89 Panther 4 Life! Bottom Line

[stankowalski]

Don't care what anybody thinks or say's Smitty will always be one of my all time favorite Panthers.

[Cpt slay a ho]

1 hour ago, Squirrel said:

You honestly think we would have made it this far with Smitty? He would have been in Cams ear all the time to pass him the ball and our other receivers wouldn't have grown. Have 12 years of proof on that one and you cant deny it.  Cam would have went the way of Jake not being able to read the field and relying to much on Smitty. 

 

With Smitty gone it help Cam become the QB he is. 

 

Loved Smitty when he first played here but his routine got old quick. 

Yet again yes,and that has go to be one the biggest huddle myths to date. First people say smith didn't give it his all and was just banking here til retirement, then people are saying he would have been in Cam's ear demanding the ball. For some one not giving it his all, demanding the ball would be low on the list. what 12 years of proof btw i'm curious. Kb would still be Kb and Funchess would still be Funchess,another big smith myth,that he hurt wr development but there are multiple receivers that said he help them out Lafell,Smith,Jones. 

 

Cam going the way of Jake is a huge reach man, and you have it backwards smith helped Cam's development but Cam also helped keep smith relevant,both helped each other. Cam was going to be the qb he is today regardless,he was doing the same thing in 2013 spreading the ball, 2014 injury affected most of his season, 2015 he put it all together. Going by the small sample size i just find it irrational to think removing smith was the missing piece 

[Mr. Scot]

4 hours ago, ThPantherFan said:

I respect Steve Smith and he was and still is, a great player.  The problem would be in the locker room.  The Panthers might not be where they are now if Steve had stayed. 

"The Panthers could have made the Super Bowl with Steve Smith." - Speculation

"The Panthers made the Super Bowl without Steve Smith." - Fact

People can feel any way they want to about what could have been but that's reality.

[Squirrel]

19 minutes ago, Cpt slay a ho said:

Yet again yes,and that has go to be one the biggest huddle myths to date. First people say smith didn't give it his all and was just banking here til retirement, then people are saying he would have been in Cam's ear demanding the ball. For some one not giving it his all, demanding the ball would be low on the list. what 12 years of proof btw i'm curious. Kb would still be Kb and Funchess would still be Funchess,another big smith myth,that he hurt wr development but there are multiple receivers that said he help them out Lafell,Smith,Jones. 

 

Cam going the way of Jake is a huge reach man, and you have it backwards smith helped Cam's development but Cam also helped keep smith relevant,both helped each other. Cam was going to be the qb he is today regardless,he was doing the same thing in 2013 spreading the ball, 2014 injury affected most of his season, 2015 he put it all together. Going by the small sample size i just find it irrational to think removing smith was the missing piece 

Never said Cam would go the way of Jake. I said that is what hurt Jake's development. 

 

As far as other receivers development Smitty did hurt all the rookies that came in. His quote"Not my job to mentor wide receivers that's what coaches are for".  

 

 

Don't get me wrong Smitty was a great wide receiver just a terrible teammate. 

[Nomad82]

20 hours ago, TheRed said:

I don't see the need for the sour grapes on this from either direction anymore.

Panthers fans need to let that poo go, and so does he. Let the past be. Move forward.

Time heals all wounds. I'm a STL Cardinal fan born and raised, so I know this all to well. Just like Pujols and the late Curt Flood (he left on sour terms and also the reason why free agency in every sport exists), Smith will be welcomed back with open arms. He's the second most important figure of the franchise. No way he's going to be left out in the cold.

[JawnyBlaze]

7 hours ago, Mr. Scot said:

"The Panthers could have made the Super Bowl with Steve Smith." - Speculation

"The Panthers made the Super Bowl without Steve Smith." - Fact

People can feel any way they want to about what could have been but that's reality.

"Panthers made the Super Bowl with Steve Smith." - Fact. 

"Panthers made their first Super Bowl largely BECAUSE of Steve Smith." - Strong educated speculation. 

[WadeWilson]

8 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Don't get me wrong Smitty was a great wide receiver just a terrible teammate. 

I don't think this is the case honestly. Getting rid of Smitty was a necessity and was the right move - only because his ego and personality was holding down Cam's growth as a the team leader. Does ego and a strong personality make you a bad teammate always?

 

Nope.

[Zaximus]

12 minutes ago, chris999 said:

All that is true, but I think the main reason we let him go is because we were in Cap hell.

Steve's last year counted as like 18 million on the books. He was good, but not that good. He was a casualty of Hurney's restructure deals.

It wasn't close to 18.  It was like, $7 million that next year, and we're still paying him $4 mill this year because of the cut.  It wasn't about money.  Granted $7 mill would be much for him but if he was being a team guy we would have kept him around.   Honestly if he played here like he did the last two years in Baltimore he would have been worth that money, if he was also being a team guy.  

 

edit*: Yeah it was going to go 7 mill, then 10 then 12.  But we could have worked something about with him.  We still paid him like $4 a year for not being here, so we could have made something work.  He just didn't seem to care and also was hampering Cam.

 

edit 2! lol: Another site said it was $7 mill in 2014, 7 mill in 2015, and 9 mill in 2016.  We paid him $5 million in 2014 and $4 in 2015 just to not be on this team.  We saved SOME money but you don't cut someone like Smith if he wants to be a vet and accept his role just to save a few million.

[Cpt slay a ho]

Now posters saying we released him due to cap I respect, that's more of a logical thing then reaching

by saying "he wasn't giving it his all" and he was bad teammate, or didn't help young receivers out those are all myths that need to die 

[TN05]

12 hours ago, chris999 said:

Paying Smith 15+million would have meant that we couldnt sign Cam and Luke. G-mad did what he had to do, and was right.

Exactly. Saying you cut your best player in team history because of his contract (which left us with no other real receivers until we drafted KB) would not be something you want to do. There were many factors, but that was undoubtedly the most important.

[Semaj]

Steve, we will never forget you and the heart, effort and love you have for this franchise.  Even today.  You are without a doubt one of the greatest Panthers of all time.