Let’s get this out of the way: With thunderstorms and showers in the forecast, there were a lot of empty seats at the Panthers first visit to Bank of America Stadium of the 2018 season, but the crowd that was there was treated to the first goalline drills of training camp, spectacular weather and a practice that at times seemed like a Panthers alumni reunion with the camera panning over to Julius Peppers, who was palling around with former teammates on the defensive line Al Wallace and Charles Johnson – Thomas Davis also spent some time chatting with Wallace, who retired in 2006 and spent quality teammate time with two of the defensive captains for the Panthers a dozen years later.
Oh, and of course, Cam led the crowd in the wave. If you’ve never seen it, you probably should come to Fan Fest next year – lots of seats available.
Here are some other storylines we noticed tonight:
- INJURY UPDATES: The tight end group was a little light tonight as Jason Vander Laan (shoulder) and Chris Manhertz (foot) missed practice along with Alex Armah, who “bumped his leg” according to Ron Rivera – it swelled up and they gave the second-year player the night off. Fred Ross and Julius Peppers also continued to miss practice, and offensive lineman Norman Price sat out as well.
- Tonight’s practice session was all about the tight ends who made it onto the field, though – Ian Thomas started the team drills with a bobbling catch up the seam with Colin Jones draped all over him and continued the trend he’s shown all camp: smooth route running, competent blocking and inconsistent hands – he couldn’t pull in a catch near the sidelines early in practice, but it’s clear what the team saw in him when they selected him at the top of the fourth round. At this point, he seems as if he’s in line for the TE2 spot in his rookie season. Greg Olsen spoke highly of Thomas after practice, saying “for a young kid, he’s kind of been thrown into a lot of roles that maybe otherwise, he wouldn’t have had to, but now he doesn’t have a choice. He does a really good job – he’s everything you want a rookie to be, as far as his demeanor, his work ethic, his attitude – he absorbs everything you tell him. He’s doing a really good job.”
- Speaking of tight ends, in breaking news, Olsen continues to be good – a great sliding catch along the sidelines partnered with a few looks up the seam and if you had forgotten how good the Newton-Olsen connection was, they’re going to remind you very quickly.
- Devin Funchess took a pass across the middle and, as the defender approached him, pulled it behind his back in a Kemba-esque move and accelerated downfield, much to the crowd’s delight – Rivera said after practice that as long as he had control of the ball, then it was all good.
- With Alex Armah out, CJ Anderson took reps at the fullback spot, including a fullback handoff during goalline drills.
- Alleged Time Lord Chris Frey, Jr – hear more about him HERE – had a booming, thumping stop of Elijah Hood in goalline drills that caused linebacker coach Steve Russ to give him a chest bump as he came off the field.
- No matter how much fans wanted to try to will it into existence, there was no logo at midfield – but there wasn’t an NFL shield, either – the field was bare between the 40s.
There are things that happen at every practice that are worth writing about – David Tepper was here and he danced during the fireworks. Jarius Wright dropped a touchdown. Cam Newton ran in a score on a naked bootleg. Christian McCaffrey took goalline reps.
But none as much as the most important thing at Fan Fest tonight. If you’re only interested in Panthers impressions, you can stop reading now.
The Panthers are constantly involved with charitable organizations, many of which you’ve read about and many of which you haven’t – one that has been a constant source, especially as the popularity of Cam Newton rose, is the Make-A-Wish Foundation. When 13-year old Kyleigh Dean joined the team for a spring practice during mini-camp, I was genuinely surprised that she lined up with Thomas Davis and the linebackers – it seems as if kids are drawn to Newton – and Newton is drawn to kids.
So when the Panthers announced yesterday that they had signed a new wide receiver, 13-year old Korben Senden, for Fan Fest, it wasn’t surprising to hear that his favorite player was #1 – what was more surprising was the poise he showed when speaking to the media in his “introductory press conference” – he stood and answered questions for almost ten minutes, holding court over the media members while revealing that his signing bonus was mostly candy and chips, who he thought was the fastest player on the team (Christian McCaffrey, although his locker-mate Torrey Smith had other things to say about it), and his favorite band (Queen – he likes the rock n’ roll).
Korben and his family traveled over 14 hours from Eagle Ridge, Alaska to come here and, according to Korben’s older brother, were kept in the dark about exactly what would be going on – they were only told that they would be taking a tour of Bank of America stadium after Korben, who is diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy and Noonen’s Syndrome and had open heart surgery in June, had requested as his wish to “be a Carolina Panther,” his mother Kristi saying that he wanted “the chance to be a big star athlete for a day, he idolizes his brother and gets frustrated that he can’t play competitive sports.” His older brother Karsten plays hockey, but Korben loves football.
“Football wasn’t our biggest thing, but for him it was,” said Karsten. “This was his favorite team and he loves it right now – it’s pretty awesome. He was a Panthers fan and he chose this, so I guess we’re all Panthers fans now.”
After meeting the media, Korben got dressed with the rest of the team and participated in practice, running individual drills alongside Smith and catching passes and interacting with his favorite players throughout the two hour session as his family watched.
“Having Korben come out and being part of what we do was really cool,” said Ron Rivera after practice. “Just a nice little reminder to our players about what it means to give back to the community. Having a kid like Korben, especially all the way from Alaska, for he and his family to come down and be part of this, it makes it pretty special for our guys. [We] talk about the spirit of these young kids that are going through these terrible diseases, our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.”
Sometimes we can forget exactly how much these athletes mean to children and just how much of an impact someone can make by spending some time or slapping a hand or signing an autograph or lifting a kid up or even just playing a song by their favorite band.
I try to remain neutral on most topics. When 13-year old Korben Senden stood at the press conference podium and talked to the media like a veteran player, I was not emotional. When Senden ran onto the field in a Panthers uniform with 33 on the back – his favorite number – and high-fived the players, I was not emotional. When he broke the huddle and ran onto the field next to Torrey Smith near the end of practice, I was not emotional. And when he took a handoff from Cam Newton and went around the right side for a touchdown before his favorite player lifted him in the air and helped him give the ball to a fan, who screamed in joy, before returning to the end zone as the team surrounded him to slap his helmet, I was not emotional.
And then the fireworks started. And the speakers played “Bohemian Rhapsody” – and I pictured he and his family watching them and listening to Korben’s favorite band and reflecting on this day – and all of a sudden, I was emotional.
