No. 59: The Ties That Bind
Hi, everyone!
I have lived in Charlotte since July 2018. This entire time, I have been waiting for the New York Football Giants and/or the Carolina Panthers to win over my NFL heart.
My passion for NFL football began to wane when the Giants — my lifelong team — started struggling following the Eli Manning Era's second Super Bowl victory. I was spoiled, what can I say? And as life progresses, priorities shift.
But the 2018 season was the one that had me convinced I’d be reborn, if you will. The Giants had selected my all-time favorite football player, Saquon Barkley, with the No. 2 overall selection. Plus, my new hometown Panthers had only been a couple of seasons removed from a Super Bowl experience, and still had a core that included Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly, among others.
When we arrived in Charlotte during the summer, I remember seeing all the billboards and murals around town featuring players from the best run of success in Panthers history. It was exciting to be part of it!
There was also a huge bonus to the 2018 season: Barkley and the Giants were coming down to Charlotte in early October. I secured the game tickets before we signed our apartment lease.
For those who remember, that game was a BLAST. There was a lot of scoring, headlined by a trick play where OBJ tossed a tuddy pass to Barkley down the sidelines, and capped by a game-winning 63-yard field goal by Graham Gano, giving the hometown team the walk-off win.
We were sitting on the endzone side where Gano kicked the field goal, a few rows from the very top of the stands. I remember being crushed. Mostly because Barkley had balled out, and my Giants fandom was still stronger than it was for the Panthers.
Unfortunately, that game marked a high point in a lot of ways for both teams. The Giants never recovered, and the Manning era ended pretty unceremoniously.
In Charlotte, after beginning the season 6-2, the Panthers went on a brutal 7-game losing streak, which marked the beginning of the end for that core and era, too.
Every year since, I have joked with anyone who will listen that I was waiting for one of those teams to grab my heart.
The Giants came awfully close in 2022. They won a Wild Card game at Minnesota, where Barkley looked like his vintage self. But then the front office decided to give QB Daniel Jones the big contract, franchise tag Barkley, treat him like dirt, and set the stage for a brutal exit from New York. It was so bad that I couldn’t continue watching the “Hard Knocks” preseason series on the Giants. Cringe is the best word I can use to describe how former head coach Brian Daboll and the beleaguered Joe Schoen handled Barkley.
There was so much losing in between that one good season was never going to cut it anyway. But it became even more so after the way Barkley was pushed out. I suffered (dramatic, no? lol) through multiple seasons of watching Barkley get a handoff in the backfield, only to immediately be hit by a defender. How in the world can a professional football team fail to put together a competent offensive line year after year after year? I’m really asking; that’s not rhetoric.
Meanwhile, here at home, things were just as bad. Former head coach Ron Rivera — who was great for the community — got run out of town by new owner David Tepper — who is anything but good for the community. They couldn’t find a quarterback. CMC and a few other stars blossomed but eventually got traded. And Bank of America Stadium got emptier each week while the losing continued.
The Panthers are hosting the city’s first playoff game in nearly a decade tomorrow evening. It’s exciting, and I’m sure I’ll check in on the score and watch a bit, but overall, I’m a little meh about it all. Those who follow the NFL know Carolina backed their way (not “clawed” as some want you to believe) with the help of the great folks down in NOLA. That’s not to say this season has been a wash; the Panthers beat the Packers (another playoff team) and already beat their opponent on Saturday, the L.A. Rams, earlier in the season.
But the season has been far from electrifying. There are few big names known outside of Charlotte, and the Panthers are big home underdogs, even with the previous win against the Rams. It could be the start of something, or it could turn out the way it did for the Giants after the 2022 season. Call me cynical, but when you’ve watched two teams lose as much as these franchises have the past several years, it’s hard to be confident in anything being sustainable.
It’s been a strange football season for me. The Giants were again awful. Penn State had its meltdown. So I guess it wouldn’t surprise me if the 8-9 Panthers went on some crazy run during the playoffs. The forecast calls for rain tomorrow, and maybe that’ll help keep those guys from SoCal off balance.
Unless I misread something, there isn’t a realistic scenario for Carolina to host another playoff game this season. They are only hosting tomorrow because of the antiquated divisional setup. L.A. is by far the better team and has more wins, but they are in the same division as the conference’s No. 1 overall seed, Seattle.
Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than be right (or good). Either way, consider me intrigued to see how this chapter of Panthers football influences what happens next. My heart is still there for the taking.
Will Carolina take advantage of the early lead? Will my love for the Giants never actually fade?
Find out next time: same Bat-Time, same Bat-Channel!!!
