November 1, 2024 • 7 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 Panthers history. This week's guest is former Panthers defensive back, Dante Wesley.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Cornerback.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Dante Wesley spent two different instints with the Carolina Panthers,
bridging from two thousand and two to two thousand and nine.
He was part of the Super Bowl thirty eight team
and a teammate of current GM Dan Morgan. As we
talk about great moments from the past and the optimism
he has for the future of the team.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Thirty Seasons of Panther Football a celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Dante Wesley joining US Panthers defensive back and he was
here from two thousand and two to nine. So you've
you've seen it all. Man. This past year was not
a good one, but you've also seen this franchise, you know,
dig out of that and play good ball and go
to a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yes, I've been around a long time, and so the
year I was here, we played in the Super Bowl
in two thousand and three against the New England Patriots.
Unfortunately we lost the Men, I've been around this organization,
been around this team for so many years. You know,
I live in Dallas now, but I've always kept up
with Carolina. Carolina as the first team I think of
every year looking at their schedule, what can I be
part of?
Speaker 5 (01:00):
But this is a great organization.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
I was fortunate enough to be around here when we
were winning consistently year after year. So I'm looking it's
a lot of big things for this franchise. I think
it's gonna get turned to the right direction. They got
the right management, right coaches. Of course, I'm big on
the GM. Dan Morgan a good friend of mine, teammate.
He's gonna help turn this program around. It's gonna be
an exciting team, exciting season.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
When you think back to like that era in playing
with Dan and now seeing him as a general manager,
and you' all have gone on to great things in
your post playing career, but really his assentiment really quick
with Seattle, Buffalo and now as a general manager for
the Panthers.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Yes, Dan is he's the perfect guy for the job.
Dan was.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I know my rookie year when I came in, he was.
He was a leader, he was an aggressive player, a
guy from Miami. Those guys knew how to win. And
you think about my second year here, we was in
the super Bowl, super Bowl thirty eight, and.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
So Dan knows what needs to be done.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
I think he know what players to look for, what
type of players he need to have in the locker room,
and I think it done. Everything takes time, and hopefully
they'll have a lot of a lot of things going
on this year to be able to help those guys
get in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Super Bowl game was amazing because it had so many
different chapters to it. It was such a sluggish first
start and then you guys are down and you have
that huge comeback in the fourth quarter of the offense
gets going there and then of course you know the
short field position and you know they get the field
goal range there at the end. But what was that
roller coaster like of that that game?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
You know where that game was so exciting because, I
mean we had we were considered the cardiac cats. We
always know how to win at the end, and so
like you said, that game was up and down.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
I mean, we had. It was aggressive game.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It was one of the most physical I think I
watched one of the documentaries that the Patriots said and
they some of those guys said that was the most
physicalist game, physicallest game they have ever played, and was
against us. And so the game was up and down.
You know, it went all the way down to the
end as usual, and you know then with the field
placement at the end and then you put the goat
back there. I mean, one of the greatest quarterbacks of
(02:56):
all time. You put him back there and give him
on the forty yards to make for a field go
hard for us to stop him.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
But it was a great season. It was a great game.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
To me, that's one of the one of the greatest
Super Bowls I've ever seen. Even though they don't talk
about it that much on NFL network, they kind of
overlooked that game.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
But that was one of the greatest.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Games I can can look back in and say that
was ever played for a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, and even that whole playoff run, I mean that
that double overtime game in Saint Louis is one of
the greatest games. I don't care who you're a fan of.
Going into Philadelphia at that time and winning on the road.
What kind of stands out to you about that confidence
that came during that playoff run.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Well, the confidence we had in that playoff run was
that we always found a way how to win. I
was just talking with Musie Muhammad, and you know, we
looked back at that season and like I said, the
cardiad Cats, we knew how to win with two minutes
left in the game. If we were down fourteen and
we were down twenty one, we'll find a way to
get ahead with those two minutes. And so that season
(03:53):
was a roller coaster, I mean, starting with the first
playoff game against I think against the Cowboys that year.
We beat them that year, and then we had to
go on the road to Saint Louis and uh, that
double overtime game when Steve got caught the Seahorn route
and just scored.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
I can never forget just the.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
The whatever the Ram Stadium was cacas it might have
been twa doing whatever it was.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, I mean it was quiet.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I mean the only fans you heard, hollyw was the
Carolina fans way at the top of the stadium. And
I know my mom was there, my wife was there,
and that was just a great game and just a
sight of the crowd like that.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That was the momentum.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
We need to go into Philly, to go back into
another hostile environment and you know, to go up in Philadelphia,
play a game there against McNabb and to get guys
they had and it was cold a game, and we
just found a way to come out, you know. And
I was thinking we was gonna come all the way,
We're gonna mix the Super Bowl, We're gonna find a
way to come through.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
With New England.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
But it was like that last drive, man, it just
just broke our backs.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Man.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
What was it like playing for John Fox? And we
all love him here and I got to ask you
to He had sub Bay cliches, you know, it is
what it is and all that kind of stuff. What
were the ones that I don't know that you guys
chuckled at or resonated or whatever. He had to hit
a long list of some interesting for you.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, he had a lot.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I mean, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
Make sure you all your ferraris up.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
It was always something going on with Fox. Fox kept
different little little sayings. He'll say it right, And I
even mentioned some of those, saying to my son. I
can't just recall directly what I would say, but some
of the things that I remember him was that he
would say I would tell my son to this day,
you know, and I know my son probably look at
me like, what are you saying Dad, But it's different things, and.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
It was all real. It was it was funny, but
it was always truth to it. But man, I enjoyed Fox.
Fox was a great coach. I kept up with.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Fox even when he went to Chicago then also when
he went to Denver. You know, he was a great
coach all around. And I haven't seen him in a while,
but hope he's doing well in his family.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
And yeah, but he was a great coach. I really
enjoyed him.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Man, what has that post football life been like for you?
Speaker 5 (05:47):
It's been great, man.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
I mean, me and Nick Goins were just talking a
minute ago. It's been almost twenty years since we've been
in this locker room. And you know, and my child,
my son was I think with like maybe four or
five at the time, and now he's in college a
ten years old.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
My daughter's nineteen.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
She's in college, both of them at the same at SMU,
the same college together. She works in recruiting and he's
playing football.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
You know. So, man, it's been great.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
I've been fortunate enough to be blessed to be in
a situation I am, you know, with football helping me out,
and have my wife.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
We've been married twenty one years, and you know, it's
been great. I can't. I have no regrets nowhere.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Just thank you know, just thank for the Panthers organization
to give me a chance to come in here in
two thousand and two and give me a chance to
play here. And I'll always be grateful to this franchise,
this organization.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'd be interested before this. You go to about you
live in Dallas, you got kids that are at SMU.
What's the feeling in Dallas about after all these years
being part of the ACC. We're here in ACC country.
It's like college football is like it's hard to even
keep up with who's where anymore?
Speaker 4 (06:45):
You know what, It's really exciting. I mean, they have
really been promoting this ACC move for SMU. And I
tell my son, it's only gonna you know, you're going
in the better competition. Now you're gonna have to work
out like you're going blending in the a CEC. I mean,
you got North Carolina, you have Clemson. They play Florida
State they third game. And so I tell my son
all the time, I say, okay, y'all, linebackers is my side.
(07:08):
They not gonna be to be linebacker my size linebackers
playing the a SEC against Florida State. So but it's exciting, man.
I think the city of Dallas is welcoming and welcoming
that that acc inn and I'm sure to be a
exciting game when they do play Florida State the third
game because you bring the seminal fans in that they
travel big. It's a lot of them fans, so it's
gonna be exciting. This is his freshman year, so me
(07:29):
as a parent, I hope he red shirt because I
still want him to get bigger, fashion and stronger. You know,
you're coming from high school and going to college. Everybody's
not built for that. I mean, I read short in
my first year coming in college. So hopefully he a
red shirt and continue to get better and you never know,
maybe in the next four, five or six years he
might be a Carolina Panther.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
We would love to see that. Dante Wesley great to
catch up with, do you. Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Thirty seasons of Tan through Football
Cornerback.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Dante Wesley spent two different instints with the Carolina Panthers,
bridging from two thousand and two to two thousand and nine.
He was part of the Super Bowl thirty eight team
and a teammate of current GM Dan Morgan. As we
talk about great moments from the past and the optimism
he has for the future of the team.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
Thirty Seasons of Panther Football a celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
Dante Wesley joining US Panthers defensive back and he was
here from two thousand and two to nine. So you've
you've seen it all. Man. This past year was not
a good one, but you've also seen this franchise, you know,
dig out of that and play good ball and go
to a Super Bowl.
Speaker 4 (00:42):
Yes, I've been around a long time, and so the
year I was here, we played in the Super Bowl
in two thousand and three against the New England Patriots.
Unfortunately we lost the Men, I've been around this organization,
been around this team for so many years. You know,
I live in Dallas now, but I've always kept up
with Carolina. Carolina as the first team I think of
every year looking at their schedule, what can I be
part of?
Speaker 5 (01:00):
But this is a great organization.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
I was fortunate enough to be around here when we
were winning consistently year after year. So I'm looking it's
a lot of big things for this franchise. I think
it's gonna get turned to the right direction. They got
the right management, right coaches. Of course, I'm big on
the GM. Dan Morgan a good friend of mine, teammate.
He's gonna help turn this program around. It's gonna be
an exciting team, exciting season.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
When you think back to like that era in playing
with Dan and now seeing him as a general manager,
and you' all have gone on to great things in
your post playing career, but really his assentiment really quick
with Seattle, Buffalo and now as a general manager for
the Panthers.
Speaker 5 (01:37):
Yes, Dan is he's the perfect guy for the job.
Dan was.
Speaker 4 (01:40):
I know my rookie year when I came in, he was.
He was a leader, he was an aggressive player, a
guy from Miami. Those guys knew how to win. And
you think about my second year here, we was in
the super Bowl, super Bowl thirty eight, and.
Speaker 5 (01:51):
So Dan knows what needs to be done.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
I think he know what players to look for, what
type of players he need to have in the locker room,
and I think it done. Everything takes time, and hopefully
they'll have a lot of a lot of things going
on this year to be able to help those guys
get in the right direction.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Super Bowl game was amazing because it had so many
different chapters to it. It was such a sluggish first
start and then you guys are down and you have
that huge comeback in the fourth quarter of the offense
gets going there and then of course you know the
short field position and you know they get the field
goal range there at the end. But what was that
roller coaster like of that that game?
Speaker 4 (02:25):
You know where that game was so exciting because, I
mean we had we were considered the cardiac cats. We
always know how to win at the end, and so
like you said, that game was up and down.
Speaker 5 (02:34):
I mean, we had. It was aggressive game.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
It was one of the most physical I think I
watched one of the documentaries that the Patriots said and
they some of those guys said that was the most
physicalist game, physicallest game they have ever played, and was
against us. And so the game was up and down.
You know, it went all the way down to the
end as usual, and you know then with the field
placement at the end and then you put the goat
back there. I mean, one of the greatest quarterbacks of
(02:56):
all time. You put him back there and give him
on the forty yards to make for a field go
hard for us to stop him.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
But it was a great season. It was a great game.
Speaker 4 (03:05):
To me, that's one of the one of the greatest
Super Bowls I've ever seen. Even though they don't talk
about it that much on NFL network, they kind of
overlooked that game.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
But that was one of the greatest.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
Games I can can look back in and say that
was ever played for a Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Well, and even that whole playoff run, I mean that
that double overtime game in Saint Louis is one of
the greatest games. I don't care who you're a fan of.
Going into Philadelphia at that time and winning on the road.
What kind of stands out to you about that confidence
that came during that playoff run.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
Well, the confidence we had in that playoff run was
that we always found a way how to win. I
was just talking with Musie Muhammad, and you know, we
looked back at that season and like I said, the
cardiad Cats, we knew how to win with two minutes
left in the game. If we were down fourteen and
we were down twenty one, we'll find a way to
get ahead with those two minutes. And so that season
(03:53):
was a roller coaster, I mean, starting with the first
playoff game against I think against the Cowboys that year.
We beat them that year, and then we had to
go on the road to Saint Louis and uh, that
double overtime game when Steve got caught the Seahorn route
and just scored.
Speaker 5 (04:05):
I can never forget just the.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
The whatever the Ram Stadium was cacas it might have
been twa doing whatever it was.
Speaker 5 (04:13):
Yeah, I mean it was quiet.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I mean the only fans you heard, hollyw was the
Carolina fans way at the top of the stadium. And
I know my mom was there, my wife was there,
and that was just a great game and just a
sight of the crowd like that.
Speaker 5 (04:24):
That was the momentum.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
We need to go into Philly, to go back into
another hostile environment and you know, to go up in Philadelphia,
play a game there against McNabb and to get guys
they had and it was cold a game, and we
just found a way to come out, you know. And
I was thinking we was gonna come all the way,
We're gonna mix the Super Bowl, We're gonna find a
way to come through.
Speaker 5 (04:41):
With New England.
Speaker 4 (04:42):
But it was like that last drive, man, it just
just broke our backs.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
Man.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
What was it like playing for John Fox? And we
all love him here and I got to ask you
to He had sub Bay cliches, you know, it is
what it is and all that kind of stuff. What
were the ones that I don't know that you guys
chuckled at or resonated or whatever. He had to hit
a long list of some interesting for you.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Yeah, he had a lot.
Speaker 4 (05:01):
I mean, if you're not getting better, you're getting worse.
Make sure you all your ferraris up.
Speaker 5 (05:07):
You know.
Speaker 4 (05:08):
It was always something going on with Fox. Fox kept
different little little sayings. He'll say it right, And I
even mentioned some of those, saying to my son. I
can't just recall directly what I would say, but some
of the things that I remember him was that he
would say I would tell my son to this day,
you know, and I know my son probably look at
me like, what are you saying Dad, But it's different things, and.
Speaker 5 (05:25):
It was all real. It was it was funny, but
it was always truth to it. But man, I enjoyed Fox.
Fox was a great coach. I kept up with.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
Fox even when he went to Chicago then also when
he went to Denver. You know, he was a great
coach all around. And I haven't seen him in a while,
but hope he's doing well in his family.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
And yeah, but he was a great coach. I really
enjoyed him.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Man, what has that post football life been like for you?
Speaker 5 (05:47):
It's been great, man.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
I mean, me and Nick Goins were just talking a
minute ago. It's been almost twenty years since we've been
in this locker room. And you know, and my child,
my son was I think with like maybe four or
five at the time, and now he's in college a
ten years old.
Speaker 5 (06:00):
My daughter's nineteen.
Speaker 4 (06:01):
She's in college, both of them at the same at SMU,
the same college together. She works in recruiting and he's
playing football.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
You know. So, man, it's been great.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
I've been fortunate enough to be blessed to be in
a situation I am, you know, with football helping me out,
and have my wife.
Speaker 5 (06:16):
We've been married twenty one years, and you know, it's
been great. I can't. I have no regrets nowhere.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Just thank you know, just thank for the Panthers organization
to give me a chance to come in here in
two thousand and two and give me a chance to
play here. And I'll always be grateful to this franchise,
this organization.
Speaker 1 (06:32):
I'd be interested before this. You go to about you
live in Dallas, you got kids that are at SMU.
What's the feeling in Dallas about after all these years
being part of the ACC. We're here in ACC country.
It's like college football is like it's hard to even
keep up with who's where anymore?
Speaker 4 (06:45):
You know what, It's really exciting. I mean, they have
really been promoting this ACC move for SMU. And I
tell my son, it's only gonna you know, you're going
in the better competition. Now you're gonna have to work
out like you're going blending in the a CEC. I mean,
you got North Carolina, you have Clemson. They play Florida
State they third game. And so I tell my son
all the time, I say, okay, y'all, linebackers is my side.
(07:08):
They not gonna be to be linebacker my size linebackers
playing the a SEC against Florida State. So but it's exciting, man.
I think the city of Dallas is welcoming and welcoming
that that acc inn and I'm sure to be a
exciting game when they do play Florida State the third
game because you bring the seminal fans in that they
travel big. It's a lot of them fans, so it's
gonna be exciting. This is his freshman year, so me
(07:29):
as a parent, I hope he red shirt because I
still want him to get bigger, fashion and stronger. You know,
you're coming from high school and going to college. Everybody's
not built for that. I mean, I read short in
my first year coming in college. So hopefully he a
red shirt and continue to get better and you never know,
maybe in the next four, five or six years he
might be a Carolina Panther.
Speaker 5 (07:45):
You never know.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
We would love to see that. Dante Wesley great to
catch up with, do you. Thanks so much for your time.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
Thirty seasons of Tan through Football
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