Tag: Mike Tolbert

WATCH: Luke Kuechly surprises Cam Newton during live stream at Super Bowl

Check out this must-see moment between Panthers greats Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly from Thursday:

Go grab your tissue box, Carolina Panthers.

Now that he’s a full-fledged YouTuber, franchise great Cam Newton has been setting up shop at radio row this week from the site of Super Bowl LVIII. And during his second outing on the job, he got a heartwarming surprise from an old friend . . .

Former linebacker Luke Kuechly—one of Newton’s “favorite teammates of all-time,” per Newton—joined his pal on the set for a few minutes. Cam wasn’t stingy with more superlatives either—also presenting to some and introducing Luke to others as the “epitome of an ultimate teammate,” “a professional,” and, of course, “Captain America.”

Newton would then ask Kuechly how, during his illustrious eight-year NFL career, he could turn the switch from Clark Kent to Superman.

“You wanna compete, man. You wanna win,” Kuechly replied. “You work so hard and you wanna win. And I think that’s really what it comes down to is the competitive side of guys is ultimately what makes ’em a good football player.

“And you know how it was in Carolina—we had the best dudes. Whether it was Thomas [Davis] or G.O. [Greg Olsen] or [Ryan] Kalil or you or Chuck [Charles Johnson] or K.K. [Kawann Short] and Star [Lotulelei], and I’m missin’ guys, Roman [Harper] and Peanut [Charles Tillman] and Josh [Norman]—everybody on our team was so doggone competitive. Stew [Jonathan Stewart], [Mike] Tolbert, Fozzy [Whittaker]. And it was just kinda an understanding of like, this is how we do things in Carolina and if you don’t wanna be a part of it, then go on and get out.”

The way they did things resulted in the most sustained success in franchise history. With Newton and Kuechly leading the way, the Panthers captured three consecutive NFC South titles and an NFC championship between 2013 and 2015.

So, hopefully this new era in Carolina starts stacking up some competitors, or dawgs, of their own.

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Panthers great Jonathan Stewart ’empowered’ by Morgan-Canales presser

New Panthers HC Dave Canales definitely has a fan in franchise great Jonathan Stewart.

The Carolina Panthers haven’t won a playoff game since Jonathan Stewart was on the roster. So, much like the rest of the faithful, he’s felt the pain from this franchise for quite some time.

But, the former running back was feeling something much different on Thursday—after the team’s introductory press conference for new president of football operations Dan Morgan and new head coach Dave Canales. He and a handful of other Panthers greats were in attendance at Bank of America Stadium this morning to experience the start of a new era, and it may be something that sticks with them for a while . . .

Stewart then tweeted the following later in the evening:

As far as the legends go, Carolina’s all-time leading rusher was joined by Thomas Davis (obviously), Mike Tolbert, Muhsin Muhammad and Mike Rucker. A few active players—including offensive linemen Ikem Ekwonu, Brady Christensen and Austin Corbett—were also in the seats.

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WATCH: Former Panthers FB Mike Tolbert rips ‘Keep Pounding’ drum

Former Panthers FB Mike Tolbert was no stranger to ripping apart his opponents. But now, he’s ripped apart something else . . .

Once upon a time, Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert energized crowds at Bank of America Stadium with powerful runs and fun touchdown dances. But ahead of Sunday’s Christmas Eve matchup against the Green Bay Packers, he lit the home crowd up in a slightly different way.

For the pessimists in the room, the broken drum symbolized a season full of mishaps for the now 2-13 Panthers. For the optimists, the strong beat perfectly represented the strong performance by the Carolina offense on Sunday.

Rookie quarterback Bryce Young hit the 300-yard passing mark for the first time in his NFL career. He finished having completed 23 of his 36 throws for 312 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions while leading his unit to a season-high 30 points.

So, we’re not saying Tolbert was the reason why Young found so much success in the eventual 33-30 loss. But maybe the Panthers have found a franchise drummer for their franchise quarterback.

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Ex-Panther RB Mike Tolbert breaks drum while firing up fans

Mike Tolbert tried to fire up Panthers fans but his swing broke the drum

This sums up the Carolina Panthers season.

Former Panthers RB had the assignment to pound the drum to fire up whoever showed up for the game against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

Tolbert swung and did some damage, breaking the drum. He swung again and the damage continued.

Predictably, the drumbeat of the losing season continued in Carolina.

Cam Newton’s former teammate says Panthers mismanaged his injuries for years

“It goes back to his shoulder surgery [in 2018],” says former Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert.

Cam Newton’s breakup with the Carolina Panthers wasn’t especially clean. New head coach Matt Rhule was adamant that he was looking forward to working with the 2015 MVP during the NFL combine. Two months later, the 31-year-old was cut loose and with his spotty health record over the last two years and a global pandemic preventing teams from getting to meet with him in person, he remains a free agent.

In a survey of former Panthers players, The Athletic’s Joe Person asked Mike Tolbert, who played with Newton in Carolina from 2012 to 2016, if the organization did Cam dirty by waiting so long to release him. Tolbert took the question and ran with it…

Via The Athletic:

“They’ve been doing him wrong timing-wise for the past two or three years, if you ask me. It goes back to his shoulder surgery. Everyone knew his shoulder was messed up in the middle of the year two years ago. But they wait until offseason gets ready to start to have shoulder surgery. Makes no sense. Timing’s off. As soon as he got hurt (last) preseason against the Patriots, they were saying, “Oh, he’s got a high ankle sprain.” I looked at it on film carefully. It’s not a high ankle sprain, you could tell that 10 minutes after the play. You knew it’s a mid-foot sprain, Lisfranc, something like that. But you wait ‘til December for him to beg you to have surgery. He shouldn’t have been out there Week 1 and 2. He shouldn’t have been out there probably ‘til Week 4 or 5, at minimum.”

Newton suffered the Lisfranc injury that would eventually end his 2019 season during a meaningless preseason game in August. The Panthers denied that it was anything to worry about and a few weeks later, Cam’s season — and, as we’d later find out, his Panthers career — was over.

It was clear in those two regular season games that Newton did play that something was wrong with him. Nobody was quite sure if those struggles were the product of the shoulder injury he had suffered in 2018, which Tolbert references in his answer, or the foot injury. When I broke down every throw he made during his shortened 2019 season, it became evident that it was the former.

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Whatever the case may be, Newton is no longer a member of the Panthers, leaving a monstrous leadership void in the locker room. So what will that locker room look like now that No. 1 is no longer in the building? Tolbert shared his thoughts on that, as well:

“Boring, like quarantine,” Tolbert said. “Cam brought the excitement, man. To the locker room, to the community, to the team. Every team out there has a personality. And right now I don’t see anybody that can fill that void on this Panthers team, other than maybe Curtis Samuel. But he’s not as out there like that.”

Wide receiver Curis Samuel is next in line, according to Tolbert. The bad news: The Panthers seem to be mismanaging his career, too.

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Mike Tolbert suggests Panthers mismanaged Cam Newton’s injuries

Some would argue that Carolina’s mistakes concerning Newton began earlier than that, though.

A lot of Carolina Panthers fans are still upset about the way the team treated Cam Newton leading up to releasing him two months ago.

While there’s something to be said for starting over fresh, it was a poor football decision made worse by bad optics. From team owner David Tepper questioning Newton’s health to Matt Rhule saying he was “unbelievably excited” to work with Cam, it’s clear not everyone was on the same page and the whole thing could have been handled a lot better.

Some would argue that Carolina’s mistakes concerning Newton began earlier than that, though.

Here’s what former Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert told the Athletic in an interview about Newton and why he’s still a free agent. Tolbert said the team did him wrong by releasing him so late and also suggested they mismanaged his injuries.

“. . . They’ve been doing him wrong timing-wise for the past two or three years, if you ask me. It goes back to his shoulder surgery. Everyone knew his shoulder was messed up in the middle of the year two years ago. But they wait until offseason gets ready to start to have shoulder surgery. Makes no sense. Timing’s off. As soon as he got hurt (last) preseason against the Patriots, they were saying, “Oh, he’s got a high ankle sprain.” I looked at it on film carefully. It’s not a high ankle sprain, you could tell that 10 minutes after the play. You knew it’s a mid-foot sprain, Lisfranc, something like that. But you wait ‘til December for him to beg you to have surgery. He shouldn’t have been out there Week 1 and 2. He shouldn’t have been out there probably ‘til Week 4 or 5, at minimum.”

Right on the money.

In fact, this mismanagement of Newton’s injuries goes back even further. Remember, he first hurt his throwing shoulder late in the 2016 season after tackling a defender to prevent a pick-six. The Panthers had no realistic chance of making the playoffs and Newton should have been shut down for the year right then. Ron Rivera kept on playing him and delayed a necessary shoulder surgery.

Hopefully wherever Newton signs (and he will sign somewhere) that team does a better job of handling his health and appreciates what they’re getting.

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