 1 (09:29):
Yeah? Pretty fired up about that.

Speaker 4 (09:30):
I you know, I didn't I didn't pressure my kids
to go to where I wanted them to go to school,
or to play the sports that I wanted to play
when they were growing up. I've got two boys and
two girls and just kind of encourage them to have
something that they were passionate about, something that they that
they really wanted to work at and excel at and

(09:51):
be good at, and they would get get them motivated
to kind of push themselves. And I find out of
all four of my kids, I finally my last one
is the only one of the bunch that really had
the desire to do what it would take to get
into a school like Notre Dame. And you know, say

(10:12):
what you want, whether you're a Notre Dame fan or not,
I think everybody appreciates some respects the quality of the
school and it's very very difficult to get.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
Into Notre Dame.

Speaker 4 (10:22):
And I'm so proud of her because my other three
kids love Notre Dame, but it just wasn't that important
to them where they were going to make that kind
of a commitment for an eighteen year old kid, you know,
going through her high school years, to commit to being
the best she can be, to give herself that opportunity.
I think it's amazing and she loves Notre Dame, so

(10:43):
it's going to be a lot of fun to watch
her over the next four years.

Speaker 2 (10:46):
And then lastly, a lot of folks have seen you
through the years and heard you through the years doing
broadcasting CBS in the past, Compass you work with our
friend Bill Razinski many times doing games. But talk about
that a little bit with working with Bill, the original
voice of the band, but also what's coming up this
season for you.

Speaker 1 (11:02):
Yeah, I've really enjoyed working with Bill.

Speaker 4 (11:04):
You know, I always envisioned the broadcasting being part of
my life after my football career was done, and you know,
I got a chance with CBS early for my first
fifteen years of retirement to do NFL and college football
on CBS and really appreciated those years. And you know,
when the time came for CBS to make a change,

(11:26):
I got into the radio world and Compass Media hired
me and Lo and behold, I got to reconnect with
Bill Razinski, who was the voice of the Panthers back
in those days. You and him where you were there,
Jim and Roman Gabriel back in those days. And you know,
he knew me through some of my most impactful years.

(11:48):
And I was, you know, called the actual play in
Green Bay, the quarterback draw. People call it a quarterback sneak,
by the way, that's a bunch of bs. It was
a five yard I took it to the house quarterback draw,
and you know, we often relive some of those moments
and I've enjoyed working with him tremendously over the past

(12:10):
three or four years. My new opportunity this year, I'm
actually gonna be doing every one of the Dallas Cowboys
games this year.

Speaker 1 (12:16):
Compass Media.

Speaker 4 (12:18):
One of the properties they own is the rights to
all the Dallas Cowboys and Las Vegas Raiders games. They
had an opening at the Cowboys. They offered it to me.
That was another one of the teams I played for,
so it was a great fit for everybody. I'm excited
about it. I'll be following Dallas Cowboys all year and
I'll even be coming here.

Speaker 3 (12:37):
Hey, We'll see you in December.

Speaker 4 (12:39):
Yeah, December, Yeah, when the Cowboys come to Carolina. I'll
be there and calling the game for the Cowboys. But
it's national broadcasts, so you're never gonna know what.

Speaker 1 (12:47):
My loyalty is.

Speaker 4 (12:48):
I could very well be pulling for the Panthers. We'll
just leave it at that.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
We know its a little bit of that particular game
for that one for sure. Steve Hey, it's great to
catch up with you one about the all time greats
in this franchise history and continue You're great successful. See
you in December.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
I look forward to a Jim Thanks

Speaker 3 (13:05):
Thirty seasons of Panther football.
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