I became a Panthers fan at their inception. Sometime in late 1993 I heard there was going to be a team coming to the Carolinas and a 9 year old boy from South Carolina wrote down the date of their first game. I looked at that sheet of paper over the next two years regularly filled with a new kind of excitement.
This allegiance began much earlier though. My grandfather was a die-hard Green Bay fan, a Braves champion and a NASCAR junkie. The man loved sports and I loved sitting on the carpet beside his recliner watching everything with him. At that young age I knew absolutely nothing about anything but I loved racing hot wheels in the grooves of the throw rug, watching football players pound each other into the dirt and admiring his autographed Yogi Berra photo over the TV. Naturally the day came when Grandpa asked me if I was going to be a football star when I grew up. ‘You’re damn right.’ I thought and I told him it was a bet. The year I began playing football in school was the same year Carolina took the field.
Merchandise was everywhere, Starter jackets and Nike hats and little flags and towels. The excitement for this team was palpable. Carolina had something to talk about that didn’t originate from Atlanta. I watched every game without fail. I’d stay up til midnight on a school night if Carolina played MNF. I’d tune in on the radio if we were on a road trip, nothing came between me and my team.
When my grandfather died in the late 90s (the last time I played football) my father and I watched games together. Even the disastrous 1-15 season where he would constantly ask why I still cared, we’d still watch the games together every chance we got and I still watched every single game. As an adult when they did well he’d call and ask me if they had a chance. When they did bad he’d call and rib me about ‘those same old Panthers.’ These days I spend Sundays with my wife and we cheer just as loud as the two great men named above.
Through life’s ups and downs — and there have been many — I’ve always managed to tune into Carolina’s games and enjoy three hours of solid pure bliss. Even when it was painful to watch. This team has been a constant, they’ve always been exciting, they won (and lost) with class. I’ve turned down dates, missed countless road trips and activities with friends, even lost a few because hell or high water, when Carolina takes the field I will be there to see it happen. It’s irrational, it’s rooted in tradition and it’s just a part of who I am at this point.
That’s why I’m a Panthers fan.