September 5, 2024 • 33 mins
Get a front-row seat to Carolina Panthers football with *Sideline Pass*! Hosted by team reporters Kristen Balboni and Sharon Thorsland, this show takes you right into the heart of the action with exclusive insights, behind-the-scenes stories, and the latest buzz from Bank of America Stadium. This week Kristen and Sharon are joined by Thomas Davis and JJ Jansen to talk about the new special teams rules, car trouble, Panthers vs Saints and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Wow Jeers, Kristin Balboni, and Sharon Thorpe's London with your
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to Sideline Pass. I'm team reporter Kristin Balboni, and
every week I'm taking you straight onto the field and
into the locker room for conversations with current players, Panthers legends,
and other Sideline reporters. So join us each week as
we give you insider access to all things Panthers. Our
first guest this week is someone who Panthers fans know
(00:32):
and love. It's Thomas Davis. All right, I am so
excited about this because in the podcast studio with me
we have Panthers legend and my good buddy, Thomas Davis, HETD.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Hey, KB, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So we are going to talk about the start of
the regular season. So what I want to know from
you as we start this off is like, what did
that look like for you as a player the week
of what were you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You know, just excited.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know you've been waiting alone time to get back
out there on the field and you know that in
essence it's go time. And you know the fan base
are always eager. Everybody has Super Bowl hopes, so it's
always a good time to really get back out there
and get ready to kick it off with your brothers
and your teammates. Man, that's what this period is all about,
(01:18):
fine tuning the little things and making sure that you
go to the work week with a great game plan
and you can go out there and execute it as players.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Did you have anything the week leading up to a game,
any game or the day that you were like, I
have to do this thing or everything's going to be terrible.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'll never forget this moment. My first ever NFL game.
I had this old school nineteen seventy five Shivel Caprice
and I'm like, man, I cannot wait to drive my
car to the game. So I'm excited, and you know,
we only get a little bit of time from when
we leave the hotel to actually show up at the stadium.
And I was literally on the highway driving to the
(02:00):
game and my car just is shut down on me
on the highway on my way to the first game,
and literally Coach Fox is sitting there waiting like, you know,
y'all better not be late to this game. So I'm like, man,
you're a rookie. Listen, I'm a rookie. I'm out there sweating.
I'm looking at the opposing team's bus passing me by,
(02:21):
like literally, I think they were saying they were staying
out in Valentine and I was on the side of
the road getting ready to go play in this game.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Man.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
But I actually got picked up by one of our
one of our patrol guys. They picked me up and
brought me right in and I made it on time.
But it's just it's just one of those little things
that you never planned for as a player. You never
planned for your car breaking down on the way to
your game, but in your first game at that so
but for me, you know, it was just being able
(02:49):
to get in the building and then just allow everything
else around me to just settle down and and just
get into a mindset that I could really focus in
on that game.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Were you able to do that after your car broke down?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I was able to do that, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
I had somebody else come in and come and pick
the car up, and I couldnt figure out what was
going on in my car.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Man.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I'm like, I just put all this money in this
car and lo and behold the gas hand was broken
and it ran out of gas.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I thought it was full and it was empty.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So did somebody come siphon it off from the opposing team?
Speaker 4 (03:19):
No, not from the opposing team. But you know, we
we were able to get it figured out. So I'm like,
I can't stress about it. I can't worry about it.
I got something much bigger and better that I have
to be locked in on right now.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So and I guess if you can lock in after
that happened, like then, there's no no other game.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Back in top.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
There's nothing else that can that can break your focus
after you after you've gone through that sitting on it,
you know, and you know how hot it is at
this point of the year, especially on a Sunday, you
outside and I had to top back, and I'm just
I'm excited, eager to get there, and sitting on.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The side of the road.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That sounds like a bad dream to me. I feel
like that's one of those things that you wake up
like a bad dream, especially seeing the opposing teams must
go by. I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
That is good. We can laugh at it now, but
I was not laughing in that moment.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I would guess not so.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Looking at this team and the season we talked about.
You and I were talking a little bit earlier about
the fact that they open up on the road against
the Saints division opponent.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
No, I'm excited.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
I'm excited we get to find out early and often
what this team is about. You know, you have an
opportunity to really put yourself in a great spot to
start this season within the division. And what better way
to do it than to go out and beat up
on the Saints in New Orleans. I mean, that would
be a great feeling to go down and come away
with that victory. And I know this team is definitely
(04:40):
capable of doing that, and I'm looking forward to seeing
how they come together as a group. You know, offensively, defensively,
and special teams. You have to be able to put
it all together, and I think this team is ready
to do that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
If you're a young guy who just made the fifty
three man roster and you know you squeak by, you
show them what you could do, maybe you're playing special
teams as well, and then you're about to go in
to this game, how do you keep from getting too.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Tight you know, you know, you know, you have your
veterans step in and just remind guys that you know,
you gotta lock in and you gotta focus, and you
gotta trust the work.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You gotta trust the game plan.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
You gotta trust all of the all of the practice
reps that you've had, and you just got to understand
and know that the coaches gotta plan.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You just got to go out there as players the executor.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
You can't be overly hyped and thinking that you got
to do more than what you're asked to do and
more than what you're capable of.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Just go out there.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And Coach McDermott used to always tell us this when
we were here and he was our defensive coordinator. Just
be one eleventh. I don't need you to be two
three four. I need you to be one eleventh of
this defense and to be able to go out there
and execute it. And I just say that to you know,
each player that takes the field, just be one eleventh
and do your job and will end up as exactly
(06:00):
what we want to be.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And I think for the people listening at home or
the fans around the game, that's harder than it sounds like, right,
because you see a player you want to go blow
something up. You see someone else that isn't able to
get what they need to do done, and you want
to go in and save everything.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Right, Listen, everybody, everybody always wants the glory. Right when
you play this game and you see that it's a
nationally televised game, or you know that it has big
time implications, like a division game, you want to go
out there and do something special that's going to get
everybody excited. Whether it's a big hit, whether it's an interception,
(06:35):
whether it's a touchdown, whether it's a big sack, whatever
it may be. You want to be that guy that
goes out and make that play that energizes not only
your football team, but energizes the entire city, the entire organization.
You want to be the one that makes that game
change and play. But at the end of the day,
(06:56):
players have to understand and realize it has to be
within their scope of what the game plan is. You
can't go out and go rogue and try to do
your own thing. And I think that's when you see
so many teams go awry, and you see so many
teams end up in in bad situations. Because players try
(07:17):
to go out and be selfish, and they try to
go out and play for the name on the back
of the jersey instead of the name on the front
of it.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I want to talk to you about a guy that
is certainly going to keep everyone in line. You call
him your son, Yes, Shaq Thompson, someone that was a
young guy that you and Luke mentored when he first
got into the league. And now he is the guy
that has taken your role in terms of leadership, and
he has been in that position for a long time.
What did you teach him that you see him imparting today?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
You know, I think one of the biggest things right
now with Shaq and the trajectory of his career is perseverance.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, he's gone through a lot something that you
know about absolutely.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
And I know a lot about that. He has the
opportunity to see me go through a lot of the
stuff that I want it through. But I think at
the end of the day, it's really all about just
understanding your role and not being afraid of the moment.
You know, Shaq understands that he's one of the longer
tenured guys here and he has to step up and
he has to provide that veteran leadership that this football
(08:16):
team needs, and I think he's welcoming that role. You
can see him continue to embrace it and grow in it.
And I think with every the way everything has gone,
you can see that that Shaq has truly, without a doubt,
been a team player. He's done immeasurably more than you
could have asked of the player of his caliber to
(08:38):
have the kind of salary that he had. You know,
let's just start right there, to have the salary that
he had, and you know, to make a decision, you know,
to continue to be a part of the organization that
drafted you and gave you the opportunity, knowing that you
know it would look like a pay cut. You know,
a lot of players take offense to that, and guys
usually walk away. Shaq Thompson could have been a guy
(09:00):
that absolutely, without a doubt, could have gotten a big
payday for another football team. But he made the decision
to stay loyal, to stay grounded, and to stay right
here and keep pounding and be a part of this organization.
And I think at the end of the day, it's
gonna benefit Shack in the long run and it's gonna
benefit this organization still having him on his team, because
(09:20):
not only does he provide a ton of veteran leadership
while he's out on the field, but he also provides
as an athlete on the field.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Shaq still has it, man.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I love seeing him back on the field, flying around,
making plays and doing the things that he learned.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
From his dad.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
All right, finally, I want to ask you about a
young guy that Shack is mentoring, of course, and that
I know you are very high on. You're nodding your head.
I feel like you know who I'm going to ask
you about. Yep, Trevin Wallace. Yes, First of all, I
want to know this. Okay, you were talking to him
last week when we were doing our TV show. Do
all linebackers just know each other?
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Like?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Because I see you know everyone on the defense, but
you knew him before he got here.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, we share a bun man.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
You know, It's just something about linebacker, and in particular
athletic linebackers. You know, guys that play off the ball,
that do it all. You know, we're a rare breed.
You know, we rush the passer, we intercept the football,
We tackle the ball carrier. I think that makes us
the most dynamic players on the field. And you know,
you might have some guys that want to argue with that,
(10:23):
but let me see them go out and cover four
three receivers and also take on three hundred pounds linemen.
You know you don't have too many guys that's capable
and are able to do that. Trevan is a guy
that can definitely do that. Watching him play at the
University of Kentucky, we knew that he was explosive.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
We knew that he was strong.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
We knew that he was a guy that didn't mind
giving up his body for his team. We saw him
do that weekend and week out. And to do it
in the highest level of college football in the SEC.
It gets no greater than the SEC. And for him
to be able to go out and make the plays
that he did in the SEC, you automatically knew that
it was going to translate to the NFL game.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
All right, Well, he's not here right now, so settle
this score that you two have once and for all.
Who's more country?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Listen, he knows who's more country? He lost that bet.
How dare him try to challenge me? Being from Shelman, Georgia.
We had this conversation and he literally said, oh, we
got five thousand people in my hometown. I said, that's cute, bro,
we got a thousand people, Like, what are you talking about?
Like it ain't even it's not even close. Y'all got
(11:33):
five times the amount of people that we have. But
you know, it's always good to have some friendly banter,
especially with the young guys. Man just seeing you know
where their mindset is now. And you know, just being
around that kid, he's infectious. You can tell that he
loves the game. You could tell that he loves football.
And the one thing that I learned about him in
that moment is that he's a true competitor. And those
(11:55):
are the kind of guys that you want on your
football team, Guys that will literally go out and try
to win a spit competition. You know, That's how I was,
and that's how I am. I want to say that's
how I was. I'm still like that to this day.
You know, there's not a whole lot of things that
you'll put in front of me that I don't want
to compete and win at. And I see some of
(12:16):
those same qualities in him. Man and just being able
to watch him go out athletically, jump up, make interceptions,
being able to take on big, physical offensive linemen and
win those battles. I mean, I think it's one of
the things that you know, I absolutely enjoy and I'm
looking forward to seeing this kid grow over the years
and hopefully potentially become a perennial Pro Bowl All Pro player.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Ooh ooh, those are some big shoes to fill right there. Absolutely, TD,
thank you so.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Much for talking, no problem, thank you for having me KB.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Now it is time to talk to the longest tenured
Panthers player and someone who could legitimately take my job.
It is the long snapper for your Carolina Panthers, JJ Janssen.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
HEJJ, I am many many years away from taking your job.
I want to do this job pretty well for a
few more years and then there'll be a lot to learn.
But I'm slowly taking notes on everybody in the media
and what they do.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I just don't like it when people have more than
one talent, Like I could never be a long snapper.
So don't you start becoming a host of Panther segments.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I mean, like car talk, you don't don't start doing that,
So that is that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Is my first question for you. So if you're a
Panthers fan, I'm sure you have seen JJ's a video
series Kart Talk, and you essentially drive one of your
teammates down from the practice field to the locker room
and you do what you do best, which is talk
to them and besides long snapping you do you talk
to them and learn something. So what I want to
(13:45):
know our first topic is what is something that you
have learned that you didn't know about one of your teammates.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
Okay, so I'm not totally sure when this podcast is
going to come out when the next Car Talk is,
but the most interesting thing I've learned this season, we
did one with Coach Canalis, so this is our most
recent one, so it might be a spoiler, but that's
the kind of content you get here. He we've all
seen how good his haircut is. He cuts his own
(14:12):
hair and he has a playlist for his own haircuts.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
No why absolutely.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
It takes about an hour and he's got it's like
reggae and a bunch of other genres that I don't
really know about. So it's all vibes and he cuts
his own hair and it looks like I used to
cut my own hair for like ten years, but it
was a buzz cut, like I literally just hit number
two and went z all the way around my head.
(14:42):
I can't imagine having a haircut like him doing it himself,
but he's done it for number of years, So was
that was the most recent?
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Like, WHOA, that's pretty that's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, okay, Well I have some thoughts. So if you're
listening to this, you cannot see JJ's hair, but JJ,
you have grown your hair out. Now are you trying
to get at a haircut like Coach Canalis? Because that
is I mean, he has a great haircut. You have
a great haircut. Now is that the inspiration? No?
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Although, look he's forcing all of us to level up
because of his hairstyle. So I had I had buzzed
my hair for probably like a decade, and mostly out
of like laziness and just like, hey, this will be
really easy. I used to every summer as a kid,
I'd have a buzz cut because I played catcher and baseball,
so you get like sand and dirt in your head
(15:29):
and it's just easier to just have a buzz cut.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
So I went with it.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
And then this offseason, like I hadn't cut my hair
in like two months, and my wife said, this is
starting to look disgusting.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
You either need to buzz it.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Again or just grow it out and see what happens.
And so we went with grow it out and see
what happens. Hecker hooked me up with his personal barber
in Matthews, and I just said, just do whatever you
do to like Hecker or somebody. I have no idea,
and we're slowly kind of figuring out how it kind
of works. I I'm trying to look at myself right
(16:00):
now in the camera to see what kind of hair
day I'm having. But I got a good head of hair,
so it might as well go for it, and as
long as it happens. And I don't have any grays
yet in my hair, I do have a few in
my beard, so we try to keep that a little shorter.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
But right now up top, I'm pretty clean.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
You're just adding gravitas with those couple of gray beard hairs.
That's all.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
That at this point, like people don't totally appreciate it.
But like when George Clooney, like when I was a
kid and George Clooney was doing like er and he
started like really getting the like touch of gray is like, hey,
this is the sophisticated look. I'm not there yet, but
I know I've got a couple of good years through,
like probably like my mid forties. And then it starts
(16:42):
going all gray and then you got to make some decisions.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
But for now, I'm good. I got I got a
good little runway hair for a bit.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Okay, so switching gears, I want to pull back the
curtain a little bit and talk about the Specialists for
anyone who doesn't know, for my money, the three of you, you, Hecker,
and Eddie Binio have the fun and are the most
fun group. I would put you up against any of
the other groups. You know you're although I don't know,
I feel like any group Derek Brown is in it's
(17:08):
going to be fun. But I would say as a unit,
the Specialists have the most fun and are one of
the most tight knit groups on this team.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Can you confirm, absolutely totally confirm we are actually way
more fun than Derek Brown, slightly less fun than Shy Tuttle.
Uh So we have the advantage over the d line.
But that's a tough group. To crack a Sean is
like sneaky funny, and so that's a tough You're right,
that is that's a pretty tough group to beat. But
(17:38):
we definitely have the most fun. Look, we have a
little bit of advantage every other position group on some level.
The guys inside the group are competing with each other
for playing time. So even if they're working together, they're
also kind of competing with each other. So it's you
form a tight bond, but it's hard to really ever
let your guard down. The three of us kind of
(17:58):
live and die together. We're all working together and we're
not competing with one another, but we're teaming up to
compete against the other group's specialists or special teams coach
or whatever. So we get we get an opportunity to
have kind of a special bond. We also have the
advantage of most of football practice has nothing to do
with special teams. So once we get our work done
(18:19):
and you know, we watch our film and we do
our meetings, like, we have a lot of free time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But also you're all really good at your job, like
you're a pro bowler, you know what I mean, So
you have free time. It's not just that the practices
and anything do it. You're also just all really good.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
We're good at we're at our job, and we're trying
to get better. But I think we've also all figured
out that we play our best when we're fairly loose.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Not a lot of not a lot of physicians can
say that.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Yeah, it's different.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
It's a little bit more like our jobs are a
little bit more like golf or baseball, where you have
it's a lot more mental than it is physical. And
so you're trying to put yourself in the best headspace
to perform and deal with the stress of a game.
And if you grind it for four and a half
hours from pregame all the way through four fifteen when
you got to hit a game winner.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
If you just be exhausted.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
So you try to build in ways that in the
games and in practice you can be a little bit
more relaxed and turn it off for a few minutes
even and just kind of decompress. And look, it's a
lot more Any group that Johnny Hecker is in is
going to have fun. He I always joke his love
language is gifts and laughs, like that's how he communicates
(19:32):
his love and affection for his family, our football family,
just like that's how he sort of rolls. And so
in the last three years, I've ended up with a
ton of laughs and a Nintendo Switch.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
So we're doing We're doing really good. I'm doing great
on laughs and gifts.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, Johnny and I share the same birthday, and he
has never given me a birthday gift, so we'll have
to talk about that.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
So we've talked about this before.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
You guys also share a birthday with my youngest son, Ben,
who will be turning six in February, so February eighth big.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Day, and j is Johnny getting Ben anything?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
He probably will, I mean Ben once Ben totally realized
We've told him a number of times.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
And of course Ben forgets a lot.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
He's in kindergarten, so his brains brains filled up now
with the abcs and trying to count to ten. But
when we remind him, he will almost assuredly ask Johnny
for a gift, because that's kind of his personality, and
Johnny usually obliges. He's about once a week he's on
Amazon trying to buy something for somebody on the team
(20:35):
that they said they didn't have, and he knows how
to solve that problem.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And so that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:42):
That's awesome, Like you'm a special person.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Let him know that I expect a gift as well.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
I mean, I mean you probably like price range between
like one hundred and like ten thousand.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Summary.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely up toward the higher end on there.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Okay, Yeah, obviously we're not we're not gonna We're not
a hero. We want the best stuff. So exactly, all right.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So before I let you go, not only so again
pulling back the curtain, not only are you, as I said,
pro Bowl long snapper, you are also a rules officionado,
Like you're the person that everyone goes to you have
I mean, it's true. So can you for everyone, can
you explain the new kickoff rules and also what you've
thought of it in the preseason.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
So, the really simple way to look at the new
kickoff rules is everything is incentivized to encourage both the
kickoff team and the kick return team to return the ball.
We were trying to avoid touchbacks and where there's really
no action on the play. So they've done that with
a couple of things. Can't kick it out of bounds,
(21:44):
can't kick it short of the twenty, and it's a
thirty yard line touchback if you just kick it straight
into the end zone, which you saw thirteen times in
the Super Bowl, kick it out of the back of
the end zone. So instead of those plays starting at
the twenty five, now they're going to start at the thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Trying to disincentivize that.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
The other thing they're trying to do is all the
rules up in my career up until this point was
trying to mitigate major injuries, specifically head injuries on kickoff.
So they put everybody right next to each other to
take all the extra speed out of the kickoff return.
So we should be able to have more returns with
(22:22):
fewer injuries, so make it a safer play. How that's
going to play starting in Week one, I have no idea,
because the incentives are changing. Right If you put the
touch back at the twenty, everyone's going to hit a
touch back and give the offense the ball to twenty.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
If you put the touch back at.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
The fifty, everyone would kick off. So they're trying to
find a midpoint in that. Right now, it looks like
it's the thirty yard line and they're saying most teams
are not going to just sacrifice the thirty yard line
on a kickoff. We'll see once September gets through three
or four weeks and those numbers start coming up, and
(23:00):
where's the average return go to? Where does the touchbacks
go to? And you'll see strategy begin to take place.
But I think it's a really good rule. It's a
little different to watch, it's a little bit of getting
used to, and I think really the whole season will
be kind of a big lab experiment, and then maybe
some of those other where the touchback goes or some
(23:22):
of the other moving parts might change to get the
more desired outcomes.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
But the goal is for more action and fewer injuries.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, JJ, thank you so much. I hope that we
can check back in with you later in the season.
And look, please continue playing football and don't take my job.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Absolutely, I'm going to keep practicing with kar talk. We're
gonna get a lot of good guests. But at the
end of the day, they clam up with me and
as a media member as much as they would do
with any other media member. So it's not exactly like
I've been able to get any deep dark secrets. So
when I do that, then I will give up football,
but until then, I'm gonna keep snapping balls of Johnny.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Now we are here with the voice Panther fans know
very very well. It's Panthers reporter and WBT reporter Sharon Thorslan.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Hi, Sharon, Hey, Kristin, how are you.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I'm great, how are you very good?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Thank you? Ready to get this season rolling.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Exactly, and this is going to be so much fun
so for everyone this season. Sharon is doing sideline for
road games and I am doing sideline for home games,
So I think this is a perfect place to exchange
information and Sharon, I thought for at the start of
the regular season we could give people kind of an
inside look about what we look for, especially not just
(24:33):
sideline reporting, but radio sideline reporting.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Well, that's obviously a whole different ballgame than the TV is,
and I know you've done both.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
As well, and radio.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
That's one of the reasons I love radio is because
you get to paint a picture with so people can
see what you're seeing through your words exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
So many times, as you know, with TV sideline reporting,
you report on something or you know, you talk to it.
So we certainly talked to our producers up in the
booth lot and even if you don't hear us, we'll
be giving them information. And with TV, a lot of
times they're already the camera's already there, you know exactly.
I'm seeing someone it looks like it's foot is hurt,
and they've already got a camera over there. So I
(25:12):
think we both love radio because you, like you said,
you get to paint the picture and you if you
don't tell fans something or people listening, then they might.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Not know it exactly.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
And that's the cool thing about sidelines being down there
is you get to see everything. I mean, clearly, the
people watching on TV, you get to see everything that's
happening on the field. But with radio and what we do,
we get to see everything that's going on behind the scenes.
You get to see the interaction between the players, how
the coaches are talking to the players, what guys are doing,
who's getting looked at From an injury standpoint. There's so
(25:44):
many things that go on on the sidelines and as
part of a football game that it's just there's just
endless amounts of things going on the sidelines that it's
fun to be able to report on those things.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
And Sharon I don't know if you feel like this,
but if I'm watching another game on TV, say it's
Sunday night or Monday night football, the sideline reporter in
me can't stop. I'm like, ooh, what happens there?
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I think I saw something. Was he out a bounce
right there? That looks that up a little funny?
Speaker 5 (26:11):
You know?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Absolutely?
Speaker 7 (26:13):
Absolutely, And I love to listen to other slideline reporters
and see how they approach things and see what kind
of tidbits they're getting out of games of radio and TV.
So it's it's fun to get another perspective from other
reporters exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So I want to talk about I think something that'd
be really interesting is what are you looking for during
the game.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
Well, the number one thing I'm looking at is when
guys really when they come off the field, because you know,
we've got a niche and the great guys up in
the booth who are telling you everything that's happening on
the playing field. So I feel like I don't need
to contribute too much in that respect unless there is
something that they had a hard time seeing, or if
there's a guy down injured and they can't really see
the number or something like that. I'll try to type
(26:53):
chime in on what's happening on the field, but for
the most part, I'm looking at what is going on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
What's happening.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
When Bryce Young comes off the field after a drive,
you know, where does he go, who is he talking to?
What's going on? What's that interaction? Like if there was
an incomplete pass, you know, is he going over and
talking to Jonathan Mingo to see how they're getting on
the same page.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I'm always looking to see whatever unit just came off
the field. I go over right away and try to
see what's going on in that group, be a you know,
offensive line, tight ends, running back, quarterback, whatever it may be.
Receivers on the on the offensive side, same thing on
the defensive side. I want to see what the coaches
are saying to them, because you can get so much
information from the coaches just having their conversations with the
(27:36):
players as they go back and said on the bench
and like, all right, this is what we need to
do it, this is what we need to be on
the lookout for, because it's pretty cool information. I think
that when when the coaches give hidbits out like that
that it's cool for the listeners to be able to
hear that kind of information because you're not going to
get that on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I completely agree. It's you know, if they are on offense,
I am less likely to watch the offense as I
am to get right or were there with the defense.
You know, you get behind the benches, You're like, what's
going on over here? And of course, if you can
do both or you know, Sharon, if you're following the ball,
you try to follow the ball as much as you can.
But sometimes I'm on the opposite side of the field
trying to hear what is the offensive line talking about.
(28:15):
So everyone will run one way, your photographers, your videographers,
they're trying to get the best shot as a team
moves down the field, and I'm going the.
Speaker 7 (28:22):
Other day exactly exactly. And I think too, what we
do as a sideline reporter is as stuff is happening
on the field, say yeah, I'll bring up Jonathan Mingo
and say Jonathan Mingo just had a great reception or
did something particularly well, and I'm like, oh, I talked
to him this week about that. He's been working with
(28:43):
so and so extra heart on that particular play and
you know it's come to fruition. So then I'll pipe
in with the guys that in the booth who might
be talking about what he just did, and say, oh,
I got this information from him earlier in the week.
So you don't only get information on game day, obviously,
it's also the game prep all week, the week before,
weeks before even back into OTAs and training camp in
(29:03):
mini camps, where you gather all of that information about
what they've been doing. Then you can put that sort
of in the a file in your head somewhere and
pull that out and say, oh, I remember he was
talking about doing that and working with Bryce this offseason,
and you know this, that and the other, and so
that's how it contributes to the game. So I file
away stuff like that that I've been getting all pre
season and off season long, as well as what we're
(29:23):
getting on game day.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I completely agree. We're just stop piling information NonStop, and
nothing makes me happier. I wonder if you feel this way.
Nothing makes me happier than when someone that you've done
a lot of prep on, or you've talked to a
coach about, have a big play.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Oh yeah, exactly, exactly, and then we're both in our producer,
David Langdon, we're both in his.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Ears saying, hey, David, I got something on him. I
got something on him. Yeah, David, did you know exactly exactly?
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I want to ask you, what is the biggest thing
that you are looking for? So the Panthers go on
the road against the Saints for the first game division opponents,
so you will be the sidelinet order for that game.
What's the biggest thing you're looking for.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
I want to see how this offense does.
Speaker 7 (30:05):
We got a great glimpse of them against the Bills
this past weekend where they went up and had that
great drive opening drive that ended in the touchdown from
Bryce Young Jordan Matthews. But that was against the Bill's
second team that was not their starters. So we saw
what this offense is capable of. Now we've got to
see can they do it against a division opponent with
(30:26):
their first team defense out there with a very stout
defense at that in New Orleans. New Orleans is a
tough place to play, so I want to see if
everything that this offense has been putting together over training
camp and over OTA's in mini camps with New coach
Dave Canalis and Brad Izach and this whole new offense.
I want to see how that all comes together. Bryce Young,
as we know, has made just huge strides from year
(30:48):
one to year two. You can just see it in
his everything, just the way he walks, the way he talks,
the way he plays. He's so much more confident. Guys
have a lot of faith in him. He's become a
more vocal leader. And he just looks so fast and
so accurate and so good out there on the field
right now. He's looked great all preseason and the practices
and then of course against the Bills. So I want
(31:09):
to see if that is going to be able to
translate against New Orleans on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And finally, Sharon got something. We've got to talk about.
What happened in Buffalo with a hornet's nest or a waspt.
We know that being a sideline reporter is you're putting
yourself out on the line with inclement weather, all sorts
of stuff. Well, what happened up there?
Speaker 7 (31:31):
Yeah, this was the funniest thing, one of the funniest
things I've ever encountered on the sidelines in a game
before and I've been doing this for a long time
for college and the NFL. So I'm down there in
the pregame. We go on there very early, as our
listeners know. We go on at ten o'clock in the
morning for a one o'clock kickoff. And so I was
down there and I was standing over taking some notes
(31:51):
and I noticed all these bees buzzing around me, and
I'm like, what the heck, And I tried to, you know,
sort of swat them away, and they kept just coming
at me, and so I sort of like tried to
run the sideline a little bit, and I'm like, what
the heck and they were following me. And then I
look over along the wall where the bleacher or where
the stands are, and probably every ten feet they had
these little bags and they said portable yellow jacket trap
(32:15):
and they were full of bees, all of them. So
apparently they had this massive yellow jacket problem up there
at Highmark Stadium. And one of the stadium employees happened
to be coming around about that time, and I asked him,
I'm like, what the heck and he's like, oh yeah,
he said, you know, we got the new stadium to
open it in two years. So I think they just
don't really care about the pests anywhere around here, so
they just put all these traps up and they circled
(32:35):
the entire stadium in portable yellowjacket traps.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Luckily, nobody got stung.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
As far as I know.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, I was going to ask you, I'm glad you
said around the whole stam. I was going to ask
you if it was just on the roadside.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
No, No, they might have only had the problem on
the visitors side, but they had They hung them up
over there too to make it look good, But yeah,
they had. They had them surrounding the entire stadium, and
as far as I know, no one got stung. At
least no one on the Panthers labeline I'm aware of.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
So that is the kind of sacrifices that we make
as sideline reporters to bring you the best, Well you
made it, bring everyone the best possible radio product for
these games. Sharon, thank you so much. This was so fun.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Absolutely thanks for having me, Kristen, and.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We'll hopefully be doing this all season long. So again,
I want to thank Sharon and all of our guests
for this episode, and thanks to all of you for
listening to sideline pass. We'll see you next week when
we talk all things week one and get you ready
for Week two.
Wow Jeers, Kristin Balboni, and Sharon Thorpe's London with your
Sideline Pass.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Welcome to Sideline Pass. I'm team reporter Kristin Balboni, and
every week I'm taking you straight onto the field and
into the locker room for conversations with current players, Panthers legends,
and other Sideline reporters. So join us each week as
we give you insider access to all things Panthers. Our
first guest this week is someone who Panthers fans know
(00:32):
and love. It's Thomas Davis. All right, I am so
excited about this because in the podcast studio with me
we have Panthers legend and my good buddy, Thomas Davis, HETD.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Hey, KB, thank you for having me.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Thank you for being here.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
So we are going to talk about the start of
the regular season. So what I want to know from
you as we start this off is like, what did
that look like for you as a player the week
of what were you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:56):
You know, just excited.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
You know you've been waiting alone time to get back
out there on the field and you know that in
essence it's go time. And you know the fan base
are always eager. Everybody has Super Bowl hopes, so it's
always a good time to really get back out there
and get ready to kick it off with your brothers
and your teammates. Man, that's what this period is all about,
(01:18):
fine tuning the little things and making sure that you
go to the work week with a great game plan
and you can go out there and execute it as players.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Did you have anything the week leading up to a game,
any game or the day that you were like, I
have to do this thing or everything's going to be terrible.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Listen.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
I'll never forget this moment. My first ever NFL game.
I had this old school nineteen seventy five Shivel Caprice
and I'm like, man, I cannot wait to drive my
car to the game. So I'm excited, and you know,
we only get a little bit of time from when
we leave the hotel to actually show up at the stadium.
And I was literally on the highway driving to the
(02:00):
game and my car just is shut down on me
on the highway on my way to the first game,
and literally Coach Fox is sitting there waiting like, you know,
y'all better not be late to this game. So I'm like, man,
you're a rookie. Listen, I'm a rookie. I'm out there sweating.
I'm looking at the opposing team's bus passing me by,
(02:21):
like literally, I think they were saying they were staying
out in Valentine and I was on the side of
the road getting ready to go play in this game.
Speaker 5 (02:29):
Man.
Speaker 4 (02:29):
But I actually got picked up by one of our
one of our patrol guys. They picked me up and
brought me right in and I made it on time.
But it's just it's just one of those little things
that you never planned for as a player. You never
planned for your car breaking down on the way to
your game, but in your first game at that so
but for me, you know, it was just being able
(02:49):
to get in the building and then just allow everything
else around me to just settle down and and just
get into a mindset that I could really focus in
on that game.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Were you able to do that after your car broke down?
Speaker 1 (03:01):
I was able to do that, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:03):
I had somebody else come in and come and pick
the car up, and I couldnt figure out what was
going on in my car.
Speaker 5 (03:07):
Man.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
I'm like, I just put all this money in this
car and lo and behold the gas hand was broken
and it ran out of gas.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
I thought it was full and it was empty.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So did somebody come siphon it off from the opposing team?
Speaker 4 (03:19):
No, not from the opposing team. But you know, we
we were able to get it figured out. So I'm like,
I can't stress about it. I can't worry about it.
I got something much bigger and better that I have
to be locked in on right now.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So and I guess if you can lock in after
that happened, like then, there's no no other game.
Speaker 5 (03:35):
Back in top.
Speaker 4 (03:36):
There's nothing else that can that can break your focus
after you after you've gone through that sitting on it,
you know, and you know how hot it is at
this point of the year, especially on a Sunday, you
outside and I had to top back, and I'm just
I'm excited, eager to get there, and sitting on.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
The side of the road.
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That sounds like a bad dream to me. I feel
like that's one of those things that you wake up
like a bad dream, especially seeing the opposing teams must
go by. I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh, but.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
That is good. We can laugh at it now, but
I was not laughing in that moment.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
I would guess not so.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Looking at this team and the season we talked about.
You and I were talking a little bit earlier about
the fact that they open up on the road against
the Saints division opponent.
Speaker 3 (04:16):
How do you feel about that?
Speaker 1 (04:17):
No, I'm excited.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
I'm excited we get to find out early and often
what this team is about. You know, you have an
opportunity to really put yourself in a great spot to
start this season within the division. And what better way
to do it than to go out and beat up
on the Saints in New Orleans. I mean, that would
be a great feeling to go down and come away
with that victory. And I know this team is definitely
(04:40):
capable of doing that, and I'm looking forward to seeing
how they come together as a group. You know, offensively, defensively,
and special teams. You have to be able to put
it all together, and I think this team is ready
to do that.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
If you're a young guy who just made the fifty
three man roster and you know you squeak by, you
show them what you could do, maybe you're playing special
teams as well, and then you're about to go in
to this game, how do you keep from getting too.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Tight you know, you know, you know, you have your
veterans step in and just remind guys that you know,
you gotta lock in and you gotta focus, and you
gotta trust the work.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
You gotta trust the game plan.
Speaker 4 (05:19):
You gotta trust all of the all of the practice
reps that you've had, and you just got to understand
and know that the coaches gotta plan.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
You just got to go out there as players the executor.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
You can't be overly hyped and thinking that you got
to do more than what you're asked to do and
more than what you're capable of.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
Just go out there.
Speaker 4 (05:38):
And Coach McDermott used to always tell us this when
we were here and he was our defensive coordinator. Just
be one eleventh. I don't need you to be two
three four. I need you to be one eleventh of
this defense and to be able to go out there
and execute it. And I just say that to you know,
each player that takes the field, just be one eleventh
and do your job and will end up as exactly
(06:00):
what we want to be.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
And I think for the people listening at home or
the fans around the game, that's harder than it sounds like, right,
because you see a player you want to go blow
something up. You see someone else that isn't able to
get what they need to do done, and you want
to go in and save everything.
Speaker 4 (06:15):
Right, Listen, everybody, everybody always wants the glory. Right when
you play this game and you see that it's a
nationally televised game, or you know that it has big
time implications, like a division game, you want to go
out there and do something special that's going to get
everybody excited. Whether it's a big hit, whether it's an interception,
(06:35):
whether it's a touchdown, whether it's a big sack, whatever
it may be. You want to be that guy that
goes out and make that play that energizes not only
your football team, but energizes the entire city, the entire organization.
You want to be the one that makes that game
change and play. But at the end of the day,
(06:56):
players have to understand and realize it has to be
within their scope of what the game plan is. You
can't go out and go rogue and try to do
your own thing. And I think that's when you see
so many teams go awry, and you see so many
teams end up in in bad situations. Because players try
(07:17):
to go out and be selfish, and they try to
go out and play for the name on the back
of the jersey instead of the name on the front
of it.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
I want to talk to you about a guy that
is certainly going to keep everyone in line. You call
him your son, Yes, Shaq Thompson, someone that was a
young guy that you and Luke mentored when he first
got into the league. And now he is the guy
that has taken your role in terms of leadership, and
he has been in that position for a long time.
What did you teach him that you see him imparting today?
Speaker 4 (07:46):
You know, I think one of the biggest things right
now with Shaq and the trajectory of his career is perseverance.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
You know, he's gone through a lot something that you
know about absolutely.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
And I know a lot about that. He has the
opportunity to see me go through a lot of the
stuff that I want it through. But I think at
the end of the day, it's really all about just
understanding your role and not being afraid of the moment.
You know, Shaq understands that he's one of the longer
tenured guys here and he has to step up and
he has to provide that veteran leadership that this football
(08:16):
team needs, and I think he's welcoming that role. You
can see him continue to embrace it and grow in it.
And I think with every the way everything has gone,
you can see that that Shaq has truly, without a doubt,
been a team player. He's done immeasurably more than you
could have asked of the player of his caliber to
(08:38):
have the kind of salary that he had. You know,
let's just start right there, to have the salary that
he had, and you know, to make a decision, you know,
to continue to be a part of the organization that
drafted you and gave you the opportunity, knowing that you
know it would look like a pay cut. You know,
a lot of players take offense to that, and guys
usually walk away. Shaq Thompson could have been a guy
(09:00):
that absolutely, without a doubt, could have gotten a big
payday for another football team. But he made the decision
to stay loyal, to stay grounded, and to stay right
here and keep pounding and be a part of this organization.
And I think at the end of the day, it's
gonna benefit Shack in the long run and it's gonna
benefit this organization still having him on his team, because
(09:20):
not only does he provide a ton of veteran leadership
while he's out on the field, but he also provides
as an athlete on the field.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
Shaq still has it, man.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
I love seeing him back on the field, flying around,
making plays and doing the things that he learned.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
From his dad.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
All right, finally, I want to ask you about a
young guy that Shack is mentoring, of course, and that
I know you are very high on. You're nodding your head.
I feel like you know who I'm going to ask
you about. Yep, Trevin Wallace. Yes, First of all, I
want to know this. Okay, you were talking to him
last week when we were doing our TV show. Do
all linebackers just know each other?
Speaker 5 (09:56):
Like?
Speaker 1 (09:57):
How does that happen?
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Because I see you know everyone on the defense, but
you knew him before he got here.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Oh yeah, we share a bun man.
Speaker 4 (10:03):
You know, It's just something about linebacker, and in particular
athletic linebackers. You know, guys that play off the ball,
that do it all. You know, we're a rare breed.
You know, we rush the passer, we intercept the football,
We tackle the ball carrier. I think that makes us
the most dynamic players on the field. And you know,
you might have some guys that want to argue with that,
(10:23):
but let me see them go out and cover four
three receivers and also take on three hundred pounds linemen.
You know you don't have too many guys that's capable
and are able to do that. Trevan is a guy
that can definitely do that. Watching him play at the
University of Kentucky, we knew that he was explosive.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
We knew that he was strong.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
We knew that he was a guy that didn't mind
giving up his body for his team. We saw him
do that weekend and week out. And to do it
in the highest level of college football in the SEC.
It gets no greater than the SEC. And for him
to be able to go out and make the plays
that he did in the SEC, you automatically knew that
it was going to translate to the NFL game.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
All right, Well, he's not here right now, so settle
this score that you two have once and for all.
Who's more country?
Speaker 4 (11:12):
Listen, he knows who's more country? He lost that bet.
How dare him try to challenge me? Being from Shelman, Georgia.
We had this conversation and he literally said, oh, we
got five thousand people in my hometown. I said, that's cute, bro,
we got a thousand people, Like, what are you talking about?
Like it ain't even it's not even close. Y'all got
(11:33):
five times the amount of people that we have. But
you know, it's always good to have some friendly banter,
especially with the young guys. Man just seeing you know
where their mindset is now. And you know, just being
around that kid, he's infectious. You can tell that he
loves the game. You could tell that he loves football.
And the one thing that I learned about him in
that moment is that he's a true competitor. And those
(11:55):
are the kind of guys that you want on your
football team, Guys that will literally go out and try
to win a spit competition. You know, That's how I was,
and that's how I am. I want to say that's
how I was. I'm still like that to this day.
You know, there's not a whole lot of things that
you'll put in front of me that I don't want
to compete and win at. And I see some of
(12:16):
those same qualities in him. Man and just being able
to watch him go out athletically, jump up, make interceptions,
being able to take on big, physical offensive linemen and
win those battles. I mean, I think it's one of
the things that you know, I absolutely enjoy and I'm
looking forward to seeing this kid grow over the years
and hopefully potentially become a perennial Pro Bowl All Pro player.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Ooh ooh, those are some big shoes to fill right there. Absolutely, TD,
thank you so.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Much for talking, no problem, thank you for having me KB.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Now it is time to talk to the longest tenured
Panthers player and someone who could legitimately take my job.
It is the long snapper for your Carolina Panthers, JJ Janssen.
Speaker 6 (12:59):
HEJJ, I am many many years away from taking your job.
I want to do this job pretty well for a
few more years and then there'll be a lot to learn.
But I'm slowly taking notes on everybody in the media
and what they do.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I just don't like it when people have more than
one talent, Like I could never be a long snapper.
So don't you start becoming a host of Panther segments.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
I mean, like car talk, you don't don't start doing that,
So that is that.
Speaker 2 (13:24):
Is my first question for you. So if you're a
Panthers fan, I'm sure you have seen JJ's a video
series Kart Talk, and you essentially drive one of your
teammates down from the practice field to the locker room
and you do what you do best, which is talk
to them and besides long snapping you do you talk
to them and learn something. So what I want to
(13:45):
know our first topic is what is something that you
have learned that you didn't know about one of your teammates.
Speaker 6 (13:51):
Okay, so I'm not totally sure when this podcast is
going to come out when the next Car Talk is,
but the most interesting thing I've learned this season, we
did one with Coach Canalis, so this is our most
recent one, so it might be a spoiler, but that's
the kind of content you get here. He we've all
seen how good his haircut is. He cuts his own
(14:12):
hair and he has a playlist for his own haircuts.
Speaker 5 (14:18):
No why absolutely.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
It takes about an hour and he's got it's like
reggae and a bunch of other genres that I don't
really know about. So it's all vibes and he cuts
his own hair and it looks like I used to
cut my own hair for like ten years, but it
was a buzz cut, like I literally just hit number
two and went z all the way around my head.
(14:42):
I can't imagine having a haircut like him doing it himself,
but he's done it for number of years, So was
that was the most recent?
Speaker 5 (14:49):
Like, WHOA, that's pretty that's pretty wild.
Speaker 2 (14:51):
Yeah, okay, Well I have some thoughts. So if you're
listening to this, you cannot see JJ's hair, but JJ,
you have grown your hair out. Now are you trying
to get at a haircut like Coach Canalis? Because that
is I mean, he has a great haircut. You have
a great haircut. Now is that the inspiration? No?
Speaker 6 (15:09):
Although, look he's forcing all of us to level up
because of his hairstyle. So I had I had buzzed
my hair for probably like a decade, and mostly out
of like laziness and just like, hey, this will be
really easy. I used to every summer as a kid,
I'd have a buzz cut because I played catcher and baseball,
so you get like sand and dirt in your head
(15:29):
and it's just easier to just have a buzz cut.
Speaker 5 (15:31):
So I went with it.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
And then this offseason, like I hadn't cut my hair
in like two months, and my wife said, this is
starting to look disgusting.
Speaker 5 (15:38):
You either need to buzz it.
Speaker 6 (15:39):
Again or just grow it out and see what happens.
And so we went with grow it out and see
what happens. Hecker hooked me up with his personal barber
in Matthews, and I just said, just do whatever you
do to like Hecker or somebody. I have no idea,
and we're slowly kind of figuring out how it kind
of works. I I'm trying to look at myself right
(16:00):
now in the camera to see what kind of hair
day I'm having. But I got a good head of hair,
so it might as well go for it, and as
long as it happens. And I don't have any grays
yet in my hair, I do have a few in
my beard, so we try to keep that a little shorter.
Speaker 5 (16:14):
But right now up top, I'm pretty clean.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
You're just adding gravitas with those couple of gray beard hairs.
That's all.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (16:21):
That at this point, like people don't totally appreciate it.
But like when George Clooney, like when I was a
kid and George Clooney was doing like er and he
started like really getting the like touch of gray is like, hey,
this is the sophisticated look. I'm not there yet, but
I know I've got a couple of good years through,
like probably like my mid forties. And then it starts
(16:42):
going all gray and then you got to make some decisions.
Speaker 5 (16:44):
But for now, I'm good. I got I got a
good little runway hair for a bit.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Okay, so switching gears, I want to pull back the
curtain a little bit and talk about the Specialists for
anyone who doesn't know, for my money, the three of you, you, Hecker,
and Eddie Binio have the fun and are the most
fun group. I would put you up against any of
the other groups. You know you're although I don't know,
I feel like any group Derek Brown is in it's
(17:08):
going to be fun. But I would say as a unit,
the Specialists have the most fun and are one of
the most tight knit groups on this team.
Speaker 6 (17:16):
Can you confirm, absolutely totally confirm we are actually way
more fun than Derek Brown, slightly less fun than Shy Tuttle.
Uh So we have the advantage over the d line.
But that's a tough group. To crack a Sean is
like sneaky funny, and so that's a tough You're right,
that is that's a pretty tough group to beat. But
(17:38):
we definitely have the most fun. Look, we have a
little bit of advantage every other position group on some level.
The guys inside the group are competing with each other
for playing time. So even if they're working together, they're
also kind of competing with each other. So it's you
form a tight bond, but it's hard to really ever
let your guard down. The three of us kind of
(17:58):
live and die together. We're all working together and we're
not competing with one another, but we're teaming up to
compete against the other group's specialists or special teams coach
or whatever. So we get we get an opportunity to
have kind of a special bond. We also have the
advantage of most of football practice has nothing to do
with special teams. So once we get our work done
(18:19):
and you know, we watch our film and we do
our meetings, like, we have a lot of free time.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
But also you're all really good at your job, like
you're a pro bowler, you know what I mean, So
you have free time. It's not just that the practices
and anything do it. You're also just all really good.
Speaker 6 (18:32):
We're good at we're at our job, and we're trying
to get better. But I think we've also all figured
out that we play our best when we're fairly loose.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Not a lot of not a lot of physicians can
say that.
Speaker 5 (18:45):
Yeah, it's different.
Speaker 6 (18:46):
It's a little bit more like our jobs are a
little bit more like golf or baseball, where you have
it's a lot more mental than it is physical. And
so you're trying to put yourself in the best headspace
to perform and deal with the stress of a game.
And if you grind it for four and a half
hours from pregame all the way through four fifteen when
you got to hit a game winner.
Speaker 5 (19:07):
If you just be exhausted.
Speaker 6 (19:08):
So you try to build in ways that in the
games and in practice you can be a little bit
more relaxed and turn it off for a few minutes
even and just kind of decompress. And look, it's a
lot more Any group that Johnny Hecker is in is
going to have fun. He I always joke his love
language is gifts and laughs, like that's how he communicates
(19:32):
his love and affection for his family, our football family,
just like that's how he sort of rolls. And so
in the last three years, I've ended up with a
ton of laughs and a Nintendo Switch.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
So we're doing We're doing really good. I'm doing great
on laughs and gifts.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Well, Johnny and I share the same birthday, and he
has never given me a birthday gift, so we'll have
to talk about that.
Speaker 5 (19:56):
So we've talked about this before.
Speaker 6 (19:57):
You guys also share a birthday with my youngest son, Ben,
who will be turning six in February, so February eighth big.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
Day, and j is Johnny getting Ben anything?
Speaker 6 (20:07):
He probably will, I mean Ben once Ben totally realized
We've told him a number of times.
Speaker 5 (20:13):
And of course Ben forgets a lot.
Speaker 6 (20:15):
He's in kindergarten, so his brains brains filled up now
with the abcs and trying to count to ten. But
when we remind him, he will almost assuredly ask Johnny
for a gift, because that's kind of his personality, and
Johnny usually obliges. He's about once a week he's on
Amazon trying to buy something for somebody on the team
(20:35):
that they said they didn't have, and he knows how
to solve that problem.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
And so that's awesome.
Speaker 5 (20:42):
That's awesome, Like you'm a special person.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
Let him know that I expect a gift as well.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
That's right.
Speaker 6 (20:47):
I mean, I mean you probably like price range between
like one hundred and like ten thousand.
Speaker 5 (20:52):
Summary.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely up toward the higher end on there.
Speaker 6 (20:56):
Okay, Yeah, obviously we're not we're not gonna We're not
a hero. We want the best stuff. So exactly, all right.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
So before I let you go, not only so again
pulling back the curtain, not only are you, as I said,
pro Bowl long snapper, you are also a rules officionado,
Like you're the person that everyone goes to you have
I mean, it's true. So can you for everyone, can
you explain the new kickoff rules and also what you've
thought of it in the preseason.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (21:23):
So, the really simple way to look at the new
kickoff rules is everything is incentivized to encourage both the
kickoff team and the kick return team to return the ball.
We were trying to avoid touchbacks and where there's really
no action on the play. So they've done that with
a couple of things. Can't kick it out of bounds,
(21:44):
can't kick it short of the twenty, and it's a
thirty yard line touchback if you just kick it straight
into the end zone, which you saw thirteen times in
the Super Bowl, kick it out of the back of
the end zone. So instead of those plays starting at
the twenty five, now they're going to start at the thirty.
Speaker 5 (22:00):
Trying to disincentivize that.
Speaker 6 (22:01):
The other thing they're trying to do is all the
rules up in my career up until this point was
trying to mitigate major injuries, specifically head injuries on kickoff.
So they put everybody right next to each other to
take all the extra speed out of the kickoff return.
So we should be able to have more returns with
(22:22):
fewer injuries, so make it a safer play. How that's
going to play starting in Week one, I have no idea,
because the incentives are changing. Right If you put the
touch back at the twenty, everyone's going to hit a
touch back and give the offense the ball to twenty.
Speaker 5 (22:36):
If you put the touch back at.
Speaker 6 (22:37):
The fifty, everyone would kick off. So they're trying to
find a midpoint in that. Right now, it looks like
it's the thirty yard line and they're saying most teams
are not going to just sacrifice the thirty yard line
on a kickoff. We'll see once September gets through three
or four weeks and those numbers start coming up, and
(23:00):
where's the average return go to? Where does the touchbacks
go to? And you'll see strategy begin to take place.
But I think it's a really good rule. It's a
little different to watch, it's a little bit of getting
used to, and I think really the whole season will
be kind of a big lab experiment, and then maybe
some of those other where the touchback goes or some
(23:22):
of the other moving parts might change to get the
more desired outcomes.
Speaker 5 (23:25):
But the goal is for more action and fewer injuries.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
Okay, JJ, thank you so much. I hope that we
can check back in with you later in the season.
And look, please continue playing football and don't take my job.
Speaker 6 (23:37):
Absolutely, I'm going to keep practicing with kar talk. We're
gonna get a lot of good guests. But at the
end of the day, they clam up with me and
as a media member as much as they would do
with any other media member. So it's not exactly like
I've been able to get any deep dark secrets. So
when I do that, then I will give up football,
but until then, I'm gonna keep snapping balls of Johnny.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Now we are here with the voice Panther fans know
very very well. It's Panthers reporter and WBT reporter Sharon Thorslan.
Speaker 3 (24:05):
Hi, Sharon, Hey, Kristin, how are you.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
I'm great, how are you very good?
Speaker 3 (24:09):
Thank you? Ready to get this season rolling.
Speaker 2 (24:12):
Exactly, and this is going to be so much fun
so for everyone this season. Sharon is doing sideline for
road games and I am doing sideline for home games,
So I think this is a perfect place to exchange
information and Sharon, I thought for at the start of
the regular season we could give people kind of an
inside look about what we look for, especially not just
(24:33):
sideline reporting, but radio sideline reporting.
Speaker 7 (24:36):
Well, that's obviously a whole different ballgame than the TV is,
and I know you've done both.
Speaker 3 (24:41):
As well, and radio.
Speaker 7 (24:43):
That's one of the reasons I love radio is because
you get to paint a picture with so people can
see what you're seeing through your words exactly.
Speaker 2 (24:51):
So many times, as you know, with TV sideline reporting,
you report on something or you know, you talk to it.
So we certainly talked to our producers up in the
booth lot and even if you don't hear us, we'll
be giving them information. And with TV, a lot of
times they're already the camera's already there, you know exactly.
I'm seeing someone it looks like it's foot is hurt,
and they've already got a camera over there. So I
(25:12):
think we both love radio because you, like you said,
you get to paint the picture and you if you
don't tell fans something or people listening, then they might.
Speaker 3 (25:20):
Not know it exactly.
Speaker 7 (25:22):
And that's the cool thing about sidelines being down there
is you get to see everything. I mean, clearly, the
people watching on TV, you get to see everything that's
happening on the field. But with radio and what we do,
we get to see everything that's going on behind the scenes.
You get to see the interaction between the players, how
the coaches are talking to the players, what guys are doing,
who's getting looked at From an injury standpoint. There's so
(25:44):
many things that go on on the sidelines and as
part of a football game that it's just there's just
endless amounts of things going on the sidelines that it's
fun to be able to report on those things.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
And Sharon I don't know if you feel like this,
but if I'm watching another game on TV, say it's
Sunday night or Monday night football, the sideline reporter in
me can't stop. I'm like, ooh, what happens there?
Speaker 5 (26:05):
Exactly?
Speaker 2 (26:06):
I think I saw something. Was he out a bounce
right there? That looks that up a little funny?
Speaker 5 (26:11):
You know?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Absolutely?
Speaker 7 (26:13):
Absolutely, And I love to listen to other slideline reporters
and see how they approach things and see what kind
of tidbits they're getting out of games of radio and TV.
So it's it's fun to get another perspective from other
reporters exactly.
Speaker 2 (26:25):
So I want to talk about I think something that'd
be really interesting is what are you looking for during
the game.
Speaker 7 (26:31):
Well, the number one thing I'm looking at is when
guys really when they come off the field, because you know,
we've got a niche and the great guys up in
the booth who are telling you everything that's happening on
the playing field. So I feel like I don't need
to contribute too much in that respect unless there is
something that they had a hard time seeing, or if
there's a guy down injured and they can't really see
the number or something like that. I'll try to type
(26:53):
chime in on what's happening on the field, but for
the most part, I'm looking at what is going on
behind the scenes.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
What's happening.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
When Bryce Young comes off the field after a drive,
you know, where does he go, who is he talking to?
What's going on? What's that interaction? Like if there was
an incomplete pass, you know, is he going over and
talking to Jonathan Mingo to see how they're getting on
the same page.
Speaker 3 (27:12):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 7 (27:13):
I'm always looking to see whatever unit just came off
the field. I go over right away and try to
see what's going on in that group, be a you know,
offensive line, tight ends, running back, quarterback, whatever it may be.
Receivers on the on the offensive side, same thing on
the defensive side. I want to see what the coaches
are saying to them, because you can get so much
information from the coaches just having their conversations with the
(27:36):
players as they go back and said on the bench
and like, all right, this is what we need to
do it, this is what we need to be on
the lookout for, because it's pretty cool information. I think
that when when the coaches give hidbits out like that
that it's cool for the listeners to be able to
hear that kind of information because you're not going to
get that on TV.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
I completely agree. It's you know, if they are on offense,
I am less likely to watch the offense as I
am to get right or were there with the defense.
You know, you get behind the benches, You're like, what's
going on over here? And of course, if you can
do both or you know, Sharon, if you're following the ball,
you try to follow the ball as much as you can.
But sometimes I'm on the opposite side of the field
trying to hear what is the offensive line talking about.
(28:15):
So everyone will run one way, your photographers, your videographers,
they're trying to get the best shot as a team
moves down the field, and I'm going the.
Speaker 7 (28:22):
Other day exactly exactly. And I think too, what we
do as a sideline reporter is as stuff is happening
on the field, say yeah, I'll bring up Jonathan Mingo
and say Jonathan Mingo just had a great reception or
did something particularly well, and I'm like, oh, I talked
to him this week about that. He's been working with
(28:43):
so and so extra heart on that particular play and
you know it's come to fruition. So then I'll pipe
in with the guys that in the booth who might
be talking about what he just did, and say, oh,
I got this information from him earlier in the week.
So you don't only get information on game day, obviously,
it's also the game prep all week, the week before,
weeks before even back into OTAs and training camp in
(29:03):
mini camps, where you gather all of that information about
what they've been doing. Then you can put that sort
of in the a file in your head somewhere and
pull that out and say, oh, I remember he was
talking about doing that and working with Bryce this offseason,
and you know this, that and the other, and so
that's how it contributes to the game. So I file
away stuff like that that I've been getting all pre
season and off season long, as well as what we're
(29:23):
getting on game day.
Speaker 2 (29:25):
I completely agree. We're just stop piling information NonStop, and
nothing makes me happier. I wonder if you feel this way.
Nothing makes me happier than when someone that you've done
a lot of prep on, or you've talked to a
coach about, have a big play.
Speaker 7 (29:36):
Oh yeah, exactly, exactly, and then we're both in our producer,
David Langdon, we're both in his.
Speaker 3 (29:43):
Ears saying, hey, David, I got something on him. I
got something on him. Yeah, David, did you know exactly exactly?
Speaker 2 (29:50):
I want to ask you, what is the biggest thing
that you are looking for? So the Panthers go on
the road against the Saints for the first game division opponents,
so you will be the sidelinet order for that game.
What's the biggest thing you're looking for.
Speaker 3 (30:02):
I want to see how this offense does.
Speaker 7 (30:05):
We got a great glimpse of them against the Bills
this past weekend where they went up and had that
great drive opening drive that ended in the touchdown from
Bryce Young Jordan Matthews. But that was against the Bill's
second team that was not their starters. So we saw
what this offense is capable of. Now we've got to
see can they do it against a division opponent with
(30:26):
their first team defense out there with a very stout
defense at that in New Orleans. New Orleans is a
tough place to play, so I want to see if
everything that this offense has been putting together over training
camp and over OTA's in mini camps with New coach
Dave Canalis and Brad Izach and this whole new offense.
I want to see how that all comes together. Bryce Young,
as we know, has made just huge strides from year
(30:48):
one to year two. You can just see it in
his everything, just the way he walks, the way he talks,
the way he plays. He's so much more confident. Guys
have a lot of faith in him. He's become a
more vocal leader. And he just looks so fast and
so accurate and so good out there on the field
right now. He's looked great all preseason and the practices
and then of course against the Bills. So I want
(31:09):
to see if that is going to be able to
translate against New Orleans on Sunday.
Speaker 2 (31:15):
And finally, Sharon got something. We've got to talk about.
What happened in Buffalo with a hornet's nest or a waspt.
We know that being a sideline reporter is you're putting
yourself out on the line with inclement weather, all sorts
of stuff. Well, what happened up there?
Speaker 7 (31:31):
Yeah, this was the funniest thing, one of the funniest
things I've ever encountered on the sidelines in a game
before and I've been doing this for a long time
for college and the NFL. So I'm down there in
the pregame. We go on there very early, as our
listeners know. We go on at ten o'clock in the
morning for a one o'clock kickoff. And so I was
down there and I was standing over taking some notes
(31:51):
and I noticed all these bees buzzing around me, and
I'm like, what the heck, And I tried to, you know,
sort of swat them away, and they kept just coming
at me, and so I sort of like tried to
run the sideline a little bit, and I'm like, what
the heck and they were following me. And then I
look over along the wall where the bleacher or where
the stands are, and probably every ten feet they had
these little bags and they said portable yellow jacket trap
(32:15):
and they were full of bees, all of them. So
apparently they had this massive yellow jacket problem up there
at Highmark Stadium. And one of the stadium employees happened
to be coming around about that time, and I asked him,
I'm like, what the heck and he's like, oh yeah,
he said, you know, we got the new stadium to
open it in two years. So I think they just
don't really care about the pests anywhere around here, so
they just put all these traps up and they circled
(32:35):
the entire stadium in portable yellowjacket traps.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
Luckily, nobody got stung.
Speaker 5 (32:41):
As far as I know.
Speaker 2 (32:41):
Yeah, I was going to ask you, I'm glad you
said around the whole stam. I was going to ask
you if it was just on the roadside.
Speaker 7 (32:46):
No, No, they might have only had the problem on
the visitors side, but they had They hung them up
over there too to make it look good, But yeah,
they had. They had them surrounding the entire stadium, and
as far as I know, no one got stung. At
least no one on the Panthers labeline I'm aware of.
Speaker 2 (32:58):
So that is the kind of sacrifices that we make
as sideline reporters to bring you the best, Well you
made it, bring everyone the best possible radio product for
these games. Sharon, thank you so much. This was so fun.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
Absolutely thanks for having me, Kristen, and.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
We'll hopefully be doing this all season long. So again,
I want to thank Sharon and all of our guests
for this episode, and thanks to all of you for
listening to sideline pass. We'll see you next week when
we talk all things week one and get you ready
for Week two.
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