When the offensive line entered the Carolina Panthers locker room on Wednesday, there were some surprises waiting for them – some Big Green surprises, to be more exact – as running back Christian McCaffrey supplied the entire offensive line along with the tight ends – with Large Big Green Eggs and several “eggcesories” after they helped him become the sixth player in Panthers franchise history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a single season.

The tradition of gifts for the offensive line has been long-standing, with it usually being the quarterback giving the gifts – Atlanta QB Matt Ryan pulled the Big Green Egg trigger last season for his big guys up front – they’ve varied from shotguns (Carson Wentz) to onesies (Jacoby Brissett) to expensive watches (Le’Veon Bell) to saucy hats (this one seems obvious) across the league. While it was a surprise to see the Eggs lined up in front of each locker – and one in front of Greg Olsen’s locker as well – it wasn’t a surprise that McCaffrey would go out of his way to make his appreciation clear.

“It’s cool,” said right tackle Taylor Moton. “He’s obviously a good player but he’s an even better person – he always cares about his guys and always takes care of himself – I’m always appreciative of it. A guy like that, I’m not surprised [at] him taking care of us like this.”

The Big Green Egg acts as a grill, oven and smoker and the large size can cook 20-pound turkeys, a dozen burgers, six chickens, eight steaks or seven racks of ribs – but it’s the thought that counts.

“He felt out of the kindness of his heart to do that for us because blocking for him is just doing our job – we take pride in it,” said tackle Marshall Newhouse, who was acquired during the season via trade with the Bills – he’s played on five teams in his career and has received gifts from Aaron Rodgers and Eli Manning among others. “For him to reach out like that, it shows what kind of person he is.”

Some, like Moton, will give their eggs to other folks that are more likely to utilize them – the Panthers starting right tackle will be passing along the high-end cooking apparatus that values at more than $1,000 each to his father; but some players, like Clark, are beyond excited to get their chef hats on.

“Oh, yeah, I’m excited,” laughed Clark, who started 12 games at left tackle this season. “I get in the kitchen and dabble a little bit – briskets, ribs, chicken, just whatever, man – I do it all!

Josh Klein on Twitter
Josh Klein
Editor-In-Chief at The Riot Report
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.