October 30, 2024 • 16 mins
"Stew and the Crew" is hosted by Jonathan Stewart, the Carolina Panthers' all-time leading rusher, and Jeremy Kelley, Director of Legends Affairs. Together, they invite legendary guests to delve into the intricacies of the game and life after football. Panther legend, Kevin Donnalley joins the guys to discuss playing on the 2003 team, blocking Julius Peppers, Nike Jordan's and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
We're the thirteenth pick in the two thousand and eight
NFL Draft. Carolina half the select. Jonathan Stewart gives to Stewart,
he leaves touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Stewart oh rough tough right, angry man out at all
those knees. Seart hesitates, accelerates.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
It's the spass Moll football.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Cocautain, Stuart Kyt running round.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stuart jump over a tackler at the tenth flows jump,
Laura's his shoulder, keeps running.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
No one will touch him.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Jonathan Stewart house is up.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You talk about explosive plays in the run game. It's
like the fourth of July round here right now.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
You are listening to Stu and the Crew.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Now to Jonathan Stewart's and Jeremy Kelly. Welcome back for
another episode of Stu and the Crew podcast. I am
your co host Jeremy Kelly. Today we get the great
pleasure of introducing a panther's legend in North Carolina native
University of North Carolina tar Heel, drafted in the third
round of the nineteen ninety one draft by the Houston Oilers,
(00:58):
became a thirteen year NFL Vett, spending three of those
years in Carolina from two thousand and one to two
thousand and three, also retiring as a Panther a Super
Bowl appearance as a member of the Cardiac Katz two
thousand and three NFC championship team. We're talking about the
one and only Kevin Donnelly, a jack of all trades,
if you will, serving as a Panther's co host of
(01:19):
pre and post game broadcast, professional speaker, philanthropic advocate, advisory
board member, and director of player development at the collegiate level,
where he now serves University of North Carolina football program
as the director of UNC Game Plan for Success. Ladies
and gentlemen, Kevin Donnelley and Jonathan.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Stewart, First of all, let's talk about your shoes.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You're digging the Jordans, dig in the Jordan's, Okay, listen,
Jonathan give me the story. Well, listen, I I'd love
living in the city of Charlotte, but I got a
call from home, my North Carolina tar Heels.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Okay, and so I joined the.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Staff up there with Coach Brown about five years ago.
And I'm in a player development position, so helping these
guys transition to life after football. But one of the
greatest decisions. One of the side perks that goes with
it is about all the Jordans I can get. And
I wear sixteen, Jonathan, So.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I was hoping you we're going to say twelve, twelve
and a half or thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
No, listen Thomas Davis. Every time he sees like he
needs a pair of thirteen's, I think his size. He
wants the special editions, the player editions that we have
that are the everybody wants them because there's only about
one hundred and seventy of them made a year.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
But give those with them. I mean, you're a nice guy.
If you are, I'm.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Listening, he's got to do something for me like that's
got a that's a lot of value.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm not going to ask
you about it. Jordans.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
No. But yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So but you know, the color it's not the same,
but it's it's in the same class as the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So when I see that, I think to myself, care Carolina. Yeah,
And you know, I think we have established the fact
that Carolina is Carolina. The skies are blue and we're blue.
It is a brand far Hills are blue like Oregon though.
I mean, listen, should you not have some sweet jays?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
I do have some sweet jays, but the blue is different.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, it's different.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
That blue is pretty Yeah. No, man, let's get to it, man, Kevin,
how was it blocking amongst against the defensive line that
was also like unstoppable? Yeah, like during during camp during practices,
(03:45):
like talk about how that made you guys better?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, it was. You know, I was here for the
one and fifteen season and there were some good pieces
on that defensive team. Uh, but then that that next
year when coach Fox came in drafted Julius Peppers and
it was kind of like the big piece, that one
last piece that we needed that really helped that defensive
line because they had depth and a lot of talent.
(04:10):
You know, when you're rotating Rucker out and bring it
in Al Wallace, you know you're something in Chris Jenkins
and Buckner in the middle.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So it's they were fantastic. Dan Morgan there at linebacker,
and you know with coach Fox, we were going to hit.
You know, we had two a days. It was old
school football. We'd do goal line all the time. So
and it was full contact. We could cut. You know,
he's like, hey, guys are gonna get Yeah, guys are
gonna get cut in the game. You got to learn
how to do it in practice, so the guy's got
(04:40):
to defend it. But it was amazing because I think
it might not be exactly, but we might have finished
last in defense that one in fifteen season, and then
you know, might have gotten it up to maybe fifth
in the league. It was either in the second or
third year, maybe that year that we went to the
super Bowl in two thousand and three. But I mean
defensive line leads the way. I mean, it makes everyone's
(05:03):
job so much easier. Run back. The linebackers can run.
The DB's don't have to guard as long you know
they're back there, and and that's that's where you're gonna
get turnovers. Guy's pressing the quarterback causing front of back
the ball scared.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And just the athleticism, the penetration they could get in
the run game, you know where you just couldn't even
getting started, you know, being running back. It's if you
can see where that first cut in that first little
daylight is, it's gonna be positive. You know, you don't
know how big it's gonna be, but you know you're
gonna get some positive yardage. There was always somebody like
Pepper's Jenkins. I mean as for big as he was,
(05:41):
was just a dynamic, just fast twitch athlete that could
just disrupt everything.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, that's dangerous. I mean you add Julius Peppers to
the mix, that's.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, that was the freak factor because he'd do something
physical and then you know the next play he's floating
around and picking the ball off or knocking it down
or blowing up a screen because he could cover so
much six six two eighty five could run and I
think you had five interceptions in the league for touchdowns.
(06:13):
You have to check the stats on that, you know.
I'm gon get a little older. Don't know how about
my recall is, but I don't know. Look it up
for us over there, mister producer.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, let us know if that's factual. But either way,
if it's not fact four four close, close. I gave
him an extra Yeah, he deserves it.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
He does.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Man Hall of Fame, Fame's Hall of Fame, Carolina Panther
Draft Pick Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Do you have any practice stories about Julius Peppers.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, and you know, I think Jordan's probably it's really
not about me, It's about Jordan. Well, we drafted, yeah,
we drafted. We drafted Jordan number eight. And he was
awesome because he was brilliant, great technique. He was very
polished for coming in as a as a rookie offensive lineman.
They basically just put him right at right tackle right
(07:05):
from the beginning. And I think it might have been
the first padded practice, the first time we were doing
one on ones and Julius just dumped him on his back,
and I think all of us is offensive lineman. I
first thought was, Man, I'm glad that rep wasn't against me,
you know, like because Julius could line up anywhere. But
you know, Jordan was great because he just you know,
(07:27):
he said, well that's that's as bad as he can get.
I've got that rep out of the way. And all
he did is is improved from that day forward and
multi time you know, all pro pro bowler, that kind
of stuff. And I mean he was a he was
a rookie offensive lineman on the team that they got
to the Super Bowl in two thousand and three, and
I couldn't imagine that when I came in as a rookie.
So that's just I hold him in that high regard.
(07:50):
But that was a violent rep from Julius Peppers. You asked,
and it was a train wreck, and I got the
right guard. So I watched the whole thing thing happened. Okay,
then I had to go against like Brinston Buckner, and
I'm like, man, that's he's good.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
He's good, but it's not Julius.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So you know, I can say that now because we're
not gonna line up and put helmets on all those days.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Challenge tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Little trash talk right now is good. I tried to
keep d Lineman on the the down, like if I
if they dominated him and help him, I think he
tripped over somebody, you know, Like I wasn't a guy
talking smack. I was trying to keep them under control.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
I was gonna say, did you have any running backs
that talked smack to the defense?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I had? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know I was with my first seven years in
the league was with the Houston Oilers slash Tennessee Titans,
and Eddie George could chop it up.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I did that make you feel.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I for him being a bigger running back and as
physical as he was, and it was about him, So
it wasn't like he was creating a really hard environment
forced to block guys. It's almost like Ray Lewis was
so captivated by trying to put a killer hit on him.
You know, we could get some angles and so it
(09:10):
wasn't really something I'd get mad at. What The one
thing I did get mad at was we were playing
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Buccaneers here and we had firm
control of the game. I don't know if it was
two thousand, it might have been a two thousand and
three season, playing them here at home, and we had
a good lead on him ten thirteen points something like
that going late in the game, and Steve Smith had
(09:33):
a nice kickoff return, but it ended on their sideline
and he is just talking smack to my man, Warren
Sap and listen, Steve was young, and I you know,
you know, I'll probably hear this because I'm gonna say it,
but I basically jerked him by the back.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Of the neck.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I said, get off the field the sideline, stop doing
this like that's the dude, I got a block. I
do not need him fired up go over to the
other sideline and get get us over with because I
just I just And then what happened is it started
a spark on a d line. Uh, Simmey and Rice
sack fumble. They were able to get back into the game.
(10:15):
And there was a lot of different things going on
in that game, but that we ended up winning, which
was great. But I remember, you know, us offensive line
wise and giving up that sack fumble. I started thinking
back because you were trying to blame someone else, you know,
as hard as a play leg man.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That was.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That was Yeah, I know I didn't do my best,
but you yeah, I wasn't Bob baby.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah. So uh but that was a game. I remember
Chris Mangam. I just saw him walking down the hallway
and he was the one trying to calm me down
after the game because I was all mad. And he's like,
the reporters are wondering, like we won the game and
someone's in here screaming and the walk to like the
shower area. I'm just mad. I'm just I'm mad as hell,
and uh he's like, hey, you know he comes in
with that southern drawl and he did calm me down. Hey, man,
(11:03):
take it ease, Bud. You know we're kinda we got
a good got a good win here. We'll move on
next week.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Just calm down, man, go.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Over and hang out with my cattle. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Man.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Favorite teammate that you could like if you were in
a funk and you needed like a pick me up.
Who was that?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Uh, there's there's several there's several guys, you know, and
being with the Carolina Panthers and kind of the team
that we put together, it was it was a really
close team. And you know, I think a guy like
Jake Doloam with someone you could go to, yeah, and
he would turn he'd ofphin, do it with humor or
(11:54):
distract you in some way, or he could see that
you're kind of Sultan or something. I'm playing the feeling down.
He's like, you know, come on, you know, it could
be something simple, but the way he says it and
the way he does it. Come man, we're playing football. Man,
it's the greatest thing in the world.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
We get we get to do this, We get to
be here.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Just dude, look at the down the street. There's tons
of high rise buildings with people doing jobs. Say hey, man,
get out there and play some ball. Let's play ball.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So and Jordan Gross was always good because he he
had an incredible sense of humor that just I think
seemed to blossom as he got older in his career
and doing practical jokes and little things off to the side.
As I'm sure you will know, he was always just
a great teammate. And it's it's a lot of times
what would pick me up because I had a couple
(12:39):
of teammates, like the guy Jeff Mitchell played center, dear
friend of mine, you know. And so when someone says
it's a friend of mine and you know, something funny,
he's getting ready to you know, he's gonna say something
maybe bad about it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It was a.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Grumpy dude, like and seeing him grumpy just made me
feel better, Like, you know what I like. That's hater definition,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Oh man? I just called myself a hater.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Dog Dang, you been hating that hater raid man.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
But you know, hey, football is tough, and you know,
as many good times that are, you know, the longer
you get away from retiring from the game, you forget
about all those It's like when you're in college, you
remember all the good times, but not those late nights
when you're worried about finishing a paper, got a big
exam coming up or something like that. You just remember
the good times. Yeah, And I just remember the locker
(13:26):
room being this fun place. But there there was a
lot of times. Especially I was on that one to
fifteen season. I mean, we're just That's all we had
was who was in that locker room. There was nobody
outside of that building supporting us. So you need your buddies.
You need your buddies.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I was on the tune fourteen season.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Oh my god, I can't believe you brought that up.
So at the end of last season, when the Panthers
got their second win, like I'm I'm cheering. I'm like,
I'm Panthers all the way. Let's win. I don't care
about draft selection picks and all that kind. They just
win games. The first thing my wife said, She's like, congratulations,
you still hold the worst record in Panther Panthers franchise
(14:05):
history one and fifteen, and I'm like, I mean she
brought I was so joyful we won.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I'm in it, and she saw my face just.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
You're out.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
You're wife sucked that joy right out.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
She seems awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
She Yeah, she's been with me since I was a
sophomore in college. Wow, she knows more about football than
a lot of kids. I'm working at Chapel Hill with
the football program there. I best she knows a lot
more than some of those football players on the field.
And she just lived through it.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
You know how important was she through your transition from retirement?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It was huge because I thought I had everything lined
up for retirement and I did, you know, with making
sure that we had good investments and saved and and
you know, kind of lived within our means. My body
was I was done physically and emotionally, and I needed
to step away from the game. But I felt like, Okay,
(14:57):
I'm gonna go into some coaching, I'm gonna do some
other things. I felt like I had a great plan.
But man, suddenly I'm like, what's my purpose? Because you're
part of a team, it's a collective goal every week
to try to win a football game, just the whole
the sequence of a season and having everything, you know,
it's the same schedule every week. I quate maybe just
(15:20):
someone retiring from the military, you know, where everything is
scheduled and you're on certain things and you have a
certain schedule you follow all the time, and then suddenly
you're kind of free floating there. So it was, and
I think a lot of guys doesn't matter if you
played a couple of years or a bunch of years.
Transition is hard. A lot of guys can hide it
in a lot of ways, or they find their purpose
(15:41):
pretty quick, or they transition easily. But I think for
most guys, I don't want to bring the show down,
but listen.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
This is good. This is what this is about. This
show is about legends, it's about players, it's about what
we actually go through.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, and I'm sure you've you've got your everyone. It's
a personal story, but it's just a big change, especially
when you play as long as we did. That it's
a part of your life for that long and I
you know, and I think that's you know, part of
me is why I'm such a big Panthers fan because
(16:17):
just anything I can do to say as close to
the team as I can. I know it's a different
role now, but having opportunities like this to get to
talk to you or other teammates, be here for games,
even preseason games. Fans stuff like I get into it
and I just love it and I love being around it.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Kevin, thanks for your time, Bro, you got it. I
can't wait to talk to me, talk to you more, man,
I got to do more of these.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
You're the best. Man. I wish I could have blocked
for you.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Man, I wish I wish you could have blocked for me,
for sure,
We're the thirteenth pick in the two thousand and eight
NFL Draft. Carolina half the select. Jonathan Stewart gives to Stewart,
he leaves touchdown.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Stewart oh rough tough right, angry man out at all
those knees. Seart hesitates, accelerates.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
That's what I'm talking about.
Speaker 4 (00:15):
It's the spass Moll football.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Cocautain, Stuart Kyt running round.
Speaker 4 (00:17):
Stuart jump over a tackler at the tenth flows jump,
Laura's his shoulder, keeps running.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
No one will touch him.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Jonathan Stewart house is up.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
You talk about explosive plays in the run game. It's
like the fourth of July round here right now.
Speaker 4 (00:31):
You are listening to Stu and the Crew.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
Now to Jonathan Stewart's and Jeremy Kelly. Welcome back for
another episode of Stu and the Crew podcast. I am
your co host Jeremy Kelly. Today we get the great
pleasure of introducing a panther's legend in North Carolina native
University of North Carolina tar Heel, drafted in the third
round of the nineteen ninety one draft by the Houston Oilers,
(00:58):
became a thirteen year NFL Vett, spending three of those
years in Carolina from two thousand and one to two
thousand and three, also retiring as a Panther a Super
Bowl appearance as a member of the Cardiac Katz two
thousand and three NFC championship team. We're talking about the
one and only Kevin Donnelly, a jack of all trades,
if you will, serving as a Panther's co host of
(01:19):
pre and post game broadcast, professional speaker, philanthropic advocate, advisory
board member, and director of player development at the collegiate level,
where he now serves University of North Carolina football program
as the director of UNC Game Plan for Success. Ladies
and gentlemen, Kevin Donnelley and Jonathan.
Speaker 4 (01:38):
Stewart, First of all, let's talk about your shoes.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You're digging the Jordans, dig in the Jordan's, Okay, listen,
Jonathan give me the story. Well, listen, I I'd love
living in the city of Charlotte, but I got a
call from home, my North Carolina tar Heels.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Okay, and so I joined the.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Staff up there with Coach Brown about five years ago.
And I'm in a player development position, so helping these
guys transition to life after football. But one of the
greatest decisions. One of the side perks that goes with
it is about all the Jordans I can get. And
I wear sixteen, Jonathan, So.
Speaker 4 (02:15):
I was hoping you we're going to say twelve, twelve
and a half or thirteen.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
No, listen Thomas Davis. Every time he sees like he
needs a pair of thirteen's, I think his size. He
wants the special editions, the player editions that we have
that are the everybody wants them because there's only about
one hundred and seventy of them made a year.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
But give those with them. I mean, you're a nice guy.
If you are, I'm.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Listening, he's got to do something for me like that's
got a that's a lot of value.
Speaker 4 (02:45):
Yeah, don't worry about it. I'm not going to ask
you about it. Jordans.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
No. But yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
So but you know, the color it's not the same,
but it's it's in the same class as the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 4 (02:57):
So when I see that, I think to myself, care Carolina. Yeah,
And you know, I think we have established the fact
that Carolina is Carolina. The skies are blue and we're blue.
It is a brand far Hills are blue like Oregon though.
I mean, listen, should you not have some sweet jays?
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (03:18):
I do have some sweet jays, but the blue is different.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Yeah, it's different.
Speaker 4 (03:24):
That blue is pretty Yeah. No, man, let's get to it, man, Kevin,
how was it blocking amongst against the defensive line that
was also like unstoppable? Yeah, like during during camp during practices,
(03:45):
like talk about how that made you guys better?
Speaker 2 (03:49):
Well, it was. You know, I was here for the
one and fifteen season and there were some good pieces
on that defensive team. Uh, but then that that next
year when coach Fox came in drafted Julius Peppers and
it was kind of like the big piece, that one
last piece that we needed that really helped that defensive
line because they had depth and a lot of talent.
(04:10):
You know, when you're rotating Rucker out and bring it
in Al Wallace, you know you're something in Chris Jenkins
and Buckner in the middle.
Speaker 3 (04:19):
You know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
So it's they were fantastic. Dan Morgan there at linebacker,
and you know with coach Fox, we were going to hit.
You know, we had two a days. It was old
school football. We'd do goal line all the time. So
and it was full contact. We could cut. You know,
he's like, hey, guys are gonna get Yeah, guys are
gonna get cut in the game. You got to learn
how to do it in practice, so the guy's got
(04:40):
to defend it. But it was amazing because I think
it might not be exactly, but we might have finished
last in defense that one in fifteen season, and then
you know, might have gotten it up to maybe fifth
in the league. It was either in the second or
third year, maybe that year that we went to the
super Bowl in two thousand and three. But I mean
defensive line leads the way. I mean, it makes everyone's
(05:03):
job so much easier. Run back. The linebackers can run.
The DB's don't have to guard as long you know
they're back there, and and that's that's where you're gonna
get turnovers. Guy's pressing the quarterback causing front of back
the ball scared.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And just the athleticism, the penetration they could get in
the run game, you know where you just couldn't even
getting started, you know, being running back. It's if you
can see where that first cut in that first little
daylight is, it's gonna be positive. You know, you don't
know how big it's gonna be, but you know you're
gonna get some positive yardage. There was always somebody like
Pepper's Jenkins. I mean as for big as he was,
(05:41):
was just a dynamic, just fast twitch athlete that could
just disrupt everything.
Speaker 4 (05:46):
Yeah, that's dangerous. I mean you add Julius Peppers to
the mix, that's.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Well, that was the freak factor because he'd do something
physical and then you know the next play he's floating
around and picking the ball off or knocking it down
or blowing up a screen because he could cover so
much six six two eighty five could run and I
think you had five interceptions in the league for touchdowns.
(06:13):
You have to check the stats on that, you know.
I'm gon get a little older. Don't know how about
my recall is, but I don't know. Look it up
for us over there, mister producer.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
Yeah, let us know if that's factual. But either way,
if it's not fact four four close, close. I gave
him an extra Yeah, he deserves it.
Speaker 3 (06:31):
He does.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Man Hall of Fame, Fame's Hall of Fame, Carolina Panther
Draft Pick Hall of Fame.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
Do you have any practice stories about Julius Peppers.
Speaker 2 (06:43):
Yeah, and you know, I think Jordan's probably it's really
not about me, It's about Jordan. Well, we drafted, yeah,
we drafted. We drafted Jordan number eight. And he was
awesome because he was brilliant, great technique. He was very
polished for coming in as a as a rookie offensive lineman.
They basically just put him right at right tackle right
(07:05):
from the beginning. And I think it might have been
the first padded practice, the first time we were doing
one on ones and Julius just dumped him on his back,
and I think all of us is offensive lineman. I
first thought was, Man, I'm glad that rep wasn't against me,
you know, like because Julius could line up anywhere. But
you know, Jordan was great because he just you know,
(07:27):
he said, well that's that's as bad as he can get.
I've got that rep out of the way. And all
he did is is improved from that day forward and
multi time you know, all pro pro bowler, that kind
of stuff. And I mean he was a he was
a rookie offensive lineman on the team that they got
to the Super Bowl in two thousand and three, and
I couldn't imagine that when I came in as a rookie.
So that's just I hold him in that high regard.
(07:50):
But that was a violent rep from Julius Peppers. You asked,
and it was a train wreck, and I got the
right guard. So I watched the whole thing thing happened. Okay,
then I had to go against like Brinston Buckner, and
I'm like, man, that's he's good.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
He's good, but it's not Julius.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
So you know, I can say that now because we're
not gonna line up and put helmets on all those days.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
Challenge tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Little trash talk right now is good. I tried to
keep d Lineman on the the down, like if I
if they dominated him and help him, I think he
tripped over somebody, you know, Like I wasn't a guy
talking smack. I was trying to keep them under control.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (08:28):
I was gonna say, did you have any running backs
that talked smack to the defense?
Speaker 3 (08:35):
I had? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:37):
You know I was with my first seven years in
the league was with the Houston Oilers slash Tennessee Titans,
and Eddie George could chop it up.
Speaker 4 (08:47):
I did that make you feel.
Speaker 3 (08:49):
You know what?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
I for him being a bigger running back and as
physical as he was, and it was about him, So
it wasn't like he was creating a really hard environment
forced to block guys. It's almost like Ray Lewis was
so captivated by trying to put a killer hit on him.
You know, we could get some angles and so it
(09:10):
wasn't really something I'd get mad at. What The one
thing I did get mad at was we were playing
Tampa Bay Tampa Bay Buccaneers here and we had firm
control of the game. I don't know if it was
two thousand, it might have been a two thousand and
three season, playing them here at home, and we had
a good lead on him ten thirteen points something like
that going late in the game, and Steve Smith had
(09:33):
a nice kickoff return, but it ended on their sideline
and he is just talking smack to my man, Warren
Sap and listen, Steve was young, and I you know,
you know, I'll probably hear this because I'm gonna say it,
but I basically jerked him by the back.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Of the neck.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
I said, get off the field the sideline, stop doing
this like that's the dude, I got a block. I
do not need him fired up go over to the
other sideline and get get us over with because I
just I just And then what happened is it started
a spark on a d line. Uh, Simmey and Rice
sack fumble. They were able to get back into the game.
(10:15):
And there was a lot of different things going on
in that game, but that we ended up winning, which
was great. But I remember, you know, us offensive line
wise and giving up that sack fumble. I started thinking
back because you were trying to blame someone else, you know,
as hard as a play leg man.
Speaker 3 (10:31):
That was.
Speaker 4 (10:32):
That was Yeah, I know I didn't do my best,
but you yeah, I wasn't Bob baby.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Yeah. So uh but that was a game. I remember
Chris Mangam. I just saw him walking down the hallway
and he was the one trying to calm me down
after the game because I was all mad. And he's like,
the reporters are wondering, like we won the game and
someone's in here screaming and the walk to like the
shower area. I'm just mad. I'm just I'm mad as hell,
and uh he's like, hey, you know he comes in
with that southern drawl and he did calm me down. Hey, man,
(11:03):
take it ease, Bud. You know we're kinda we got
a good got a good win here. We'll move on
next week.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Just calm down, man, go.
Speaker 4 (11:10):
Over and hang out with my cattle. Yeah, that's awesome.
Speaker 3 (11:15):
Man.
Speaker 4 (11:17):
Favorite teammate that you could like if you were in
a funk and you needed like a pick me up.
Who was that?
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Uh, there's there's several there's several guys, you know, and
being with the Carolina Panthers and kind of the team
that we put together, it was it was a really
close team. And you know, I think a guy like
Jake Doloam with someone you could go to, yeah, and
he would turn he'd ofphin, do it with humor or
(11:54):
distract you in some way, or he could see that
you're kind of Sultan or something. I'm playing the feeling down.
He's like, you know, come on, you know, it could
be something simple, but the way he says it and
the way he does it. Come man, we're playing football. Man,
it's the greatest thing in the world.
Speaker 4 (12:10):
We get we get to do this, We get to
be here.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
Just dude, look at the down the street. There's tons
of high rise buildings with people doing jobs. Say hey, man,
get out there and play some ball. Let's play ball.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
So and Jordan Gross was always good because he he
had an incredible sense of humor that just I think
seemed to blossom as he got older in his career
and doing practical jokes and little things off to the side.
As I'm sure you will know, he was always just
a great teammate. And it's it's a lot of times
what would pick me up because I had a couple
(12:39):
of teammates, like the guy Jeff Mitchell played center, dear
friend of mine, you know. And so when someone says
it's a friend of mine and you know, something funny,
he's getting ready to you know, he's gonna say something
maybe bad about it.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
It was a.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Grumpy dude, like and seeing him grumpy just made me
feel better, Like, you know what I like. That's hater definition,
isn't it.
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Oh man? I just called myself a hater.
Speaker 4 (13:01):
Dog Dang, you been hating that hater raid man.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
But you know, hey, football is tough, and you know,
as many good times that are, you know, the longer
you get away from retiring from the game, you forget
about all those It's like when you're in college, you
remember all the good times, but not those late nights
when you're worried about finishing a paper, got a big
exam coming up or something like that. You just remember
the good times. Yeah, And I just remember the locker
(13:26):
room being this fun place. But there there was a
lot of times. Especially I was on that one to
fifteen season. I mean, we're just That's all we had
was who was in that locker room. There was nobody
outside of that building supporting us. So you need your buddies.
You need your buddies.
Speaker 4 (13:39):
I was on the tune fourteen season.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Oh my god, I can't believe you brought that up.
So at the end of last season, when the Panthers
got their second win, like I'm I'm cheering. I'm like,
I'm Panthers all the way. Let's win. I don't care
about draft selection picks and all that kind. They just
win games. The first thing my wife said, She's like, congratulations,
you still hold the worst record in Panther Panthers franchise
(14:05):
history one and fifteen, and I'm like, I mean she
brought I was so joyful we won.
Speaker 3 (14:10):
I'm in it, and she saw my face just.
Speaker 4 (14:13):
You're out.
Speaker 3 (14:14):
You're wife sucked that joy right out.
Speaker 4 (14:16):
She seems awesome.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
She Yeah, she's been with me since I was a
sophomore in college. Wow, she knows more about football than
a lot of kids. I'm working at Chapel Hill with
the football program there. I best she knows a lot
more than some of those football players on the field.
And she just lived through it.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
You know how important was she through your transition from retirement?
Speaker 2 (14:36):
It was huge because I thought I had everything lined
up for retirement and I did, you know, with making
sure that we had good investments and saved and and
you know, kind of lived within our means. My body
was I was done physically and emotionally, and I needed
to step away from the game. But I felt like, Okay,
(14:57):
I'm gonna go into some coaching, I'm gonna do some
other things. I felt like I had a great plan.
But man, suddenly I'm like, what's my purpose? Because you're
part of a team, it's a collective goal every week
to try to win a football game, just the whole
the sequence of a season and having everything, you know,
it's the same schedule every week. I quate maybe just
(15:20):
someone retiring from the military, you know, where everything is
scheduled and you're on certain things and you have a
certain schedule you follow all the time, and then suddenly
you're kind of free floating there. So it was, and
I think a lot of guys doesn't matter if you
played a couple of years or a bunch of years.
Transition is hard. A lot of guys can hide it
in a lot of ways, or they find their purpose
(15:41):
pretty quick, or they transition easily. But I think for
most guys, I don't want to bring the show down,
but listen.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
This is good. This is what this is about. This
show is about legends, it's about players, it's about what
we actually go through.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, and I'm sure you've you've got your everyone. It's
a personal story, but it's just a big change, especially
when you play as long as we did. That it's
a part of your life for that long and I
you know, and I think that's you know, part of
me is why I'm such a big Panthers fan because
(16:17):
just anything I can do to say as close to
the team as I can. I know it's a different
role now, but having opportunities like this to get to
talk to you or other teammates, be here for games,
even preseason games. Fans stuff like I get into it
and I just love it and I love being around it.
Speaker 4 (16:33):
Kevin, thanks for your time, Bro, you got it. I
can't wait to talk to me, talk to you more, man,
I got to do more of these.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
You're the best. Man. I wish I could have blocked
for you.
Speaker 4 (16:43):
Man, I wish I wish you could have blocked for me,
for sure,
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