With Cam Newton’s status in flux and a Week 1 matchup with the Rams looming, you might think that the Panthers locker room has an air of doom and gloom – but you’d be wrong.
Although Jordan Gross is busy coaxing fruits and vegetables from seeds in Idaho and Ryan Kalil is snapping to Sam Darnold in a different uniform for the first time in his career, their legacy lives on in the Panthers locker room. While both will likely reside in the Panthers Hall of Honor one day – Gross will be added this season and Kalil is likely on his way after holding down the middle of the offensive line for more than a decade – perhaps their greatest contribution sits on a crude piece of cardboard currently taped on the wall next to Kyle Allen’s locker.
The P.I.G. Tournament, an invention of Kalil and Gross that mimics a game of H.O.R.S.E by having players try trick shots on a miniature basketball hoop and their opponents attempt to match them, has been around for years, originating in Spartanburg at Wofford College as a way for players to mesh from their position groups into a team. The game has survived locker room renovations at Wofford – you used to have to avoid ceiling fans to make shots – made the move from Wofford back up to Charlotte to finish the tournament and both inventors of the game are no longer on the team.
The mini-hoop that used to be next to Kalil’s locker now sits next to the door to the locker room – the game looks a little different, but the goal is still the same.
“It’s just good fun,” said safety Tre Boston. “Guys come in tired from practice, we’re able to just come in and laugh a little bit, play a little bit, build a crowd – it’s great to have that camaraderie around that locker room. It’s just building chemistry.”
Boston has never taken home a bracket, which is autographed by every loser and is awarded as the prize to the champion – but he’s in the Elite 8 in his return to Charlotte. Once he knocked the rust off, he was good to go.
“They’ve always found a way to try to cheat me out of coming and winning, but I’m back,” said Boston, who signed with the Panthers on July 31 and remembers playing P.I.G. during his first stint with the team from 2014-16. “I’m trying to reclaim this title that was once stolen from me.”
With the elder Kalil gone from the Panthers locker room, Greg Van Roten has taken up the mantel of commissioner – and he’s already making enemies.
“First off, it’s bad seeding,” said Taylor Heinicke, who lost in the second round to starting quarterback Cam Newton. “You don’t put quarterbacks on the same side, let alone meeting in round two.”
Heinicke was shut out by Newton – and like he does on the football field, Newton used his freakish attributes to his advantage during the tournament.
“He just does things that other guys can’t do – like you have to touch this point on the wall,” The 6-1 Heinicke says, reaching his hand to the top of his locker. “And then shoot with your left hand. Not everyone’s 6-5.”
The final seven contestants are Newton, Boston, Michael Palardy – who has advanced over Dontari Poe – Van Roten, DJ Moore and Jared “X” Norris – no word yet from the commissioner on whether the Panthers starting quarterback will get leeway for his foot sprain.
“Hopefully we can finish it up soon,” laughed Boston, Newton’s next opponent. “If we don’t, I’m taking it as a forfeit and I win it all.”
