September 26, 2025 • 11 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 30 seasons, reminiscing on the moments that made Panther's history. This week's guest is former Panthers defensive lineman, KK short.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Defensive tackle.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KK Short spent his entire eight year NFL career as
a Carolina Panther from twenty thirteen to twenty twenty, twice
selected for the Pro Bowl and of course a part
of the Super Bowl fifty team. We'll talk about that season,
that game, and a lot more today with KK Short.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thirty seasons of Panther football. A celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right, always fun to catch up with KK Short.
I think we actually did this last year too, getting
ready for another season. And for these guys, we're talking
mostly about ten years ago the Super Bowl team and
what an incredible team that was.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And you're a big part of your career was that year.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
But I mean so many years, twenty thirteen to twenty twenty,
twice a Pro Bowl player. When you look back at
twenty fifteen, you kind of have to go with twenty fourteen, Right,
Guys are sitting there three to eight and one, You
win your last four games, You win the NFC South
with that seven and eighty one record.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Take us back to that time.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Because you're in Minnesota, you guys get beat pretty handily
on a freezing cold day there. I mean, you almost
had to feel like your coach might be losing his
job a little than the fact that you beat guys
would be going to the super Bowl the next year
after that.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
H That was a terrible.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Game, honestly, and just from the standpoint of the weather,
how we went out there and played and everything that
we did wrong they capitalized on. So I think that
game just took us to where we know what we
needed to do and we can't you don't let these
mistakes hunt us, because man, they had everything going for
themself over the Minnesota, so you know, not to think
(01:43):
about the weather or whatever. We in a whole different environment,
but just that game in general, how I went for them,
it was like probably one of their best games, and
we just flat out came out flat.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What clicked over the next five games counting the playoff
win that wasn't there at three eight and one, because
it's the same components basically though, but a sense of urgency,
whatever was cooking in the oven finally it got to
the right temperature. What kind of came together there at
the end.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, I think, and you know, this was your two
for me and I just really still trying to understand
what's expected, what needs to be done around here. But
I just think, you know, far as the development that
I've had and seen what this organization was about and
how people bought into it, and I think that's where
we knew it went into that game, came out of
(02:32):
that game with the result that we had that we
knew it was better than that. So I think that
week of practice was probably the most intense practice that
I've had since I've been there, and just knowing that
what we put on tape, all these other teams are
want to try to do, you know, and because it's
a copycat lead, So that whole week of practice was
so intense it was like do I really want to.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Say we play football?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
But just because how hard and intense it was, and
just coach Royn Rivera was just telling us just just
be in a moment and understand that this is what
you guys done, got to be prepared for other people
to try to do it as well. So I think
that we just took it as we can't let that
happen to us no more. And we had a different identity,
a different team than what we was last week.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's funny you word it that way because Dwan Edward's
walking by while I'm talking to you. We talked to
Duan and that twenty fifteen was his final season. Super
Bowl was his final game. He talked about the Minnesota
game and heading into the week you just talked about,
and he was thinking, I may just retire now.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
He said, this isn't going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I'm thinking about where I'm going on vacation and what
I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. So
to think about that, and then you get into twenty
fifteen and you start out fourteen and oh on your
way to going seventeen and one heading into that Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I mean, obviously you guys.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Earned every bit of that, but were you kind of
as you look back at it, maybe from a distance now,
even startled as you look back to say, you won
eighteen regular season games in a row.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
It's something that you don't think about. I mean, obviously,
the goal is to make it the playoff. That's goal
number one, and going number two is to get to
the championship, and go number three is to win. I
think that we just went in blindly of that season,
starting off with camp and how everything was going with camp.
I didn't even practice during camp because I had.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
A back injury.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
You know, the whole camp and Josh Norman, I think
we found our identity without saying what's our identity, and
everybody just bought into the process, work together, and next
thing you look up, we seven to zero. So it's like, oh,
we got a chance, but we can't jinx this. We
need to keep keep our head down, keep doing what
we need to do and following the leaders around that team,
(04:28):
and everybody's playing well.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
A lot of different minutia parts to talk about. I
haven't talked to anybody about the fact that you all
did lose Atlanta obviously week fifteen of that season, and
you knew at that point obviously your future is security.
You're gonna be a top seed in the playoffs and
so forth, so nothing lost with that. Was it disappointing though,
not to have the ability to go for that perfect
season in that moment when you did lose to the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Never want to lose to the Falcons anyways.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Right exactly. Man, The goal was it never losed against anybody,
you know, and we was having so much fun that
I think that we needed a knock on the head
just to understand what we have and we can't take
advantage of it. Did we want to lose that game?
Heck no. And those guys came in and humbled us
and we took that. And you know, our goal after
(05:14):
that was, let's not let this be Let's just let
this be our last loss, and we need to go
and make this few of our fire and we need
to keep going. So I think that that game helped
us to become more hungry for the next couple of
games that we needed to play.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So the week before that game was the Giants game
thirty eight thirty five Panthers win. That was the last
of the winning streak there. And that game is mostly
known for j No and Odell Beckham Junior. Just go
and add it. They combined for five personal file penalties
in that game. That was a rugged, wild football game,
wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
It was because we started off real good and then
those guys made a comeback and you know, the whole
incident with Josh and and Odell, that was just again
just trying to knock us off our pedestal what we're
trying to get to, and you know, it got heated
in between us in them and mostly between Josh and
and Odell. But I think after that Josh could have understood,
(06:10):
he understood more of what we had on that team,
and he couldn't jeopardize itself to do that no more so,
I think his passion and his ability to have the
love for the game, you know, it just took him
out of that character. But you know, after that, I
mean he had a cold conversation with the team and
it was just you know better after that.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
A little bit about your particular season in twenty fifteen.
You were the defensive Player of the Month in the
NFC for October. He had eleven sacks in that season,
which tied for the most of any defensive tackle, and
you were surrounded by great players, so obviously expect you
to be complimentary about that goes. But for you, how
did your game feel and like where you were in
your career at that moment, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
When you get to the lead day because Washington Man,
because he was on my tail heavy, you know, since
I got here, and that the most important thing he
told me, there's no reassuring in the NFL, And you know,
that's kind of one of the things you need to
put yourself in a position to play. And year three
just kind of slowed down for me. I kind of
more understood the game, more understood what needed to do,
(07:08):
what was expected out of me, And I think overall
just the mental of it helped me out so much.
Once you know what you're doing, but once you know
what you have to do and you do it, you know,
it takes off a lot of the pressure. So I
mean the plays that we had was amazing, but the
guys that was surrounding you know, I can say all
the names you know to this day, but those guys
(07:32):
complimented me so much that I so much other respect
for those guys to understand that they opened up the door,
you know, watched down and Colin Cole and just seeing
what those guys were doing before me and what they
was doing while I was there, it was just another
thing to just say, this is why I want to
mark my game after and it just like I said
when I say it slowed down, it just slowed down
(07:53):
for me.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Great veterans, yeah, to lead on. They were great up
about that time where the team needed them at that point,
and then you get to the playoffs and you guys, Seattle,
you're up thirty one, nothing ends thirty one, twenty four
to make the comeback the next week Arizona, you guys
just blistered them. It's just that that meme of just
you know, capile and it's just like a dynamite going off.
(08:13):
And it was probably the most dominating performance of the
entire season beating the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Were you guys mad.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
When Seattle defensively, because you guys are such a good defense,
when they came back and got those twenty four points?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Were you mad?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And to have obviously it's the NFC Championship game, you
have a huge sense of purpose, but even more so
just mindful of the fact of what had happened the
week before.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I think we were just upset that before that Seattle
had our number and you may beat us since I
was there, and then year three, you know, it just
turned around. But we was disappointed of how we just
lacked towards the end of how we made them that
they've come back like that, and we really was trying
to put together a perfect season and we needed to
(08:53):
do that. Going to a week after just to see
if we can you know, make a run at what
we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Super Bowl obviously is a disappointment, and it is what
it is, as another coach would have said here at
one point, and there are some very tangible turnovers, quarterback sacks,
you know, miss kicks, everything kind of contributed from all
three phases of the game. Overall, though, just when you
look back at it, you know what what could have
been done differently, or what in your mind do you
(09:22):
wish would have been done differently as far as what
you could have maybe accomplished in that game that you
guys just felt like the better team. You look at
the yardage, you just look at everything about that game.
It was just a couple of things that got away
that you guys weren't doing during the regular season.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
I think the the thing I could say is that
we had to any mistakes, and those guys were so
good that they capitalized off the mistakes that we that
we've done. And you know, far as just not even
speaking of the whole team. With as far as my effort,
I think I should have done a lot better as well,
just to help this team, you know, complete that the
(09:58):
mission that we went.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Out there for.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
We literally didn't go out there with the energy that
we had the previous games before and like in this show,
So just going back and looking at that, like that's
a game that you always wish cauld get back.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Gets lost, I'm sure not on you. Was the fact
that one of the great defensive performances in Super Bowl
history was on your defensive line, cony Ee. Three sacks,
forced to fumble, had an interception, and even though we
were doing the broadcast, I had to vote on that
and they only accept whoever the team winner is as
being the MVP. Cony Eely would have been the MVP
(10:33):
if the Panthers had somehow won that game.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Was definitely, I mean, his game, he unbelievable. What he
did in that game is Stat's the way he proposed, proposed,
the way he prepared for that game before leading up
to that game that week, It was only and that
he was going to have that type of game, And
(10:56):
just to see him out there and just having a
live view of it, like it was awesome to see.
He definitely would have got MVB.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
All right, well, here we are ten years later as
you look back at that season, But honestly, your career
at two time pro Bowl player. I mentioned only a
Carolina Panther in your career. What are the things that
you you kind of when you're sitting in your easy
chair on a Sunday not playing football that it kind
of makes you smile when you look back at your
time with the Panthers.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
It was an unbelievable time. Man, whether it was good
or bad, I think it was one of those ones
that moved me into a better man and better person
to understand that. You know, life is a roller coaster,
is going to go up and down. It's just how
about you gotta get off of You gotta figure it out.
So I think that's where you know, the life after
the football, trying to.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Figure it out.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Life during football. You gotta figure it out. But at
the end of the day, man, it's how you approach it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
All right, Well, great to see you again, KK. Appreciate you,
thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Thirty seasons of Panther football.
Defensive tackle.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
KK Short spent his entire eight year NFL career as
a Carolina Panther from twenty thirteen to twenty twenty, twice
selected for the Pro Bowl and of course a part
of the Super Bowl fifty team. We'll talk about that season,
that game, and a lot more today with KK Short.
Speaker 3 (00:19):
Thirty seasons of Panther football. A celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
All right, always fun to catch up with KK Short.
I think we actually did this last year too, getting
ready for another season. And for these guys, we're talking
mostly about ten years ago the Super Bowl team and
what an incredible team that was.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
And you're a big part of your career was that year.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
But I mean so many years, twenty thirteen to twenty twenty,
twice a Pro Bowl player. When you look back at
twenty fifteen, you kind of have to go with twenty fourteen, Right,
Guys are sitting there three to eight and one, You
win your last four games, You win the NFC South
with that seven and eighty one record.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
Take us back to that time.
Speaker 2 (01:04):
Because you're in Minnesota, you guys get beat pretty handily
on a freezing cold day there. I mean, you almost
had to feel like your coach might be losing his
job a little than the fact that you beat guys
would be going to the super Bowl the next year
after that.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
H That was a terrible.
Speaker 4 (01:20):
Game, honestly, and just from the standpoint of the weather,
how we went out there and played and everything that
we did wrong they capitalized on. So I think that
game just took us to where we know what we
needed to do and we can't you don't let these
mistakes hunt us, because man, they had everything going for
themself over the Minnesota, so you know, not to think
(01:43):
about the weather or whatever. We in a whole different environment,
but just that game in general, how I went for them,
it was like probably one of their best games, and
we just flat out came out flat.
Speaker 2 (01:54):
What clicked over the next five games counting the playoff
win that wasn't there at three eight and one, because
it's the same components basically though, but a sense of urgency,
whatever was cooking in the oven finally it got to
the right temperature. What kind of came together there at
the end.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, I think, and you know, this was your two
for me and I just really still trying to understand
what's expected, what needs to be done around here. But
I just think, you know, far as the development that
I've had and seen what this organization was about and
how people bought into it, and I think that's where
we knew it went into that game, came out of
(02:32):
that game with the result that we had that we
knew it was better than that. So I think that
week of practice was probably the most intense practice that
I've had since I've been there, and just knowing that
what we put on tape, all these other teams are
want to try to do, you know, and because it's
a copycat lead, So that whole week of practice was
so intense it was like do I really want to.
Speaker 1 (02:52):
Say we play football?
Speaker 4 (02:53):
But just because how hard and intense it was, and
just coach Royn Rivera was just telling us just just
be in a moment and understand that this is what
you guys done, got to be prepared for other people
to try to do it as well. So I think
that we just took it as we can't let that
happen to us no more. And we had a different identity,
a different team than what we was last week.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
It's funny you word it that way because Dwan Edward's
walking by while I'm talking to you. We talked to
Duan and that twenty fifteen was his final season. Super
Bowl was his final game. He talked about the Minnesota
game and heading into the week you just talked about,
and he was thinking, I may just retire now.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
He said, this isn't going anywhere.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I'm thinking about where I'm going on vacation and what
I'm gonna do with the rest of my life. So
to think about that, and then you get into twenty
fifteen and you start out fourteen and oh on your
way to going seventeen and one heading into that Super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
I mean, obviously you guys.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Earned every bit of that, but were you kind of
as you look back at it, maybe from a distance now,
even startled as you look back to say, you won
eighteen regular season games in a row.
Speaker 4 (03:49):
It's something that you don't think about. I mean, obviously,
the goal is to make it the playoff. That's goal
number one, and going number two is to get to
the championship, and go number three is to win. I
think that we just went in blindly of that season,
starting off with camp and how everything was going with camp.
I didn't even practice during camp because I had.
Speaker 3 (04:06):
A back injury.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
You know, the whole camp and Josh Norman, I think
we found our identity without saying what's our identity, and
everybody just bought into the process, work together, and next
thing you look up, we seven to zero. So it's like, oh,
we got a chance, but we can't jinx this. We
need to keep keep our head down, keep doing what
we need to do and following the leaders around that team,
(04:28):
and everybody's playing well.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
A lot of different minutia parts to talk about. I
haven't talked to anybody about the fact that you all
did lose Atlanta obviously week fifteen of that season, and
you knew at that point obviously your future is security.
You're gonna be a top seed in the playoffs and
so forth, so nothing lost with that. Was it disappointing though,
not to have the ability to go for that perfect
season in that moment when you did lose to the Falcons.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Never want to lose to the Falcons anyways.
Speaker 4 (04:52):
Right exactly. Man, The goal was it never losed against anybody,
you know, and we was having so much fun that
I think that we needed a knock on the head
just to understand what we have and we can't take
advantage of it. Did we want to lose that game?
Heck no. And those guys came in and humbled us
and we took that. And you know, our goal after
(05:14):
that was, let's not let this be Let's just let
this be our last loss, and we need to go
and make this few of our fire and we need
to keep going. So I think that that game helped
us to become more hungry for the next couple of
games that we needed to play.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
So the week before that game was the Giants game
thirty eight thirty five Panthers win. That was the last
of the winning streak there. And that game is mostly
known for j No and Odell Beckham Junior. Just go
and add it. They combined for five personal file penalties
in that game. That was a rugged, wild football game,
wasn't it.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
It was because we started off real good and then
those guys made a comeback and you know, the whole
incident with Josh and and Odell, that was just again
just trying to knock us off our pedestal what we're
trying to get to, and you know, it got heated
in between us in them and mostly between Josh and
and Odell. But I think after that Josh could have understood,
(06:10):
he understood more of what we had on that team,
and he couldn't jeopardize itself to do that no more so,
I think his passion and his ability to have the
love for the game, you know, it just took him
out of that character. But you know, after that, I
mean he had a cold conversation with the team and
it was just you know better after that.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
A little bit about your particular season in twenty fifteen.
You were the defensive Player of the Month in the
NFC for October. He had eleven sacks in that season,
which tied for the most of any defensive tackle, and
you were surrounded by great players, so obviously expect you
to be complimentary about that goes. But for you, how
did your game feel and like where you were in
your career at that moment, you know.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
When you get to the lead day because Washington Man,
because he was on my tail heavy, you know, since
I got here, and that the most important thing he
told me, there's no reassuring in the NFL, And you know,
that's kind of one of the things you need to
put yourself in a position to play. And year three
just kind of slowed down for me. I kind of
more understood the game, more understood what needed to do,
(07:08):
what was expected out of me, And I think overall
just the mental of it helped me out so much.
Once you know what you're doing, but once you know
what you have to do and you do it, you know,
it takes off a lot of the pressure. So I
mean the plays that we had was amazing, but the
guys that was surrounding you know, I can say all
the names you know to this day, but those guys
(07:32):
complimented me so much that I so much other respect
for those guys to understand that they opened up the door,
you know, watched down and Colin Cole and just seeing
what those guys were doing before me and what they
was doing while I was there, it was just another
thing to just say, this is why I want to
mark my game after and it just like I said
when I say it slowed down, it just slowed down
(07:53):
for me.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
Great veterans, yeah, to lead on. They were great up
about that time where the team needed them at that point,
and then you get to the playoffs and you guys, Seattle,
you're up thirty one, nothing ends thirty one, twenty four
to make the comeback the next week Arizona, you guys
just blistered them. It's just that that meme of just
you know, capile and it's just like a dynamite going off.
(08:13):
And it was probably the most dominating performance of the
entire season beating the Cardinals in the NFC Championship game.
Speaker 1 (08:19):
Were you guys mad.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
When Seattle defensively, because you guys are such a good defense,
when they came back and got those twenty four points?
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Were you mad?
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And to have obviously it's the NFC Championship game, you
have a huge sense of purpose, but even more so
just mindful of the fact of what had happened the
week before.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
I think we were just upset that before that Seattle
had our number and you may beat us since I
was there, and then year three, you know, it just
turned around. But we was disappointed of how we just
lacked towards the end of how we made them that
they've come back like that, and we really was trying
to put together a perfect season and we needed to
(08:53):
do that. Going to a week after just to see
if we can you know, make a run at what
we're trying to do.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Super Bowl obviously is a disappointment, and it is what
it is, as another coach would have said here at
one point, and there are some very tangible turnovers, quarterback sacks,
you know, miss kicks, everything kind of contributed from all
three phases of the game. Overall, though, just when you
look back at it, you know what what could have
been done differently, or what in your mind do you
(09:22):
wish would have been done differently as far as what
you could have maybe accomplished in that game that you
guys just felt like the better team. You look at
the yardage, you just look at everything about that game.
It was just a couple of things that got away
that you guys weren't doing during the regular season.
Speaker 4 (09:37):
I think the the thing I could say is that
we had to any mistakes, and those guys were so
good that they capitalized off the mistakes that we that
we've done. And you know, far as just not even
speaking of the whole team. With as far as my effort,
I think I should have done a lot better as well,
just to help this team, you know, complete that the
(09:58):
mission that we went.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Out there for.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
We literally didn't go out there with the energy that
we had the previous games before and like in this show,
So just going back and looking at that, like that's
a game that you always wish cauld get back.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
Gets lost, I'm sure not on you. Was the fact
that one of the great defensive performances in Super Bowl
history was on your defensive line, cony Ee. Three sacks,
forced to fumble, had an interception, and even though we
were doing the broadcast, I had to vote on that
and they only accept whoever the team winner is as
being the MVP. Cony Eely would have been the MVP
(10:33):
if the Panthers had somehow won that game.
Speaker 4 (10:35):
Was definitely, I mean, his game, he unbelievable. What he
did in that game is Stat's the way he proposed, proposed,
the way he prepared for that game before leading up
to that game that week, It was only and that
he was going to have that type of game, And
(10:56):
just to see him out there and just having a
live view of it, like it was awesome to see.
He definitely would have got MVB.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
All right, well, here we are ten years later as
you look back at that season, But honestly, your career
at two time pro Bowl player. I mentioned only a
Carolina Panther in your career. What are the things that
you you kind of when you're sitting in your easy
chair on a Sunday not playing football that it kind
of makes you smile when you look back at your
time with the Panthers.
Speaker 4 (11:19):
It was an unbelievable time. Man, whether it was good
or bad, I think it was one of those ones
that moved me into a better man and better person
to understand that. You know, life is a roller coaster,
is going to go up and down. It's just how
about you gotta get off of You gotta figure it out.
So I think that's where you know, the life after
the football, trying to.
Speaker 1 (11:36):
Figure it out.
Speaker 4 (11:37):
Life during football. You gotta figure it out. But at
the end of the day, man, it's how you approach it.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
All right, Well, great to see you again, KK. Appreciate you,
thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Thirty seasons of Panther football.
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