Does Steve Smith help or Hurt the Carolina Panthers in 2011?

Moss was petulant, he was aging and on the downside of the peak, but was still pretty productive and worth something. They traded him, and as is the Pats’ way, they came out on top. Learn from how the Pats conduct business (minus Spygate).

Learn from our own Peppers situation. The Panthers had a player – Peppers – who just plain didn’t want to be here. All the Panthers got in return was a half-assed performace and a 3rd round pick. That’s just not smart business. I’ll give that there’s a slight difference between Peppers and Smitty in that Smitty is a competitor down to the bone, and he would give 110% on every snap. But if he doesn’t want to be here, trade him to the highest bidder and get as much as you can in return instead of keeping a disgruntled player on the downside of his career for two more years. We may not be able to get any draft pick higher than a 3rd, but perhaps you can make a player trade where we can get someone to fill a position of need – preferably a CB.

I should start with a disclaimer that I don’t personally know Smitty. I’m not a fly on the wall inside BoA facilities or on the practice field. But the following is based on my perception. (And the post is partially inspired by last night’s CSR radio show.)

I don’t think Smitty has the patience to deal with the lumps that are virtually guaranteed to come with a whole new coaching staff (minus Meeks – who really has no dealings with the WRs), a whole new system, and likely a rookie QB starting. I think we’ll definitely see an improvement, but is it going to be enough to keep Smitty happy? To keep the most harmony amongst the team as a whole, I think you need to have as much patience as possible while keeping that competitive spirit and work ethic. I don’t think Smitty can entirely fit that bill unless he gets put on mood stabilizers and takes behavioral therapy. Long-term patience and all-around professionalism is not the way that he’s wired.

Yes…he’s probably the most competetive and talented player the Panthers have ever had. I’ll give it to him that it seemed like he was okay with Gettis and LaFell, but he also wanted the ball, and Clausen just could not get it to him to save his life. That has to be frustrating. It has to be frustrating to want to be moved into the slot – where he actually probably would have been more productive – but the incompetent former coaching staff never got him there. But at the same time, Smitty punches out teammates. He publicly calls out players to the media. He publicly states that his QB should be apologizing to the offense and that “He sure ain’t at Notre Dame anymore.” He pitches fits on the sideline to a rookie QB who appeared he actually was trying, but was struggling. He degraded Delhomme near the end of his time with the Panthers. I believe it was on one of the SoundFX episodes where Smitty said something along the lines of, “I like you as a person. But I really don’t like you as a quarterback.” It was not in a joking tone. (Forgive me for not getting the exact quote – NFL.com’s videos are not wanting to cooperate with me this morning.) I’m sorry, you just do not talk that way to the QB who gave you years and years of production. After Delhomme’s psychological mess that was the Arizona playoff game, do you really think a comment like that is going to help inspire confidence in the QB you’re relying on? At least in my book, all of that is very unproffesional. If you have a problem with a player, talk about it behind closed doors. As much as I agree with Beason’s sentiments about Peppers half-assing it, that was something that also should have been kept behind closed doors – but at least that was just one incident, and I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Peppers left, and C. Johnson more than rose to the occasion. DeShaun Foster left, and D-Will stepped up. More recently, Goodson stepped up when he was literally the last tailback standing in that one game, and kept delivering for the rest of the season. Munnerlyn admirably stepped it up as a starting CB when Gamble went out of the picture, despite the fact that Munnerlyn is better suited as a nickel. Connor stepped up when Beason had to be moved to the outside, etc. When you give players with real talent the chance to really get in and compete, most will rise to the occasion. If Smitty leaves, I’m confident that someone will step up. Especially given the fact that Rivera has filled out the entire coaching staff with people who actually want to teach. People who have experienced success as coordnators, positional coaches, and former players.

Let Newton (who I can’t imagine could be worse than Clausen) come in and grow up with the players he’s going to be working with for years to come – players such as Gettis, who looks to have a bright future and who by all accounts is about as far away from a diva you can get; LaFell, who looks like a young Moose; Pilares, who looks like a baby Smitty or Wes Welker and who immediately went back to the weight room after getting news he was drafted; Goodson, who is a reliable checkdown receiver and a promising RB; J-Stew, who can pound it out with the best RBs in the league. Cam will have offensive help – help that can win you games – with or without Smitty.

Smitty is undeniably talented, competitive, and fun to watch when he’s winning and things are going his way. Guess what, you’re not always going to get what you want (shout out to The Rolling Stones) – in life or in football. In football, just my opinion, one of the best ways to help your team is by inspiring them and being the ultimate professional. That doesn’t include punching out teammates, deriding your QBs on the sidelines who are doing everything they are capable of at the moment, or saying, “He sure ain’t at Notre Dame anymore.”

Smitty, you’re an incredibly talented player. You entertained Panther fans for years. It appears that outside of Panther facilities, you’re a good guy – such as going out to charity events such as Gross’s kickball tournament and Moose’s recent taco eating contest at Salsarita’s. I understand being frustrated being on a rebuilding team when you don’t have a ton of productive years left. But maybe…just maybe…you could have brought more than physical abilities to the football field. And maybe…just maybe…it would have improved the overall team dynamics and resulted in a few more wins.

Like with Delhomme and with Foxy – they gave us some good years. But it came time to part ways. Smitty was part of that regime. At least in my opinion, it seems like that time to part ways has come with Smitty.

At the end, I hope things work for the best for Smitty, but more importantly, for the Panthers – no matter how we go about getting there.