Category: Panthers legends

Panthers great Cam Newton praises Bryce Young for career day: ‘thát īš ÑħT¥ wrk’

Bryce Young’s career day got him a stamp of approval from his head coach, his owner and the greatest QB in Panthers history.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young has gotten a stamp of approval from his head coach, from his owner and now, from the greatest player in his organization’s history.

Cam Newton, the franchise’s all-time leading passer, was apparently keeping tabs on his former team in Week 18. And if he kept tabs throughout the entirety of Sunday’s regular-season finale, he saw Young amass 275 total yards and five touchdowns in a resilient 44-38 overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons.

But whether or not he actually watched every play from Young’s career day, the former Most Valuable Player made sure to give props to his fellow No. 1 overall pick . . .

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEd21gpxp0b/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Young became the first quarterback in franchise history to record three touchdown passes and two touchdown runs in a single game. So, yeah, even Newton—the NFL’s all-time leader in career rushing touchdowns by a quarterback—never accomplished that feat over his decade in Carolina.

Oh, and Newton also showed love to the Panthers . . .

Panthers/Instagram

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Panthers greats Steve Smith Sr., Luke Kuechly named Pro Football Hall of Fame finalists

Panthers legends Steve Smith Sr. and Luke Kuechly have been named finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class.

Two Carolina Panthers legends are amongst the 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

As announced on Saturday morning, former wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. and former linebacker Luke Kuechly have made it through into the last round of consideration for this year’s class. This is Smith’s fourth year of eligibility and Kuechly’s first.

Smith has now achieved the finalist status for the first time over those four years. Each of his previous three cracks at football immortalization ended in semifinalist stage.

He still stands as the Panthers’ all-time leading receiver (12,197 yards) and the NFL’s eighth all-time leading receiver (14,731). Smith, over his 16-year career, racked up two First-team All-Pro nods, five Pro Bowl selections and a Comeback Player of the Year award.

Kuechly, who has a real chance to be voted into Canton as a first-ballot Hall of Famer, accumulated a Defensive Rookie of the Year award, a Defensive Player of the Year award, five First-team All-Pro spots and seven Pro Bowl spots in his eight pro campaigns.

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Panthers great Luke Kuechly gives his thoughts on Bryce Young’s sparkling Week 16 performance

Panthers great Luke Kuechly: Bryce Young “kinda showed a little bit of everything” in Week 16 win over Cardinals.

Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly would probably tell you that he had the pleasure of watching quarterback Bryce Young from inside of Bank of America Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Well, never mind “would,” because he kinda sorta did say as much on Monday’s episode of Up & Adams.

Kuechly, who was on the radio call for yesterday’s 36-30 victory over the Arizona Cardinals, talked about Young’s impressive day with host Kay Adams:

Lil’ Bryce—sarcastically, of course—connected on 17 of his 26 throws for 158 yards and two touchdowns in the overtime win. He also rushed for a career-high 68 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

Since his return to the starting lineup in Week 8, Young has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 1,650 yards (206.6 yards per game), 10 touchdowns and six interceptions while also recording three rushing scores.

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Former Panthers HC Ron Rivera returns to Bank of America Stadium in Week 16

Riverboat Ron is back in Carolina!

The ol’ riverboat pulled back into Bank of America Stadium today.

Former Carolina Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is in attendance for this afternoon’s matchup against the Arizona Cardinals.

He was seen chatting it up with team owner David Tepper prior to kickoff . . .

Rivera, who was hired by the organization in 2011, led the Panthers for nearly nine full seasons. He was (amicably) dismissed after 12 games of the 2019 campaign.

By the time of his departure, Rivera had become the winningest head coach in franchise history at an overall record of 76-63-1. He also guided Carolina to three straight NFC South titles beginning in 2013 as well as their second-ever Super Bowl appearance in 2015.

He’d then be hired as the head coach of the then-Washington Football Team in 2020. Rivera lasted four years in the nation’s capital before his firing at the end of 2023.

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Panthers great Julius Peppers reacts to UNC’s hiring of Bill Belichick

Pro Football Hall of Famer, Panthers legend and Tar Heels great Julius Peppers gave his stamp of approval on UNC’s hiring of Bill Belichick.

Before he was a Carolina Panthers legend and Pro Football Hall of Famer, Julius Peppers spent three years making a name for himself as a University of North Carolina Tar Heel. So, yeah, you could assume he was pretty interested in the program’s recent head-coaching search.

And in case you didn’t want to just assume, Peppers posted the following to Twitter/X back on Dec. 9, when the hunt over at Chapel Hill was still on . . .

Well, since that piece was said, North Carolina reeled in an awfully big fish—and you may have heard of him.

Bill Belichick was officially introduced as the new head coach of the school’s football program yesterday afternoon. The 72-year-old, known most for his 24-year tenure leading the New England Patriots, is a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and a three-time AP NFL Coach of the Year.

Peppers, the evening prior to the press conference, circled back to his thoughts and gave a strong stamp of approval:

Interestingly enough, one of those aforementioned Super Bowl wins pitted Belichick’s Pats against Peppers’ Panthers back in the 2003 season. And unfortunately for the latter party, we all know how that ended.

Regardless, G.O.A.T. recognizes G.O.A.T.

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Panthers great Greg Olsen will now be calling Week 15 game vs. Cowboys

Panthers fans will be treated to an early Christmas gift on Sunday.

Christmas will be coming early for Carolina Panthers fans.

Sunday’s matchup against the Dallas Cowboys—which will be carried by FOX—was originally slated to have the broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Kenny Albert, color analyst Jonathan Vilma and sideline reporter Megan Olivi. But there’s been a bit of a change in programming, folks.

As noted by Panthers beat writer Sheena Quick on Wednesday night, the game will now feature FOX’s No. 2 crew—headlined by franchise great and multi-time Emmy Award-winning analyst Greg Olsen. Olsen, per usual, will be joined by Joe Davis on the play-by-play and Pam Oliver from the sideline.

Before becoming one of the most beloved voices in the NFL, Olsen had cemented himself as the greatest tight end in Panthers history. The two-time Second-Team All-Pro and three-time Pro Bowler spent nine of his 14 pro campaigns in Carolina—where he reeled in 524 catches for 6,463 yards and 39 touchdowns.

Olsen also called last year’s Week 11 clash between the Panthers and Cowboys from Bank of America Stadium.

Welcome back, Greg!

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Panthers great Luke Kuechly gives his thoughts on Bryce Young’s performance vs. Chiefs

Panthers great Luke Kuechly believes Bryce Young’s outing against the Chiefs in Week 12 was one of his best as a pro.

Carolina Panthers great Luke Kuechly had a pretty good seat for what may have been the best game of Bryce Young’s NFL career.

Kuechly, fresh off yesterday’s shift in the radio broadcast booth at Bank of America Stadium, made his weekly appearance on Monday’s episode of Up & Adams. He and host Kay Adams chatted about Carolina’s valiant effort from their 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 12, where Young absolutely shined.

Young completed 21 of his 35 passing attempts for a season-high 263 yards and a touchdown. In his four games since returning to the starting lineup, he’s connected on 61.0 percent of his throws for 784 yards, five scores and three interceptions while leading the Panthers to a pair of wins.

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2 Panthers legends named semifinalists for Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class

Panthers greats Steve Smith Sr. and Luke Kuechly are amongst the 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class.

Two Carolina Panthers greats are one step closer to immortalizing their legacies.

On Wednesday morning, former wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. and former linebacker Luke Kuechly were named amongst the 25 semifinalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s 2025 class. This marks Smith’s fourth year of eligibility for a spot in Canton, Ohio and Kuechly’s first.

Each of Smith’s four years on the ballot have now taken him into semifinalist status. He has yet to advance as a finalist.

Smith spent 13 of his 16 pro campaigns in Carolina—where he accumulated a franchise-leading 12,197 receiving yards, two First-team All-Pro nods, five Pro Bowl selections and a Comeback Player of the Year award. He stands as the NFL’s eighth all-time leading receiver (14,731 yards).

Kuechly’s highly-decorated career could very well turn him into a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The former ninth overall pick—over his eight seasons—captured a Defensive Rookie of the Year award, a Defensive Player of the Year award, five First-team All-Pro spots and seven Pro Bowl spots.

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Panthers great Cam Newton starring in ‘toughest’ celebrity reality show

Former Panthers QB Cam Newton will be one of 16 celebrities starring in the latest season of FOX’s ‘Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test.’

Carolina Panthers legend Cam Newton has gone to battle on the gridiron plenty of times. But has that prepared him for something a little bit closer to actual warfare?

Newton has been announced as one of 16 celebrities who will star in the upcoming season of FOX’s Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. The reality series will see its contestants undergo military training to face the “harshest, most grueling challenges from the playbook of the actual Special Forces selection process,” according to FOX.

This season is set from Wales, England—where celebrities will train against the “harsh reality” of ocean warfare.

Here’s the trailer, which was released on Friday:

Newton is joined by the following celebrities:

  • Nathan Adrian (Olympic swimmer)
  • Stephen Baldwin (actor)
  • Alana Blanchard (pro surfer)
  • Landon Donovan (former pro soccer player)
  • Ali Fedotowsky Manno (reality TV star)
  • Carey Hart (motocross champion)
  • Brody Jenner (reality TV star)
  • Marion Jones (Olympic track and field athlete)
  • Kayla Nicole (model/influencer)
  • Kyla Pratt (actress)
  • Denise Richards (actress)
  • Christy Carlson Romano (actress)
  • Trista Sutter (reality TV star)
  • Golden Tate (former NFL wide receiver)
  • Jordyn Wieber (Olympic gymnast)

The season premiere will air on Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. ET.

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Cam Newton explains why he believes Panthers are ‘avoiding his legacy’ in emotional video

Cam Newton feels as though the Panthers have been avoiding his legacy. He revealed why in an emotional video from Thursday.

The greatest Carolina Panther of all-time isn’t feeling the love from the Carolina Panthers.

On Thursday’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, Cam Newton was asked about the organization’s trip to Munich, Germany from this past weekend. The visit featured a handful of former Panthers players representing the franchise as ambassadors—including Steve Smith Sr., Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly.

That group, however, did not include Newton—who says he was not invited overseas.

A visibly bothered Newton then stated that the Panthers do not have any images of him up at their home of Bank of America Stadium, something he painfully learned while returning to the building for a seven-on-seven tournament last year.

“We went into the Panthers’ facility and . . . you mean to tell me that one of the greatest Panthers to ever play ain’t up nowhere? Nowhere. I’m talkin’ nowhere,” he said. “Who brought it to my attention? My son. So as a man, when you have to explain to your son . . . ‘Daddy, where’s your picture?’

“Then you know what the tour guide person said? ‘Oh, if you go up on the second and third level, Cam’s all over the place. I seen Jake Delhomme. I seen Thomas Davis. I seen Luke Kuechly. I seen Julius Peppers. I seen Steve Smith.

“At this particular point in time, the question was ‘Oh, we don’t know if Cam’s retired yet.’ News flash—I’m never gonna retire. I know I’ve played my last piece of football. It don’t matter to me to officially retire. I’m in a happy place.”

He also claimed that he reached out to the Panthers in the past about doing a live taping of his show involving himself, old teammates and current quarterback Bryce Young—but to no avail.

Newton led the Panthers to three NFC South titles, four playoff appearances and their second-ever Super Bowl appearance. On top of being the franchise’s all-time leading passer, he’s also the only Panther to win Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year.

His last down came in 2021.

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