Super Bowl Opening Night – What did we learn about the Carolina Panthers?

By Joanne Kong & Ha Kung Wong

Now that we covered the Denver Broncos, we’re here to give you all the highlights from the first ever Super Bowl Opening Night for the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers!  And be warned, we learned even less from the Panthers…

Introduction

  • The Panthers really like selfies.  Really.  They couldn’t stop taking them.

Cam Newton

  • He’s from College Park around Atlanta, GA.
  • Cam says the more you see of him, the easier he is to “digest”.
  • Blessings are being “rained down” on him.
  • Deion Sanders asked “Who is Cam Newton?”  His response? A “Super Bowl quarterback”, a “first round draft pick”, a “Heisman Winner” and “God’s servant”.
  • The car wreck he was in last year and his newborn son have changed everything, and put everything into perspective.  Apparently his son is walking at one month.  We don’t believe his son can actually walk yet.  That’s just nuts.
  • Cam wore crazy Versace pants when he arrived.  Cam didn’t trust that Deion Sanders gave him actual Versace pants at the podium and had to check the label to be sure.  Apparently, he wore them because the colors are Super Bowl colors.  And apparently, every outfit he wears is “must win attire.” Yeah, we’re not sure what that means either.
  • Cam isn’t available to cat sit on Saturday because he has a curfew.
  • Says “Why can’t LeBron [James] be called the Cam Newton of Power Forwards?”

Josh Norman

  • He apparently likes luchadores since he was wearing a custom Panthers luchadore wrestling mask during part of his interview. He says it was for all his “Spanish guys” out there.
  • Getting to the Super Bowl is “A-1” for him.
  • He’s looking forward to facing one of the “all time greatest”, Peyton Manning.  He says there’s nothing better than facing the greatest, because then you become part of the conversation.
  • Norman says if someone talks to him on the field, he’ll talk back.  But he doesn’t just talk to every WR.  For instance, he doesn’t talk to Julio [Jones] because “he does his own thing.”  He loves getting into it with WRs, because he won’t stop “until the lights go off”.
  • Norman said If “you’re going to do the talking”, “be committed”, because if you talk to him, he’ll get “you out of your game”, and he won’t “disrupt the game” but he will “disrupt you”.  He felt like Deion Sanders had OBJ’s side when he tried to get him on the phone to apologize to Norman.  Sanders says he wanted to raise a “dog” and he respects Norman as well as OBJ for being “dogs”.

Luke Kuechly

  • Luke thinks the Panthers defense is “fun to watch” because they “fly around”.

Thomas Davis

  • He wore a Go Pro on his chest.
  • Will play if there’s any way he can, regardless of broken right arm.

Mike Tolbert

  • He’s been talked too so much he feels like his wife is yelling at him.
  • He’s versatile.  He’ll play fullback, running back, tight end or special teams, whatever his team needs for him to win. Then he turned to the camera and said “What’s happening?”. Tolbert is my new favorite player.
  • On Monday he’ll be celebrating a Super Bowl win with adult beverages and “maybe a babysitter” so his wife can join him.

Ron Rivera

  • Rivera believes patience and time have built the team, and never losing focus on who they are.  The team has taken ownership of themselves and taken care of each other.
  • He says Cam Newton is polarizing because he’s “different” and he’s “misunderstood”.  He says if you spend any time with Cam, you’d “appreciate who he really is.”

Greg Olsen

  • You can’t “make up” for Kelvin Benjamin.  But they’ve done a good job collectively.
  • Says his “production and consistency speaks for itself”.  He doesn’t play for recognition, he “takes pride in being reliable for Cam.”

Jared Allen

  • Wants to be a “tremendous factor” in the game is “100% ready to go”.
  • Only had one sack of Peyton Manning in his career, but he’s hit him a bunch of times, which he believes counts.

So again, and as expected, entertaining, but not terribly informative.

Now we just need to wait out the rest of week… check back as we continue to cover the run up to Super Bowl 50!

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