July 25 - 31 in recent Panthers history

[KB_fan]

I'm a pretty new arrival to Charlotte & a pretty new Panther fan, having begun following the team in Dec 2012. (Yes I'm a "bandwagoner" but I promise NOT to jump off!).  This is the first year I've been able to follow the lead up to training camp closely, and so I've been having fun this week looking back at the start of training camp in recent Panther's history.  What were Huddlers talking about as training camp started the past few years?  Here are a few things that caught my eye.  [I don't know enough about the team pre-2011, so my looking back at earlier years really wouldn't be productive.]

July 28 - 31, 2011

- Panthers extend Beason: 5 years / 50 million

- Cam signed his contract:  Breaking News and Cam Deal Done

- Confirmed Smitty would be staying with the Panthers

- John Kasay released; here's a "thanks for the memories" thread

- Greg Olsen's first interview after being traded to the Panthers.  (See Monsta's summary here)

- Facebook page with over 150 pictures of training camp July 30, 2011, by Chris Smith

- Bill Voth Tweets re: Cam's 1st practice:  "Cam walking in like he owned the place, doesn't lack in confidence" 

AWESOME.  That's our Cam. I really enjoyed reading that thread, and I thought OnlyPantherFaninMaine had some great perspective and a great retort for those who were criticizing Cam's "arrogance."

"It's the kids first practice as an NFL player, a thing he has been anticipating his entire life and it is a dream come true. If it were me, I'd be dancing and laughing and joking with every player too. I have no problem at all with this."

That's one of the reasons I've fallen so hard for the Panthers.  It's obvious that Cam and Luke and several others on the team just LOVE playing football, and it makes it GREAT for us fans.

July 31 Practice Write Up, by Ruff:

- When Jimmy took the field, there were a few boos but also some cheers. I don't know if they were cheering football, Jimmy, or the fact that last year's starting QB just walked out infront of them, but there were some cheers.

- When Cam walked out, there was an outright standing ovation. Tons of people cheered, screamed, yelled, and were very happy. Cam flashed his trademark smile, and pointed up to both sides of the stands. He was loving every second of it.

- When the drills started, Jimmy took the field with the starters. It's clear that he is, for now, the starter, just because of past experience. Jimmy didn't seem very comfortable. I don't know if the boos got to him, but he never settle down through the whole thing. Having Cam breathing down his neck, while the fans screamed for Cam, may have rattled his nerves.

- When Cam started throwing, the crowd went crazy. The first play he took was under center, and it was a simple hand-off. Some people cheered. (One guy even yelled, 'NICE COMPLETION'. Yeah.) Cam finally threw a pass, and completed it. The crowd about lost it. I looked over to my fiance and told her, if he completes a pass to Armanti, the crowd might even break out the champagne.

- One thing about Cam's throws... Some were a little high, and a little inaccurate. He seemed like he may be nervous. At one point, the QBs were throwing over a net, about 15 ft. tall, and Cam soared one even over it. [...]

- On to Armanti. Armanti played like a star. Like he may even make a definite roster spot, and not just to be a body. He fielded punts like a pro, (he was first up to field punts, so I assume that he means he is the starter for now.) and even made some nice jukes past the defenders. I enjoyed watching it. The entire crowd enjoyed watching it. Then, in a drill where the receivers had to break away from cornerbacks, Armanti broke down the sideline, caught a beautifully thrown pass by Cam, tip-toed the line, and stayed in bounds, either at the 1 or for a score. Like I guessed before, the crowd lost it.   [...]

- Greg Olsen spent a lot of time with Jeremy Shockey. He was obviously trying to learn. I think Greg Olsen is going to be a Panther for a long, long time. I've thought about buying a Greg Olsen 88 jersey, because I believe he's going to be a cornerstone for so long. [...]

- Ron Rivera is very stoic. He stood, and he watched. You could see that he's from a military family. The way he stands, he always looks at attention. I heard Coach McDermott yelling from where I sat, but Coach Rivera just watched. He gave advice where he thought it was needed, and he moved along. Note: He did spend a fair amount of time with the defensive linemen.

 

I'll post interesting tidbits from 2012 - 2014 to this thread later today as I have time.  Others feel free to chime in if you have memories & pix from past years to share, or links to old threads here.  It is fun for us newbies to learn more about the Panthers past!

***

NOTE:  I wrote two similar posts earlier this week, however I tried not to duplicate threads or comments, even though there is some overlap in dates:

July 27: On this Day...

On this day: July 28 in recent Panther's history

 

 

[London Loves Luke]

We were a 6 win team in '11 and a 7 win team in '12. I'd hardly call someone who became a fan in 2012 a bandwagoner, regardless of how much promised we showed.

Some great comments in that Cam thread:

 

     Matthias said:

What did Voth say about Clausen's demeanor?

 

You could cut the tension with a pickle.

 

 

[KB_fan]

We were a 6 win team in '11 and a 7 win team in '12. I'd hardly call someone who became a fan in 2012 a bandwagoner, regardless of how much promised we showed.

Thanks LLL.  It was really the December win over Atlanta, and the 4 game winning streak that I started paying attention... 

[CoastalCat]

It's tough to compare similar dates, considering how the timeline has changed. Might be easier to compare the first x days of camp from prior years.

[WCUcats]

Jesus, I forgot how bad the Armanti fan boi club was. App St. is going to be App St. trash I guess. BTW panthers have never missed the playoffs since we cut Armanti. 

[KB_fan]

CoastalCat, good point.  Even though I've got dates in the thread title, I've not been following the exact dates too strictly.  Generally I've been browsing entries from the last week of July..., and yes, trying to focus on the beginning of camp.

As best I can tell, here are the recent starting dates (1st practice) from recent camps.

2011:  July 29

2012:  July 28

2013:  July 26

2014:  July 25

*I've just edited the thread title to provide a broader range of dates July 25 - 31, to include the earlier TC starts in 2013 & 2014 to permit more accurate comparison.

[Riverboat Ron]

Still makes me sad about the series of unfortunate events with Beason, my Beason jersey sits sadly in my closet with its lucky sweat stains.

[PhillyB]

i remember watching someone's training camp video of cam hucking a bomb like fifty yards down the field and steve smith shaking his head in disbelief in an interview and talking almost breathlessly about what the new quarterback could do. steve smith never talked breathlessly or seemed in awe, and i knew at that point we had something special on our hands.

[Lilsmitty09]

Still makes me sad about the series of unfortunate events with Beason, my Beason jersey sits sadly in my closet with its lucky sweat stains.

Could you imagine if we still had him in his prime and he was able to play OLB? Good Lawd. Hopefully Shaq can live up to his reputation

[KB_fan]

Some fun links / topics from the start of training camp 2012:

Rookie Hazing pics

 

July 29th: Sam Mills Fan's Training Camp Report 

struck by this comment on TD:

"- TD: He looked just as good as the guys they had starting which was a welcome sight. I didn't notice a single ACL related thing going on with him except the presence of that bulky brace. It was a little painful watching him on special teams though, not because he wouldn't be a beast there, but because you know it had to be killing him to be with the 2s mainly and on special teams with all the action Kuechly was getting."

Wow.  TD running with the 2s... Makes me appreciate his awesome comeback all the more.  So glad there seems to be no jealousy between him & Luke - they each make the other better.

Kendrick Panther's detailed July 29th TC report is here

Earlier in the week, I posted excerpts of some other 2012 TC notes  - especially focused on Luke's debut.

Unfortunately, Jeremy's 2012 TC pictures seem to have been moved.  The links to the 2012 TC Galleries don't work.  So, I didn't find many good pix to post here.  However, in this "training camp first impressions" thread there are a few nice shots.  Here are a few excerpts & pix:

So I head down to the practice field as the players begin to make their way as well. I run into Jon Beason on the way down who greets me with a fist bump. It is great to see Beason on the field again, not only because of his physical abilities, but his effect on the team psyche as a whole. He just makes everyone around him better.

The individual drills start and I notice a new one. I am always interested in new drills, what they do and how they were chosen. Time is at a premium in camp, it is highly orchestrated. For a new drill to make the field practice, it must be important.

This drill involved two large rings in a figure eight. Wide receivers were asked to run the eight pattern as fast as they could.

 

It reminds me of NASCAR, when the cars are defying gravity going up the wall. These players are able to lean and dig while maintaining a high velocity. One can imagine how this drill will help in running more precise and crisp routes.

The players started stretching and Steve Smith, the now veteran mentor of the offense, took the time to show Brandon LaFell a proper leg stretch. Overlooked by many, but I found it telling.

[...]

First round pick Kuechly is as fluid a linebacker as I have seen. I don't agree with the Dan Morgan comparisons. I don't feel Kuechly is as fast, but he seems to be more agile. He runs like a running back.

Josh Norman got in plenty of time with the first string defense. For any rookie to get in that much time with a first string speaks volumes. The kid can ball, and will make an immediate impact.

 

[rhyslloyd]

Jesus, I forgot how bad the Armanti fan boi club was. App St. is going to be App St. trash I guess. BTW panthers have never missed the playoffs since we cut Armanti.

How's life in the SoCon?  Not even two teams leaving could propel you scrubs to the top.

[WCUcats]

How's life in the SoCon?  Not even two teams leaving could propel you scrubs to the top.

Whatever scrub we are playing for championships. App St. plays for the chance to play in the chick fil a bowl once a decade. 

 

[rhyslloyd]

Whatever scrub we are playing for championships. App St. plays for the chance to play in the chick fil a bowl once a decade. 

 

This may be too much for a Western grad to comprehend, but you have to actually make the playoffs to win a championship.  We all know that's an eternal fight for you ladies.  I did see you weren't picked dead last anymore.  Thank the lord for Mercer.

[KB_fan]

Although I wasn't a Panther fan at the very beginning, while browsing the July 2013 forum posts, I came across this related to July 29, 1995:

The first Panthers - Jags HOF game:  18 years ago today...

***

Now for 2013,:

Before I post any training camp memories / pix, I want to first look at some of the pre-training camp 2013 "buzz"

One thing I've really been trying to look for in 2013 is whether or not there was a sense that the team would be awesome and go 12 - 4.  I'm trying to get a sense whether the current 2015 season's optimism is normal or exceptional.  We had Cam & Luke & TD & Hardy, etc., etc., but we were coming off of 6 - 10 and 7 - 9 seasons.  Were folks hoping we could really break out?  When did most know how awesome the season could be?

It certainly didn't look / sound all that optimistic at the start of training camp... in hindsight, it's surprising how low we were ranked.  The team's breakout was really a surprise, only becoming evident as the season progressed.  There was not a "this is a playoff team" buzz at the start of TC, it seems..., though I'm sure some believed! 

[*UPDATE*:  Here are a few believers:  It'sNotGonnaBeAlright and LTownCat . they both believed our defense (Star & Short especially) meant we were playoff bound.  Nice prediction guys.]

 

This was how PFF rated our starting players. [You can see their ratings of all 32 teams if you click the link].  The thread with reaction to these ratings is here.

 

We were ranked 25th by PFT...  ZOD thought that sounded "about right"!!!!

THEN, there was this thread about all the negative opinions about Ron Rivera ... who of course went on to win coach of the year.

SpiderMonkey jumped to Ron's defense, and was pretty accurate in his assessment of our defensive dominance: "Ron Rivera is arguably the best defensive coach in the entire NFL. Entering year three he has our defense in position to be dominant, just like his third year everywhere else he has coached."

 

This Preview of Camp Position battles noted the huge questions about our secondary and WR corps:

Here's a nice little change of pace from the "Vote For The Panthers" or "Insert Name Here Disrespected Us" threads.
 
Link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap1000000219107/article/top-25-nfc-position-battles-during-training-camp
 

  Quote

23. The Carolina Panthers' entire secondary
 
Charles Godfrey should have one safety spot locked down, but after that it's a mystery. The cornerback candidates include Captain Munnerlyn, Josh Norman, Drayton Florence and D.J. Moore. Translation: The Panthers better have a great pass rush to compensate.

 

  Quote

14. Carolina Panthers No. 3 receiver: Ted Ginn vs. The Field
 

Ted Ginn wants to be known as a wide receiver rather than just a return man. We have our doubts he'll make much of an impact, but he's the best option out of a shaky group that includes a lot of returner types like Armanti Edwards, Domenik Hixon, Joe Adams and Kealoha Pilares.

 

 

 

SCP was predicting 6 or 8 wins, as he explained in his comments on the SI NFC South preview rankings thread.

That being said, I'm still on the 6-8 win bandwagon until Rivera and Shula prove they can coach on Sunday's. Our talent is good enough to win if put in position to do so.

The meme / vibe seemed to be QUITE A LOT OF POTENTIAL, but given too many close losses, doubts about unproven coaches...  Here's an interesting exchange between CelibatePimp and RazeyFingers

No, it's not the dumb asses that don't take us seriously. Any non-homer can see that all we have at this point is potential. Would you rank a proven entity over potential? No, so until the season starts and we start winning, we cannot keep complaining about rankings etc.

I dont flow that way my friend. I calculate odds given as much data as I can find and I see teams VERY fuggin worried about playing us. I see talent up and down the roster, a solid playbook, guys coming back healthy, and some iffy coaches. Yep we may go under 8-8 but if we lose those games it will be close. . . like last year.

Let me stop before this gets too long...  More on the start of Training Camp 2013 coming soon.