Surging Carolina Panthers Lay Smackdown On Defenseless New York Giants

Wow! Another win by Carolina?! I knew last week’s win over Minnesota was somewhat miraculous, but Sunday’s win over the New York Giants was just as amazing!

For one, the Panthers haven’t won a game in the Meadowlands in a while now, so I didn’t really expect to see that change. Truth be told, I didn’t even feel a win in my gut today while having some great Mexican food at lunch!

When I got home and popped the TV on, you can imagine my surprise when I saw the score was 34-3 in favor of Carolina.

“How could this be?” I asked out loud. And once again, I was left asking myself, where has this team been all season? For the second straight week, Carolina looks like a smoking gun at a murder scene.

Well, it is refreshing to see the defense playing better ball. They’ve finally learned how to tackle again, Chris Harris made another interception at game’s end to allow Matt Moore to take the kneel downs.

Congratulations to DeAngelo Williams and running back Jonathan Stewart! They lived up to their name of “Double Trouble” for a second year.

Panthers’ running back Jonathan Stewart carried the team’s running game against New York. He ran for over 200 yards (a Panthers’ team record), and rushed for 1,000 yards on the season, making Carolina the sixth team in NFL history to have two running backs carry the ball for over 1,000 yards in the same season.

The other five teams with that record are the ’72 Dolphins, ’76 Steelers, ’85 Browns, ’06 Falcons, and ’08 Giants.

The last time the Giants gave up 200 yards to a running back, Jimmy Carter was President of the United States.

For the Panthers, one game remains on the season. A home game next week against the reeling New Orleans Saints.

Another note of interest: the Panthers are sitting on a 7-8 record after their win over the Giants. One more win breaks their streak of a losing season after a winning one. A loss, and once again the Panthers do no worse than 7-9 under head coach John Fox.

After starting the season 13-0, the Saints have now lost two straight, their latest loss coming in overtime against the now 3-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Perhaps Carolina can make their New Year’s resolution, to start 2010 with a win. They can do it, as the Saints will be the third team seemingly in a slump.

I will be at next week’s game, honoring my eBay auction to the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation of cheering on the Saints. I hope that goes well … I will secretly be rooting for Carolina, however.

Final score: Panthers 41, Giants 9.

 

Eric Quackenbush is a staff writer at www.quinnsportslifemedia.com covering all your Carolina Panthers, NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, and ‘life’ needs.

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Carolina-New York: Can the Panthers Spoil the Giants’ Playoff Hopes?

To start things off, I have one question that has been on my mind since the Panthers’ win Sunday night over the Minnesota Vikings: “Where the heck did that come from? Where has this team been all season?!”

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that a makeshift offensive line, a backup quarterback, a future Hall of Fame wide receiver who has been virtually ineffective all season, and a defense that has been average at best would have beaten a then 11-2 Vikings team.

Oh yeah, Carolina was also without star running back DeAngelo Williams as well!

So, the Panthers’ offensive line blocked exceptionally well for running back Jonathan Stewart, who rushed for 109 yards against the Vikings defense, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished by any team in Minnesota’s previous 36 games (almost 2.25 years) until last Sunday.

Beleaguered receiver Steve “The Asset” Smith racked up 147 yards on nine catches, and a touchdown as well.

Backup quarterback Matt Moore made an even bigger statement why the Panthers should take him and his quest to become the Panthers’ new starting quarterback a little more seriously, throwing no interceptions and passing for almost 300 yards.

As for the Panthers defense, it made Vikings running back Adrian Peterson look even more overrated, limiting him to one touchdown and 35 yards rushing for four quarters.

The defense also kept a steady stream of pressure on the Vikings’ receivers, exploited the offensive line and quarterback Brett Favre, who threw an interception in the end zone to defensive back Chris Harris at the end of the game.

As for the slight post-loss rift between Vikings head coach Brad Childress and quarterback Brett Favre, I’d be pissed too, had I just lost to a team of underachievers.

Moving on, the Panthers once again travel to the Meadowlands of New Jersey and Giants Stadium. This time to face the better of the two New York teams, the Giants.

This season Carolina is 0-1 in East Rutherford; if you want to count the preseason, this will make it their third trip to New Jersey and a record of 0-2 on the season.

This time around, things are a little different for the Panthers than a month ago, when they traveled to play the Jets.

Jake Delhomme was officially placed on the Reserved/Injured list, DeAngelo Williams is listed as “doubtful,” and yet another of Carolina’s offensive linemen (right tackle Jeff Otah) is also on IR.

The popular choice this week is to go with the Giants, like the popular choice last week was to go with the Vikings…I know I did.

The G-Men have a talented offense from quarterback to receivers and runners. Their offensive line is getting a little long in the tooth, but they still manage to get the job done.

All that hype over beating the Redskins last week? Well, I don’t buy into it that much. Washington has been a bad team all season long. Carolina beat them earlier in the season, too.

The Panthers are a beatable team. What Carolina needs to do going into this game is try and keep the momentum from their win over Minnesota rolling. If they can do that, they will be able to keep up with the Giants.

The difference between the two clubs is Carolina has nothing to play for other than spoiler, pride, and jobs; the Giants have everything to play for, along with keeping themselves in the hunt for a Wild Card position.

The Giants have to play this game with the intensity they showed last week against the Redskins, and not the effort that delivered six losses in their previous nine games.

Given that this game is being played at home for the Giants, and Carolina is coming off an emotional roller coaster of a win, I’ll go with the popular choice and pick the Giants to win this one, by a score of 24-17.

It worked last week, maybe it will work again Sunday.

 

Eric is a staff writer for ‘The’ Panthers Coalition at www.quinnsportslifemedia.com serving all your Carolina Panthers, NFL, MLB, NCAA and ‘life’ needs.

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“Pink” Panthers Have The Answers: Carolina Rebounds Against the Redskins

With rumors flying around about head coach John Fox telling friends and family that he expects to be fired from the Carolina Panthers; amidst public outcry for the benching or firing of quarterback Jake Delhomme; Jonathan Stewart playing on a sore Achilles’ Heel; and Julius Peppers getting paid over $1 million per game only to register one sack in three weeks of the regular season, so far the Panthers are not the team of “destiny” they were haphazardly believed to be.

Changes over the offseason, not winning a game in 288 days, running on a collective (playoffs, preseason, and regular season) eight-game losing streak, and a dark cloud hanging heavily in the air after the meltdown that was the playoff loss to the Arizona Cardinals on a rainy January night for an entire offseason.

Up to this point the Panthers have struggled, trying to force good things to happen.

It seems the Panthers theme this year is to force. Whether it was forcing Jake Delhomme to carry a team to a playoff win, forcing Julius Peppers to stay in Carolina, Delhomme forcing plays that haven’t worked against defenses in the first three weeks of ’09, receivers trying to force plays to happen, a running game trying unsuccessfully to force the ball up the middle…all the while dying to become a force to be reckoned with.

They went winless in the preseason. Not that it matters for the most part, but even at that stage, they were still trying to find their place. The regular season home-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles was bitter, embarrassing, and mind-numbing. After that game I was ready to go to the motel room and go to bed.

In Week Two, the Panthers re-surged for the first half on their road trip in Atlanta, only to fall into a relapse of Week One in the second half, where the offense again sputtered and the defense tired out.

In a “must win” Week Three game in Dallas, the Panthers lost a game they were never into from the beginning, although the final score might suggest otherwise.

The bye week figured to be a savior to their season in more ways than one. Getting defensive players Na’il Diggs, Chris Harris, and Everette Brown back on the field for Week Five were a must.

Then a blessing of sorts came, when the St. Louis Rams released 15-year defensive tackle Hollis Thomas. While Thomas is aged, he was of the size and experience this team has so desperately missed since Ma’ake Kemoeatu went down in training camp.

Against the Redskins, another team that has issues of it’s own, the Panthers started the game in much the same fashion it has the first three games: fumbles, missed tackles, turnovers, and the eighth interception thrown by Delhomme. The only bright spot of the first half was a two-point safety at the hands of Thomas Davis, who tackled Redskins running Back Clinton Portis in the endzone.

The score at halftime was a possible (for the Panthers) 10-2, Washington.

In the third quarter, Delhomme threw a pass intended for receiver Muhsin Muhammad, but was intercepted by Redskins cornerback DeAngelo Hall. 

After a neutral-zone infraction penalty on Panthers’ defensive end Damione Lewis, Redskins running back Clinton Portis ran up the middle for a touchdown, furthering the Redskins’ lead to 17-2. At this point, momentum was heavily in favor of the Redskins.

The Panthers got the ball back, in hopes of building up some momentum. The offense sputtered on the first down, when Delhomme threw an incomplete short pass to Muhammad.

On their second attempt, Delhomme hooked up with receiver Steve Smith on an 18-yard pass, who made it to the Redskins’ 22-yard line. Two plays later, Delhomme hooked up with tight end Jeff King for the Panthers’ first touchdown of the game.

I breathed a forced sigh of relief, figuring Carolina has been good for at least one touchdown so far this regular season, game over.

However, after that I was forced to eat a little crow, which already I am quite familiar with the taste of this early in the season, as the Panthers never let the Redskins score again for the rest of the game.

The defense played up to expectations for the first time this season. Linebacker John Beason was all over the field, as were defensive ends Everette Brown and Julius Peppers (who registered a season-high two sacks); Thomas Davis also had a great showing.

The Redskins chipped away, making a few beleaguered attempts into Panthers’ territory, but all for naught, as the Panthers scored an unanswered 11 points in the fourth quarter: A successful 43-yard John Kasay field goal attempt for three points, and a touchdown scored by running back Jonathan Stewart. The ensuing two-point conversion, a pass from Delhomme to Steve Smith, was successful as well.

On the Panthers final drive, following the two-minute warning, Jake Delhomme ran to the right side, stiff-armed Redskins corner DeAngelo Hall, and picked up the first down on a naked bootleg.

Delhomme got up, his shoulder pads sticking out and his chin strap bunched around his mouth. He pumped both fists and yelled, letting out a month’s worth of frustration.

His eighth interception of the season earlier in the day? Forgotten. Carolina’s winless start was over, too.

After a Panthers victory, I usually elate in the win for a 24-hour period. Just this once, I have extended the 24-hour rule to 36.

The game ended the way I always like to see a Panthers game end, as Delhomme took a knee, putting the Redskins out of their misery and propelling the Panthers to a well-deserved, much needed win that for now assures they aren’t the cellar-dwellers of the NFC South.

The unfortunate matter is, it’s still too early to declare if the Panthers have become fully reacquainted with who they were a year ago. But against the Redskins, the Panthers took a step in the right direction.

Read more NFL news on BleacherReport.com

Jon and Mark Richardson Resign From Panthers Front Office

The bigger news of the day was the resignation of stadium president Jon Richardson. The bigger surprise however, was the resignation of team president Mark Richardson(pictured).

Jon Richardson, who had spoken privately with his father and team owner Jerry Richardson a month ago of his intentions to resign, has been involved with Bank of America Stadium since its construction.

Mark Richardson has served as the team president since the retirement of Mike McCormack in 1998.

While the unexpected resignations and Jerry Richardson’s recent health problems raised questions on the long-term future of the Panthers remaining in Charlotte, Johnny Harris, a member of the Panthers Partnership Group, said the organization is “absolutely not relocating and is not for sale.”

Jerry Richardson addressed about eight members of the Partnership Group of his sons’ decisions on Tuesday morning at a meeting in Charlotte. He talked to other investors afterward, by phone.

Harris, a longtime friend of Jerry Richardson’s, said the nature of the sons’ resignation was not discussed, but the future of the team was.

“I can tell you unequivocally the Panthers are not for sale,” Harris said. “There was no talk of selling or moving the team from Charlotte. That’s not going to happen. I can say that unequivocally. The Panthers are staying here in Charlotte. There were no discussions by Jerry or any other members about the sale of the team or the relocation of the team. Period.”

According to unnamed sources, Scott Paul is expected to replace Jon Richardson. Paul currently works as an operations manager for the Panthers. A replacement for Mark Richardson has not yet been named, although the Panthers have several qualified people who could step in, including director of ticket sales Phil Youtsey.

Both Jon and Mark will remain members of the Panthers Partnership Group.

Information collected from Carolinagrowl.com and the Carolina Panthers official website, Panthers.com

Panthers Make a Respectable Showing In Preseason Game at Giants

Monday night’s game at the Giants was actually one of the more exciting games for the first week of preseason.

The Panthers played well in some areas, while looking quite rusty in others. However, in the first preseason game that is to be expected, especially when the team is using its second and third string players throughout most of the game.

Not participating Monday night were running back Jonathan Stewart (Achilles’ tendon), wide receiver Steve Smith (shoulder), linebackers Thomas Davis (knee) and Landon Johnson (knee), safety Nate Salley (knee), and guard C.J. Davis (groin).

Some questions have been asked in regard to the security of Salley’s and both Johnsons’ jobs, as all three have misssed a lot of time with injuries. I say give them another week and hopefully they’ll be ready to go for Saturday evening’s game at Miami.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme got off to a rough start, taking the Panthers to a three-and-out in their first drive and fumbling the ball on a sack in the second drive. Luck was on Carolina’s side though, as Jordan Gross recovered the loose ball for the Panthers.

After the first two series, Delhomme began to settle in, completing three of his next four pass attempts, including a 17-yard, 3rd-and-9 pass to receiver Kenneth Moore. Delhomme finished his night going 5-for-9 for 38 yards, with a passer rating of 66.

“As an offense, it was great to get out there and get some work,” said Delhomme. “We didn’t start as fast as we would have liked but we did some nice things. We have a lot of work to do and a long way to go to get where we need to be.”

Between backup quarterbacks Matt Moore and Josh McCown, Moore had the better showing, going 4-for-7 for 43 yards and no interceptions, for a rating of 75.3.

Josh McCown statistically had the worst night, going 3-for-6 for 26 yards, threw an interception, and ended the night with a rating of 22.2.

The offensive line definitely needs to get a little faster and protect the quarterback better, as it allowed each of the four quarterbacks to be sacked once.

Surprisingly enough, it was undrafted rookie quarterback Hunter Cantwell who had both the best night and the worst night among his quarterback counterparts.

Cantwell finished with a QB rating of 118.2, going 4-for-8 for 67 yards. He averaged 8.4 yards per pass completion, and he threw Carolina’s only touchdown pass to rookie receiver Jason Chery, which was followed up by a successful two-point conversion pass to rookie tight end Andrew Davie a minute later.

However, on the offense’s last drive, it was Cantwell who sealed the Panthers’ fate with a loss when his pass was deflected into the hands of Giants’ defensive end Tommie Hill, who ran it back 18 yards for the Giants’ tie-breaking score.

The tight ends looked decent Monday night. I was most impressed by tight end Gary Barnidge. If he keeps showing up like he did last night, there’s no doubt he will be the No. 1 tight end by regular season.

Dante Rosario is looking more and more like the odd man out, since he’s scrappy in size, doesn’t block well, and shows up in spurts, making inconsistent plays.

In the second quarter, the Panthers turned the ball over three times in four drives, with two fumbles, while the Giants’ Stoney Brackett picked off Josh McCown on one drive. The third turnover proved costly as Giants running back Danny Ware took a screen pass on a 36-yard sprint, where he plowed through the defense and over defensive back Chris Gamble for the score.

The biggest surprise of the evening probably came from Panthers’ linebacker James Anderson, who started in place of the injured Thomas Davis. Not only did Anderson get a sack on Giants’ quarterback David Carr, he also blocked a Jeff Feagles punt at the Giants’ 14-yard line.

Feagles swatted the ball into the end zone for a safety, giving Carolina it’s only two points of the first half.

It seemed as though the longer the Panthers were on the field, the better they played.

In the second half both teams were settled in, and playing on a more even keel than the first half.

Three-and-a-half minutes into the third quarter, the Panthers came roaring back on defense, when defensive end Charles Johnson flushed Giants quarterback Andre Woodson out of the pocket, forcing Woodson to make an errant pass into the hands of defensive back Quinton Teal.

Teal ran the interception 21 yards to the Giants 30-yard-line, where running back Mike Goodson took over, picking up 16 yards on a left-side pitchout from Matt Moore, then sprinted the final 14 yards to the left side after shaking loose from containment in the backfield.

Goodson’s score brought the Panthers to within five points of the Giants, at 14-9. One bone-headed mistake by Goodson was drawing a 15-yard taunting penalty after the score, when he made a slashing motion across his throat. Fortunately, the penalty was assessed on the kickoff.

“I was told by Skip (assistant head coach/running backs Jim Skipper) not to do that anymore,” Goodson said.

Goodson’s night was comparable to that of the Panthers. He had a couple fumbles, but he also had some nice plays mixed in there as well. He’ll learn from his mistakes, and build on his successes.

“He’s a work in progress,” said running back DeAngelo Williams. “That’s all rookies when they come into the league. He definitely has a lot of potential. I like the way he hit the corner and took it into the end zone. But we’ve got to work on his celebration.”

After a shaky start in the first half, the Panthers defense settled down, forcing four three-and-outs in eight possessions and holding the Giants’ offense to a field goal in the second half.

Rookie defensive end Everette Brown had a good showing coming into this game as the Panthers’ third defensive end on the depth chart.

In the third quarter, Brown picked up his first preseason sack, when he bull-rushed Giants left tackle Will Beatty, then ran around him for the blindside drop of Giants’ quarterback Andre Woodson.

Rookies Captain Munnerlyn and Mike Goodson handled the opening punt and kickoff returns—Goodson on kickoff returns, Munnerlyn on punt returns. Both guys had decent returns, but nothing spectacular.

Middle linebacker Dan Connor led Carolina in stops with eight, while Jeremy Leman followed up with seven in the second half.

I have a feeling that Cantwell found his way into the Panthers depth chart for another week due to that excellent two-minute drill complete with a touchdown pass to a rookie receiver and a two-point conversion to a rookie tight end.

There’s also a better chance that running back DeCori Birmingham finds himself on the 53-man roster for the first time in his career as a Panther, after his solid performance last night.

I didn’t see too much from rookie fullback Tony Fiammetta, as his play was limited, nor did I see too much from Sherrod Martin. As for Marlon Favorite, he looked pretty good last night.

All in all, it was a good game with an exciting finish. As I said last night, I will continue to keep an eye on Cantwell…I think it would be in Delhomme’s best interest to do the same.

Up next, the Panthers travel to Landshark Stadium to play the Miami Dolphins on Saturday evening.

Carolina Panthers: Julius Peppers to Work Out a Deal in 2010?

All talks are off…at least until spring. The Panthers and Julius Peppers could not come to terms on a new contract by the 4 p.m. deadline on Wednesday. Peppers will cost the Panthers $16.683 million this year.

With that bit of news, the fans may rest easy knowing that Peppers is once again in a contract year, so his performance shouldn’t suffer. He should put up quality numbers like last year.

Until the offseason, the Panthers may not talk with Peppers about any contract negotiations. Once the offseason comes and before free agency begins, hopefully the team and Peppers will be able to work out a deal, but don’t be surprised if the Panthers are left with no other choice than to franchise Pep again, for over $20 million.

 

Click here to check out more of Eric’s work.

Carolina Panthers To Play “Deal or No Deal?” With Julius Peppers

July 15 is the day.

Will Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers sign a long-term deal to keep him in Carolina?

If he does, doing so will help the Panthers out quite a bit, so that they will be able to sign a few free agents before training camp. If not, the Panthers will have no choice but to head into this season with their current roster pretty much intact.

The Panthers have yet to sign any free agents because of their salary cap woes, due in large part to the large salary that might very well get paid to Peppers, in the sum of $16.683 million for this season alone, if a contract deal is not worked out.

If the Panthers can’t sign Peppers before the league’s Wednesday deadline, they will have to wait until the end of the season, or postseason to try again. But even at that, the Panthers could choose to place the franchise tag on Peppers again at a cost of more than $20 million for 2010.

However, I would be very surprised that if it came to that point, the Panthers would even consider paying anyone that sum of money for only one season.

Hopefully we’ll see something within the next 32 or so hours that will confirm Peppers will be in Carolina for a few more years.

NFC South Competes Well Among the NFL’s Top Running Games

In the precursor to 2008, the NFC South was a division that many experts and fanbases failed to take seriously.

It’s a Jekyll and Hyde division of worst-to-first, fans are fair-weather, it’s a wishy-washy division; I heard it all. My blood boiled. I even yelled at Adam Schein and Solomon Wilcots on Sirius NFL Radio.

In ’07, the South had it rough overall. The Bucs lost Cadillac Williams, while the Falcons were just in shambles without Michael Vick. Then Atlanta head coach Bobby Petrino, who had no business being in the NFL, split on the team like the Colts did when they left Baltimore.

The Panthers had an overrated, overpaid running back in DeShaun Foster, and DeAngelo Williams was having a hard time coming out of his shell. Then of course, the whole team got decimated by injuries, even having to dig Vinny Testaverde out of the grave.

The Saints were the only light of hope for the division in ’07, and a dim light at that.

In 2008, the Panthers’ tandem of “Double Trouble,” Williams and Jonathan Stewart, combined for 2,351 yards rushing and averaged five yards per carry.

This year, the Panthers will meet those numbers with the addition of running back Mike Goodson. I aptly name this group of backs the “Trio of Trouble.”

The Falcons unearthed a real gem in Michael “Burner” Turner, signing him from the San Diego Chargers in the offseason.

In 2008, Atlanta’s duo of Turner and Jerious Norwood combined for 2,188 yards rushing, averaging a nice 4.8 yards per carry.

Atlanta brings back that same running game, plus a strong offensive line to make way for Turner and Norwood while giving Matt Ryan time to dissect the opponent’s defense in passing situations. Atlanta should easily break 2,000 combined yards rushing.

Tampa Bay ranked third in the division with their running game totals. Their three backs, Warrick Dunn, Earnest Graham, and Cadillac Williams, combined for 1,582 yards rushing, averaging four yards per carry.

This season the Bucs are without Dunn, but they have replaced him with the Giants’ Fire. Fire, Derrick Ward, the guy who burned my Cats in overtime last December, is among the ranks of division rival Tampa Bay.

For the G-Men, Ward had a solid 1,025 yards rushing, averaging 5.6 yards per carry. Adding his experience and production to the Bucs backfield is an immediate improvement. Tampa Bay easily hits the 2,000-yard rushing mark with Ward, Graham, and Williams in ’09.

The Saints finished last in the division in rushing. Their trio of Pierre Thomas, Deuce McAllister, and Reggie Bush combined for a paltry 1,447 yards rushing, averaging a straight four yards per carry.

The Saints cut McAllister this offseason, but they return Thomas and Bush to the starting lineup and have a couple potential bright spots in newcomers Herb Donaldson from Western Illinois and P.J. Hill out of Wisconsin.

Depending on what kind of impact the newcomers make, Thomas should break 1,000 yards rushing, and Bush will probably get between 800 and 900 yards rushing. So effectively, the Saints have the potential to come very close to 2,000 yards rushing, perhaps even break the mark.

The NFC East had monster rush statistics last year, all of those coming from the New York Giants, who fielded two 1,000-plus-yard running backs in Brandon Jacobs and Ward.

The biggest news from the NFC West last year was the Cardinals. Not even the Rams’ Steven Jackson was able to make that division’s running stats competitive with the rest of the league. Seattle was decimated with injuries, and the 49ers were and are still finding their way through the mire that is the NFC West.

The NFC North had the lone bright spot in Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson, another monster back, but if they keep pounding him as an every-down back, his career might very well be shortened.

The AFC’s bright spots came from the Ravens, Dolphins, Colts, Chargers, and Titans—all playoff teams. Pittsburgh’s not on the list because their running game couldn’t stay healthy long enough to make that big of an impact.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger (I need a dictionary to spell his name) threw for almost 3,500 yards during the regular season and in the end was ranked 14th in passing stats, one spot above Panthers QB Jake Delhomme.

I digress. The AFC’s strongest rushing division was the AFC South. The rest of the divisions in the AFC had one dominant team.

This goes to prove that the NFC, as a whole, is far superior to its AFC counterparts when it comes to the running game.

Experts beware: The NFC South is on the rise.

The Twists and Turns of Life: The Power of Desire

To start, this really isn’t an article about my Panthers or Eagles; it’s not going to be much of a sports article at all, really. But you who are reading this, I consider friends, and I wanted to share my recent experience with you.

On Thursday, July 2, I was officially laid off from my job in making big things little. I was a heavy equipment operator of six years, operating bulldozers, front-end loaders and such. I loaded chunks of concrete and asphalt into a crusher plant to make a recycled material that could be, well, reused.

Back in April, for those of you who may not know, I was accepted into Penn State University. At that time, I really wanted to be laid off from my job, as the business was very slow, and I wanted to start concentrating on getting ready for college, getting into football shape and writing on Bleacher Report.

My ideal time frame for getting laid off was over the summer, as I really didn’t want to spend another winter in the windy dust-land that was the yard I worked in. I set my mind to being laid off in the summer or early fall.

Then a new opportunity was presented by Bleacher Report. A correspondent gig through CBS to cover the team of my choice, the Carolina Panthers, of course, beginning in July. At that news, I had set in my mind that whether I was laid off or not, if offered, I would accept the job from CBS.

Another reason I wanted to lose my job is because I can now get in better condition to try out for the Penn State football team. I have always wanted to play football, but never had the opportunity. At this point, I am not really trying out for any one position in particular. Though I am one hell of a punter, I just want to make the team.

The amazing thing is how when you really want something, if you put your mind to it, you really can move mountains. I never thought leaving my job and getting ready for college and whatever other opportunities may arise would be so easy.

In the end, whether I get the gig as a Carolina Panthers correspondent for CBS Sports, I still have six months in the meantime to get conditioned for football, and I will have a lot of time to write about the two teams I love like family: The Carolina Panthers and the Philadelphia Eagles.

In August, I will be going to Bethlehem, PA, for a weekend of watching one of the best football teams in the league, the Philadelphia Eagles. While there, I am going to do something that, until now, I have never had the opportunity to do. For one weekend, I will be a self-appointed Philadelphia Eagles correspondent for Bleacher Report.

I will try to get any quotes I can, as well as interview fans at random, to get their take on the upcoming season as well as their thoughts on the team’s draft day and expectations.

Stay tuned, Bleacher Report readers, as I am about to delve into an area I have no prior professional experience with. And unlike last preseason, I won’t wear a Panthers jersey this time.

Panthers Sign Two Draft Picks

As reported by Panthers beat reporter Steve Reed of carolinagrowl.com:

The Carolina Panthers signed two of their fourth-round draft picks, running back Mike Goodson of Texas A&M and fullback Tony Fiammetta, the team announced Friday.

So far Carolina has signed three of its seven draft picks, defensive back Captain Munnerlyn from the University of South Carolina being the first signee.

Mike Goodson played in 36 games with 14 starts and twice led Texas A&M in rushing before entering the NFL Draft following his junior season. He compiled 1,964 career rushing yards on 374 carries for an average of 5.3 yards per attempt and 13 touchdowns. Also a capable receiver, Goodson registered 90 catches for 860 yards and seven touchdowns.

In his junior season, Goodson started in seven-of-10 games, finishing first with the Aggies with 406 yards and five touchdowns on 94 attempts. Part of a three-back attack in 2007, Goodson put up 711 yards and four touchdowns on 153 carries.

Goodson earned honorable All Big 12 recognition as a freshman in 2006 after ranking first on the team with a career-best 847 yards on four touchdowns on 127 attempts despite starting just one game.

At Syracuse, Tony Fiammetta played in 45 games with 18 starts at fullback with the Orangemen. He finished his career with 16 rushes for 89 yards and 28 receptions for 202 yards and a touchdown.

He made his reputation, however, as a fierce blocker, making 108 knockdown blocks during his junior and senior seasons. Fiammetta also served as a team captain his senior season when he started 10-of-11 games and notched seven touchdown-resulting blocks to go along with 66 yards rushing on five carries and 16 catches for 127 yards and a touchdown.

Of Note: The Panthers waived long snapper Patrick MacDonald and defensive tackle Babatunde Oshinowo. Both players were signed as free agents during the offseason in January.

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