18 replies to this topic

[KendrickPanther]

Well I wanted to give the huddle a chance to cool down before I made this post so hopefully you guys are ready to read something nice about the Panthers.

Last season I took my 3 yr old niece to the Panther talk radio show and she had the chance to meet Ron Rivera and Byron Bell. Byron Bell was very nice to her and we took a picture.
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She always remembered "Bell" and talked about him whenever the Panthers were on TV. My mom (her grandmother) followed Byron Bell on twitter and they would go back and forth from time to time.

Last Thursday Byron Bell did a Trivia Question for 2 tickets to the game. My mom answered the question correctly and won the tickets. She decided to take my niece since she is such a big Bell fan.
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So we all arrive at the game. I head for the cheap seats and my mom and niece head for some really great seats in the lower bowl. When they arrive Byron Bell's girlfriend introduces herself and talks to them all game. She actually had the same picture of Byron and my niece at the Panthers radio show on her phone. Apparently Byron gave away tickets to some people at Harris Teeter as well. Byron's girlfriend offered to take my niece down to meet some of the players after the game but it was going to take too long to clear security so we called it a night.

My niece is one of the only Panther fans that had a great time at this game. She stood on her seat the entire time cheering and clapping. Now at 4 years old she is too young to care about winning or losing. She just loved the bright lights, flames, and fireworks. She was in awe of the entire spectacle. We are going to get the Autographed tickets framed with a picture of her and Byron to commemorate her first Panthers game. I know I'll never forget my first. Hopefully it is the same for her.

I know some of you guys are big into trading cards. We would like to send a hand written letter to Byron thanking him. Do you know were we should mail it? I know people send in Football cards all the time.

I get as angry as anybody about performance on the field but most of these players are solid people. Bell's girlfriend was a legit human being. Not the stereotype at all. I go to all kinds of Panthers events and I'm always treated with class. Just keep that in mind as we recover from another tough loss.

[Roger Dorn]

His ass is lucky he didn't play Thursday night.

Glad to know he's a humble, down to earth guy though.

[megadeth078]

I knew our offensive line would look bad without him playing Sunday, but I didn't imagine it would look so horrid. The man deserves a lot more credit than he gets around here. The team needs him and people are going to have to get over the fact that we rely on an undrafted player because it really doesn't matter.

[csx]

Williams played pretty good in his absence, it was Gross who got destroyed vs the Giants. Garry didn't give up a sack, hit, or hurry in replacement this week. I realize there is more to it but it wasn't the lack of Bell that made the line look bad.

[megadeth078]

Williams played pretty good in his absence, it was Gross who got destroyed vs the Giants. Garry didn't give up a sack, hit, or hurry in replacement this week. I realize there is more to it but it wasn't the lack of Bell that made the line look bad.

You're implying that those are the only stats that matter. Where's the stat that shows how many times he failed to engage his assignment and allowed defensive lineman to bat down Cam's passes for free?

[TheAmericanDream]

It's great to see a professional athlete go and reach out to kids. Seen it a many of times when a kid calls to a player for a autograph and they look the other way and pay them no mind.

[Raskle]

Awesome story KP... very glad to hear he's still grounded. I like Bell as a person, and hope he continues to improve as a player. I'm sure if you sent your mail to the front office at BofA, it would get through to him, just make sure to address it to him, care of the Panthers.

[KendrickPanther]

We emailed Bell a Video message from my niece thanking him. It was really cute he tried to post it on his twitter but it doesn't work for us.

[jtnc]

Byron seems like a very nice down to earth person, I remember crying about the story on his brother dying in a fire and him being unable to save him. These are the types of things that kids fans for life.

[CardiacCats]

fug you I wanted those tickets.

[Daddy Uncle]

At the end of the day it is just a game and it shouldn't effect us so much that it ruins our lives. Good story

[jasonluckydog]

Just send the letter to the stadium care of Bell and they will make sure he gets the letter.

[Cary Kollins]

Cool story.

[Bullethead527]

I've been on the Bell bandwagon since he joined the team and I learned of his story in last years short offseason.....

Im glad that I get to watch him protect our QB for the next 10 years......