Steve Smith’s famous X-clown touchdown

If you ask any Panthers fan about their all-time favorite plays, “X-Clown” will be in the conversation.

Tied at 23 at the start of the second overtime in the 2003 Divisional Round, quarterback Jake Delhomme found a speedy third-year wideout 20 yards down the field. He made the catch and did the rest, leaving the St. Louis Rams defense in his dust for a game-winning 69-yard touchdown to propel the Panthers to victory in one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history.

That wideout was Steve Smith, who would go on to add many more memorable moments in his 13-year stay in Carolina. He’d win the triple crown of the position in 2005 (still standing as the last receiver to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns), rack up three All-Pro and five Pro Bowl selections while embodying the fighting underdog spirit of the franchise.

Smith, considered by some as the greatest player the organization has ever had, remains the franchise’s leading receiver in catches, yards and scores. Even though his divorce from the team was a messy one, Smith has since patched up the relationship and was inducted as one of the first members of the stadium’s Hall of Honor in 2019.

There would be few, if any, images more aesthetically-pleasing than Smith’s X-Clown being immortalized in brass, welcoming in fans while extending his arms upon reaching the end zone on that legendary touchdown.