One Panther Rewind: “The King is Dead”

[ellis]

Roll call...how many of you old farts (myself included) were at this game? How many of you remember watching it on television?

Finally, how many of you weren’t alive when this game happened? 

What a hell of a year. I was a WR at JL Mann high school in Greenville, South Carolina. The year before, the 49ers came to our high school and practiced before their match up in Clemson with Carolina.

The mystique of that practice, and the season that followed for Carolina, led to this football beautiful, awful football addiction of mine. 

We tried to go to this game, but it was a hot damn ticket, as one could imagine. I remember standing in line with my brother at Blockbuster Music on Haywood Road (Kids, if you don’t know what blockbuster music is, we can’t be friends). That’s how we did it back in the day for playoff tickets: a damn lottery line in the freezing cold wrapped around a retail store.

We lost lottery that day. A couple days later, we beat the living piss out of the Cowboys. Hearing Pat Summerall and John Madden call the game as the upstart panthers humiliated the “end of the line, last-gasp tweaker coming down off their high” version of the Dallas Cowboys was sufficient. 

January 5, 1997. That day felt like a million bucks.

[Smithers]

I remember this game well...watched it with my dad at a local bar.  Awesome memories. 

[ellis]

Grammar police: I’ve already had a few complaints about my spelling of panther in the tweet. You can kindly kiss my Greg Kraken fanboy ass. 

[JccOldTime23]

I was 10 years old for this game. I remember watching it on TV at home with my dad. Neither one of us expected us to win, it was awesome. The next week I had the flu when we got our asses kicked in Green Bay. What an exciting season. 2 seconded year franchises making it all the way to the Conference Finals!

[electro's horse]

Was there.

Was amazing.

First time I'd been to a game where no one sat down the entire time.

Honestly think that's the last time that's ever happened at BoA. Maybe the sunday night patriots game. 

[FakePlasticTrees]

I was fortunate to be able to attend the game. BOA (then Ericsson Stadium) stadium was extremely loud ( loudest i've been in). Cowboy players started to drop like flies. Fairly early in the game Lathon ran down Irvin. His hit knocked Irvin out for the rest of the game. I seem to remember that once the game was nearly in hand Sanders also went down with an injury. That win created a great memory. It really had a David verses Goliath feel. A second year team against a team that had won 3 of the last 4 Super Bowls.

The Game

[Panthera onca]

I was there. It is still the loudest game I remember at the stadium. I have always despised the Cowboys so that made the playoff win all the sweeter.

[Gregg S]

I watched it and actually still have it recorded...on VHS tape.  I really need to transfer it to DVD.

[45catfan]

I watched it on TV, but wished I was there.  Alas, I was a broke college student and couldn't have afforded the ticket even if I had the chance to buy one.  As a Redskins convert, I loved to see the "Triplets" get their butts handed to them.  To this day, my two most hated teams are the Falcons and Cowboys.  Yes,  the Cowboys even over the Saints (they are #3, ICYWW).  

As we already discussed in a previous thread, I didn't pass up that opportunity again the next time we faced them at home in the playoffs.  Another thorough beat down, but it wasn't quite the same because that Cowboy's team weren't former SB champs with several  HOFers on the roster.  

Besides the Rams double OT victory, that postseason Cowboys thumping has to be my next favorite playoff win.

[jfra78]

I was 18 at the time and watched it on TV.  I remember holding bragging rights over the Cowboys for many years thanks to this game. We ended their Dynasty and I never let them forget it.

[electro's horse]

Also, point of reference, "the king is dead" comment was after they beat the 49ers in San Fran, not Dallas in Charlotte.

The Cowboys were kinda hollowed out by that game tbqh

[ellis]

1 hour ago, electro's horse said:

Also, point of reference, "the king is dead" comment was after they beat the 49ers in San Fran, not Dallas in Charlotte.

The Cowboys were kinda hollowed out by that game tbqh

Yes, that’s a good catch. Although...I think he may have used it twice. Once for the division champs, once for the world champs. Either that, or NFL Films did their usual masterful job of repurposing workparts.

[L-TownCat]

I was a bit young, but my step-dad went and we recorded it on VHS.  Still have it.

Masterpiece theatre.

[KillerKat]

Yeah I remember it. I also remember the next week before the Green Bay game, all of our LBs in an interview in the pre-game show with Terry or Howie (Can't remember who. Might've even been someone else.) and he put a SB ring on the table and all I remember is their reactions to how badly they wanted it.

I also rewatched the game on youtube last year and noticed a couple things. How inaccurate Collins was and when Deion got hurt, the word "concussion" was never said by Pat or John.