Speaker 1: Hey guys, and welcome to a very special edition of
Speaker 1: The Group Chat, where we're recording from right outside of
Speaker 1: Wimbley Stadium in London, England. On this episode, you've got
Speaker 1: the normal of myself, Will and Max talking Panthers football,
Speaker 1: but we have a very special guest helping us recap
Speaker 1: our trip. So far, we have two Brits in our
Speaker 1: in our team. There's one of us. He's six foot
Speaker 1: free and quite good at what he does, and then
Speaker 1: I'm not six ft free and I'm not quite good
Speaker 1: at what And then we take a look at what
Speaker 1: the Panthers need to do to get a win in London.
Speaker 1: How does Dante's presence, you know, how does that then
Speaker 1: change the nickel with ross pack of the nickel. We've
Speaker 1: got that and so much more, including a reference to
Speaker 1: Harry Potter. On this week's The Group Chat. You've been
Speaker 1: added to the Group Chat with your friends Carol One, Can,
Speaker 1: Max Sensen and Will Brian. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to
Speaker 1: the Group Chats London Special. That was way better than
Speaker 1: anything we're doing right now. Guys. We did not hire Brilliant. Brilliant,
Speaker 1: We did not hire that person. That person works for
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers. He more more than just f a is. Um.
Speaker 1: We had organization. We have two Brits in our in
Speaker 1: our in our team. There's one of us. He's six
Speaker 1: ft free and quite good at what he does. And
Speaker 1: then I'm not six ft free and I'm not quite
Speaker 1: good at what. But you did just put the token
Speaker 1: brit word in front of like describing things, any adjective.
Speaker 1: Putting quite in front of it, I've learned is the
Speaker 1: most brit thing to instantly sound British. You're shaking your head.
Speaker 1: You agree a degree, and I definitely agree over the
Speaker 1: good morning everybody, um, so over the past the past year,
Speaker 1: having spent time with it with the Carolina Panthers and
Speaker 1: spent numerous meetings with various people across both states, you
Speaker 1: do have to go through a process and start every meeting.
Speaker 1: When I start to speak and you see people's faces,
Speaker 1: just go, what are you doing? Why? Why? Why are
Speaker 1: you talking to me about football? Your your accent doesn't work, um,
Speaker 1: And then you get into it and you get then
Speaker 1: you start to explain, you know, why the NFL is
Speaker 1: in London, why it's so big. White generation, my generation
Speaker 1: love this game. And then people started to start to
Speaker 1: warm to you, and then of course you got literally
Speaker 1: the quite the amazing you know, the over politeness that
Speaker 1: the US Brits have quickly followed by huge inso irony.
Speaker 1: And you know, being slightly not as confident as my
Speaker 1: American friends m just generally in our world and how
Speaker 1: we operate as you were, not confident. That's that is
Speaker 1: a very nice way of talking about Americans. Just confident. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're quite confident. Happy, Smiley, we are. We are happy
Speaker 1: most of the time. Just give everbody a bit of context.
Speaker 1: Were sat in a hotel lobby right next to Wemby Stadium.
Speaker 1: It is beautifully British weather, which is gray, windy, rainy. Um.
Speaker 1: I don't know what the weather it is today in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: but I'm assuming it's gonna be mid seven seas blue skies,
Speaker 1: probably harder than that. When we came from Charlotte, it
Speaker 1: was like ninety degrees all the time. I was not
Speaker 1: packed properly for the thirty degree change in temperature back here.
Speaker 1: But Paul, give us a quick rundown of what you
Speaker 1: do for the team, just quick, quick for the fans
Speaker 1: out there. What you do, how you got here, you've
Speaker 1: just joined the group chat. We need we need an
Speaker 1: introduction so we can put you in our contacts. It's
Speaker 1: my name is Paul McGowan on, the vice president of
Speaker 1: Business Development for the Carolina Panthers. Uh, you can ask
Speaker 1: what does business development mean? As we all know, under
Speaker 1: the ownership of David Tepper, UM, the outlook of the
Speaker 1: Panthers has changed dramatically in terms of what we want
Speaker 1: to achieve as a winning organization and winning across both states. UM.
Speaker 1: And there's a lot of infrastructure work that goes around that,
Speaker 1: a lot of commercial work, a lot of political work,
Speaker 1: and I'm part of that executive team under Tom Glick
Speaker 1: who's helping to bring that to life. And it's been
Speaker 1: an incredible fourteen months. Loved every single minute it. It's brilliantant,
Speaker 1: that's just brilliant. Everyone ahead, well, well have you picked
Speaker 1: up in the American words since we're just saying brilliant
Speaker 1: over and over again? Yeah, what do we do? We
Speaker 1: just filled things in with what I found myself being
Speaker 1: is UM I spent I spent a huge part of
Speaker 1: the last six months commuting from London to Charlotte, which
Speaker 1: you know, a a flight seven thirteen thirty one. I
Speaker 1: can tell you all about I'll say about the menus,
Speaker 1: but what I found myself being if I come back
Speaker 1: to the UK, I'm naturally I'm nice, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: happier being being around obviously my wonderful staff, colleagues, and
Speaker 1: obviously the people of the people. Charlotte welcomed me. I
Speaker 1: go back to UK and I find myself being really nice.
Speaker 1: Within six hours of being here, I find myself being
Speaker 1: slightly miserable, slightly slightly, quite slightly. The experience of going
Speaker 1: on going on the tube and on the wonderful whether
Speaker 1: we have in this country kind of you know, it
Speaker 1: kind of dampens my mood of enthusiasm ever so slightly.
Speaker 1: Um So you know, it's um, it's it's good. But
Speaker 1: you know what, I kind of say that deliberately, knowing
Speaker 1: that pretty well that we're recording this on Saturday, but
Speaker 1: on Sunday we're going to go to this massive celebration
Speaker 1: of the NFL and then for the Carolina Panthers. And
Speaker 1: I think we've seen that seen that this week. Um,
Speaker 1: some of the images we've seen from up up in
Speaker 1: central London and Dave going to go to a couple
Speaker 1: of pubs yet last night, and it's just been it's
Speaker 1: a fantastic opportunity for this organization to kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: pat herself on the back of a little bit, enjoy
Speaker 1: what it is and looks at the future and if
Speaker 1: we can all get back on the plane on Sunday
Speaker 1: night four and two one an incredible week. This would
Speaker 1: have been after starting oen two. My goodness to go
Speaker 1: into the buyer four and two would be would be
Speaker 1: something Paul, what do you think this obviously the first
Speaker 1: time the Panthers have been in London, fitting that you
Speaker 1: joined the team and here we are, is the NFL
Speaker 1: taking hold in the UK? Do you've you've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of these games come and go now for the
Speaker 1: past few years. What do you think the impact it's
Speaker 1: having on the fan base here? I think I think
Speaker 1: it's two two ways to answer. The reason why the
Speaker 1: NFL came back here in two thousand and six is
Speaker 1: that there's a whole generation. I'm part of that generation
Speaker 1: who just loved this game for love of the game
Speaker 1: first and then the kind of game day experience second. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously coach Veria is part of that. That
Speaker 1: fantastic five Bears team. We started to show those games
Speaker 1: live Intrustrial TV in the UK. We only had four
Speaker 1: channels in the UK in the mid eighties, which I
Speaker 1: tell by your faces in general, that's a bit of
Speaker 1: that's a bit of surprise. So we had four channels
Speaker 1: and that every Sunday at six pm UK time they
Speaker 1: would show a one pm Eastern game. And so we
Speaker 1: went through this process of my generation watching American football
Speaker 1: as we would call it, a gridirons as we would
Speaker 1: call it. And then he had the Bears team and
Speaker 1: then to be fair to the NFL and to be
Speaker 1: fair to the commissioner is part of the set up
Speaker 1: at the time. They brought those stars of that team
Speaker 1: here to Wembley, the stadium right next door to us,
Speaker 1: and started playing what they used to call the American Balls.
Speaker 1: That one of the preseason games would always be here.
Speaker 1: And because London acts as this major gateway city, it
Speaker 1: is a hub city, has no doubt about it. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, two loads of American forces across the world,
Speaker 1: you know, and American businesses. That's why it's been so successful.
Speaker 1: Then over the last ten years, where you found is
Speaker 1: a new generation starting to love the sports. The coverage
Speaker 1: of it is amazing. But the spectacle of going to
Speaker 1: a game is incredible. And it's so different to what
Speaker 1: we have in the Premier League, which is really tribal
Speaker 1: and that the Premier League and European europe who in soccer,
Speaker 1: which I still can't get used to saying that was
Speaker 1: weird coming out. It was it was not a natural
Speaker 1: and I have to I have to pause when I
Speaker 1: say it. Soccer soccer be under the illusion we love soccer,
Speaker 1: so no, and you come over to the games here
Speaker 1: in this new generation who found it and just think
Speaker 1: it's so different to what we have here. And you know,
Speaker 1: credit to everybody the NFL for doing it. Credit to
Speaker 1: the teams. You've come here really embraced and use it
Speaker 1: as an opportunity to just to do something different. And
Speaker 1: you guys would have seen it from a our staff
Speaker 1: and be the players during this week. This the whole
Speaker 1: process of going through something different for them, it's kind
Speaker 1: of really had this positive impact on the organization. I mean,
Speaker 1: I know you've done it before in your in your
Speaker 1: previous previous role, but certainly just seeing seeing the guys
Speaker 1: this week and just just the general it's a real
Speaker 1: air of enthusiasm this week, and not even two days
Speaker 1: in London can damp that well. I thought an interesting
Speaker 1: part of this week was so you mentioned Tepper going
Speaker 1: to the pubs and there were a couple of pub
Speaker 1: parties and we weren't. We weren't there, but I heard
Speaker 1: that we are. We didn't get to go. Um just kidding,
Speaker 1: We went and um one of at the first pub,
Speaker 1: the bear Boy and Banker, there was this group of
Speaker 1: guys there that we're not Panther fans at all. They
Speaker 1: just happened to go, but they stayed like at the party.
Speaker 1: I mean, they were Panther fans. Everywhere. The music was
Speaker 1: extremely loud. People were yelling keep pounding, and I was
Speaker 1: trying to look at it from their perspective of they're
Speaker 1: they're not Panther fans. They don't get the sweet Caroline thing.
Speaker 1: They don't get to keep pounding that there. You know,
Speaker 1: wired so many drunk Americans in this pub right now,
Speaker 1: you know, looking around, But it was they were fascinated
Speaker 1: with this, just like the world of the NFL. And
Speaker 1: of course they know the emblem and they were kind
Speaker 1: of getting into it. But I mean, the three of
Speaker 1: them were just sitting back at a boost just looking out,
Speaker 1: and I thought that was just really interesting because that
Speaker 1: would never happen in the US. They you know, that
Speaker 1: would everyone's kind of used to this football world, and yes,
Speaker 1: it is like you get wrapped up in it. But
Speaker 1: I thought, what an interesting perspective that they have right now,
Speaker 1: that this team that they've really probably maybe have heard
Speaker 1: of but they're not fans of that have taken over
Speaker 1: their normal Friday Saturday night pub. I just imagine those
Speaker 1: guys showing up and thinking it was going to be
Speaker 1: a normal day and then being like, what is happenings
Speaker 1: going on right now? We picked a very strange day
Speaker 1: to have a pintier. But yeah, I mean I think
Speaker 1: I was blown away with like just the passion we
Speaker 1: saw last night. I mean, I think that's the thing
Speaker 1: I've always loved about the Premier League is the pageantry
Speaker 1: and the passion that the fans have for their clubs.
Speaker 1: And I think, yeah, if we're going to continue with
Speaker 1: this theme of the three random guys who were at
Speaker 1: that pub last night, I imagine they looked at that
Speaker 1: and we're like, yeah, I mean this, this is the
Speaker 1: passion that we would see for for Chelsea for Arsenal
Speaker 1: for Tottenham. That same sort of fervent passion exists for
Speaker 1: the Carolina Panthers fan base in the NFL. But inter
Speaker 1: you say that. So, I went to my very first
Speaker 1: Panthers game preseason a year ago and before officially was
Speaker 1: involved with the organization and sat there was a Friday
Speaker 1: night game. It was against the Dolphins, and I felt
Speaker 1: like I was going to somebody else's party. It was amazing.
Speaker 1: It was like I can come out to UK and
Speaker 1: described to people it was a Friday night and you
Speaker 1: had everybody just celebrating and the working week they was
Speaker 1: celebrating together. And instead of having this guy with a
Speaker 1: funny accent and going WHOA, who are you? You have
Speaker 1: people literally handing me beer and boj Angles. Is that beautiful?
Speaker 1: That was my That was my first experience boe Angles
Speaker 1: and a British accent. Could we hear that again? No?
Speaker 1: I think that really is like the cool part though
Speaker 1: of when I came over in sixteen, and that was
Speaker 1: when they did the big fan fest on Regent Street
Speaker 1: and it was our first experience because we were saying,
Speaker 1: about an hour and a half outside of London, so
Speaker 1: that was our first chance of going to central London
Speaker 1: and seeing, you know, all the buildings that you see
Speaker 1: when you look up London on Google. So everyone, you know,
Speaker 1: we're looking around like, oh my gosh. And then you
Speaker 1: pop out on Regent Street and there are jerseys from
Speaker 1: every single NFL team, and like a person might have
Speaker 1: on a jersey from one team and a hat from another,
Speaker 1: like they're just excited to be around the NFL. But
Speaker 1: then when you end up talking to these fans, they're
Speaker 1: extremely knowledgeable about the game, and it's not so much
Speaker 1: about their team per se, but about the game. And
Speaker 1: I spoke to a couple of fans last night that
Speaker 1: are from London and they were at the pub and
Speaker 1: I said, do you might be after my job? I
Speaker 1: mean they knew more people like where they were, you know,
Speaker 1: where they're from, where they went to college, how they play,
Speaker 1: and and it was just simple questions of you know,
Speaker 1: who's your favorite panther We were trying to do just
Speaker 1: like this fun. Oh you've been at this pub for
Speaker 1: many hours drinking, let's ask you some puny questions. No,
Speaker 1: they wentn't straight into like here's who this guy is,
Speaker 1: Here's how he's played this year, here's you know. I
Speaker 1: just I was blown away by the knowledge. This after
Speaker 1: the Place sixt event with the kids from Harrow School.
Speaker 1: I assume that they had pretty limited knowledge of the
Speaker 1: of the roster, right, I mean that was just an assumption. Um, sure,
Speaker 1: Cam and Christian. But I figured I was like, I
Speaker 1: wonder how many players these kids actually know. So I
Speaker 1: went up to one of the kids and was just like,
Speaker 1: do you know any of the Panthers players, and expecting
Speaker 1: him to, you know, have pretty limited knowledge. And he
Speaker 1: turns to me and he goes, um, yeah, I know
Speaker 1: quite a bit of the plays. And he was like,
Speaker 1: first name a kid you not? He goes, you know Alexama,
Speaker 1: you know, the fullback And I looked at him and
Speaker 1: I was like, oh damn. I was like, I've made
Speaker 1: I've made a grave mistake. That was like apologies. You know.
Speaker 1: I was blown away that he, of all the names
Speaker 1: to rattle off, rattles up. I mean, that would be
Speaker 1: like Paul, that would be like me if somebody asked
Speaker 1: me who I knew, you know, played for Tattenham, and
Speaker 1: I rattled off like the guy who's never listed in
Speaker 1: the squad, who was the bottom of it? I was.
Speaker 1: I was shocked that he pulled that out. One guy
Speaker 1: told me his favorite UM players Ray Ray McLeod and
Speaker 1: I was like, that was my reaction. I was like,
Speaker 1: Ray Rays wonderful, but he's not our poster child, like
Speaker 1: where he's not on any tickets, he's not on any
Speaker 1: team on the team, he doesn't have an amazing name though.
Speaker 1: That was it, So I said, I said why him?
Speaker 1: And then this, you know, very British like James was
Speaker 1: his there or something. He was like, well, all of
Speaker 1: our names over here are like John, Paul, James. It's
Speaker 1: wrong with Paul, absolutely nothing, but it is not Ray
Speaker 1: rag okay so and he said that it's just such
Speaker 1: a fun name that when they were looking at the roster,
Speaker 1: like his name is Ray and I don't know. Yes, yes,
Speaker 1: so you mentioned actually mentioned Tottenham, which is that's how
Speaker 1: I say it, which confused everybody. So tomorrow we get
Speaker 1: to play in some incredible stadium six or two thousand,
Speaker 1: I think about a thousand more than than Arsenal, which
Speaker 1: if if any of you understand the if anybody understands
Speaker 1: the dynamics of just a little more founding Premier League,
Speaker 1: that they would they would get it um. It's an
Speaker 1: incredible facility. Was open in April's lucky enough to go
Speaker 1: to its opening night and then see it first time
Speaker 1: set up for the NFL UM. I was here with
Speaker 1: with f A and Marrow Addison in July. And I
Speaker 1: think for the players who get to see if they
Speaker 1: get to see it later on on the Saturday for
Speaker 1: the first time as we do a walk through, it's
Speaker 1: an incredible all place to play their game. So I
Speaker 1: think the biggest concern for the organization coming over wars Okay,
Speaker 1: are we going to be able to perform out here,
Speaker 1: you know, because we're here to win us first and
Speaker 1: for Ace, we're here to win, and I think the
Speaker 1: stadium is going to give the players the best opportunity
Speaker 1: to shine. You know. CMC could have one of those
Speaker 1: days tomorrow where we all just go, yep, he's MPPs.
Speaker 1: Don't know about he's just the m v P. But
Speaker 1: the facilities are fantastic and our fans, you know, there's
Speaker 1: three thousands of them. We know we're here, there's many
Speaker 1: many more we don't know about, and we're so looking
Speaker 1: forward tomorrow just to see a sea of blue and black.
Speaker 1: And I think it's just gonna be, you know, but
Speaker 1: people often talk to me about the atmosphere of going
Speaker 1: to a going to an NFL game, and there are
Speaker 1: certain moments of going to Bank of America Stadium, you know,
Speaker 1: some big key moments. He saw against the Jags last week.
Speaker 1: You know that there were some big moments in that game.
Speaker 1: The noise, and we generate the stadium the way it's
Speaker 1: designed and built, designed to keep all the noise inside.
Speaker 1: And so if we which I know we were at
Speaker 1: certain points during the game tomorrow, our fans will make
Speaker 1: that noise. It will certainly just have an impact on us,
Speaker 1: but also on the players, will be a great impact.
Speaker 1: And I know we're officially the awayside, it doesn't feel
Speaker 1: like it, do you do you feel like some of
Speaker 1: the London fans, the fans that are just here that
Speaker 1: might be wearing various jerseys seeing the Panther fan further,
Speaker 1: will they kind of pick a side or will they
Speaker 1: continue to just kind of cheer from everything? Well, we
Speaker 1: do have the We do have the the other brit
Speaker 1: and the Panthers, which is this incredible story. And you guys,
Speaker 1: you guys know FA and you know what what a
Speaker 1: just a nice gentle giant he is and his story
Speaker 1: is clearly resonated here. So you know, you would hope
Speaker 1: that that the fans who are going to game be
Speaker 1: the Eagles fans, Patriot fans, Ryans, fans, whoever they are,
Speaker 1: that they go there and they're cheering for the brit
Speaker 1: and he happens when playing for us. So you know,
Speaker 1: one would hope that that that that works. Who works,
Speaker 1: who are our advantage? And outside of that, it's the
Speaker 1: same thing of you know, people like the stars. So
Speaker 1: we mentioned Christian La. Everyone knows this guy's star and
Speaker 1: you know they'll be as he runs tomorrow and does
Speaker 1: you know got numerous numerous, numerous first downs and hopefully
Speaker 1: a couple of touchdowns that you know, the celebration for
Speaker 1: him because everyone knows they're seeing something and somebody special
Speaker 1: and that will resonate. It's you know, it's like when
Speaker 1: Messi comes to the US. You know, people want to
Speaker 1: see the big guys do amazing things. Especially with Christian
Speaker 1: flipping over a dude for a touchdown last week. I mean,
Speaker 1: he couldn't be a bigger star right now. The f
Speaker 1: A thing is gonna be fascinating though. F A has
Speaker 1: a flair for their dramatic last year, his first ever
Speaker 1: first ever game action a sack and an interception. He
Speaker 1: hasn't had quite their production since, but you just sort
Speaker 1: of have a feeling that with everything charged up into this,
Speaker 1: if he were to make a big play, I mean,
Speaker 1: what an amazing moment it would be. I think we're
Speaker 1: all just sort oferst cross that he does and has
Speaker 1: that chance to do something special because what I mean,
Speaker 1: what good just what the story would write itself out
Speaker 1: of it. So I think it's amazing story for for
Speaker 1: for the game and actually just shows you how powerful
Speaker 1: this game is and actually the impact of it all.
Speaker 1: And in July they launch the NFL Academy, which is
Speaker 1: in the UK, which is that they're the starting point
Speaker 1: to try and create a halfway for the next generation
Speaker 1: of a to come through because his story is so
Speaker 1: unique that what the NFL quite rightly of understood is
Speaker 1: there's a huge amount of talent here and people just
Speaker 1: love the game. So how do we harness that talent,
Speaker 1: how do we how do we create that next generation
Speaker 1: of international start be they from Europe, be they from
Speaker 1: other parts of the world. I think the intern internationalization
Speaker 1: of the of the NFL is is something that's it's
Speaker 1: quite fascinating to see um and now working and and
Speaker 1: understand it because it comes down to the game, and
Speaker 1: the game is just amazing. The games are an amazing
Speaker 1: game of strategy. And I think this is what so
Speaker 1: many people friends of mine have grown up and actually
Speaker 1: love the they realize that's what it is. And that's
Speaker 1: where it's different from the premier league and different from
Speaker 1: our from our football is the strategy and the moments
Speaker 1: that you get in the in the in the NFL outstanding.
Speaker 1: You know, there's big free into form one moments where
Speaker 1: you know that this is this is it. You feel
Speaker 1: the suspense and just just building up. Yeah, this is
Speaker 1: a very different game in that way, you know. Whereas
Speaker 1: your football is a continuous action, you know, and there
Speaker 1: are tactics before the game and at halftime, in the NFL,
Speaker 1: every play is dialed up from a guy up in
Speaker 1: the boot, you know. Norv is literally you know, telling
Speaker 1: his guys what he wants them to do before each snap.
Speaker 1: So this, the strategy element is is a very big
Speaker 1: difference in this and the fact of course that there's
Speaker 1: only maybe one or two goals scored in in your
Speaker 1: football versus hopefully some more points to give people something
Speaker 1: to cheer about on Sunday. Yeah, it is a it
Speaker 1: has been a very cool trip to to see, you know,
Speaker 1: the passion from the fans, not only Panther fans that
Speaker 1: have traveled over, but fans that are he or And
Speaker 1: I do want to give a shout out on here
Speaker 1: to Panther nation, who travels extremely extremely well. I've noticed
Speaker 1: that just on normal road games, but the amount of
Speaker 1: fans that you know, like last night, yes, there were
Speaker 1: the two parties and so a lot of Panther fans
Speaker 1: were decked out in their their gear, but even afterwards
Speaker 1: we're leaving, the parties were at other pubs and other bars,
Speaker 1: and you're still seeing Panther fans. Like that's when you
Speaker 1: know that there's just so many, because you'll walk into
Speaker 1: a random, you know place in London and there's you know,
Speaker 1: six Panther fans standing in the back. And so I
Speaker 1: am interested in kind of what you said, well of
Speaker 1: when other people see the passion of Panther fans, like
Speaker 1: that's something that when you're trying to find your team
Speaker 1: and you may not be connected to a team yet,
Speaker 1: like wanting to be a part of that and having
Speaker 1: Fay on the team. Um, it has been a really
Speaker 1: really neat experience because when I did come in twixteen,
Speaker 1: it wasn't this big of a fan base that traveled.
Speaker 1: Like I I've been turning to people this whole time
Speaker 1: and be like, are you kidding me? How? What? Like?
Speaker 1: Even at the airport when we landed with the team,
Speaker 1: they were you know, the charters and the it literally
Speaker 1: looked like Panthers had fans had just all taken over
Speaker 1: you know, American Airlines and flown into what I mean
Speaker 1: it was. It was unbelievable and has been really really quiet,
Speaker 1: and we're all really excited for this game. Being like,
Speaker 1: for you guys, just on a practical basis, you went
Speaker 1: to Harrow school man for to to practice sessions. What
Speaker 1: was that Like? I got a unique experience there because
Speaker 1: with the practice fields number one are unbelievable. We we
Speaker 1: drive in and I think everyone was like, what, like
Speaker 1: this is a school like a high school, you know what.
Speaker 1: These fields are amazing facilities. But then someone was like, well,
Speaker 1: this isn't the norm. This is like a very very
Speaker 1: very nice school. So but we didn't know anything about it,
Speaker 1: you know, and so the practice fields are are great, uh,
Speaker 1: and the facilities. But then we went on a tour.
Speaker 1: Four of us during practice. I mean, we've seen a
Speaker 1: lot of football, so we thought, let's walk around and
Speaker 1: see the school because they had mentioned this is like
Speaker 1: a Harry Potter type school. So we hear that and
Speaker 1: then we're going on the tour and the first thing
Speaker 1: she says to us is, well, we'll we'll end in
Speaker 1: the Harry Potter room. And we were and we were like, wait,
Speaker 1: there's really a Harry Potter room because oh yeah, they
Speaker 1: filmed here, like in one of the rooms. And so
Speaker 1: I was like, oh my gosh, Like okay, So we
Speaker 1: walk around and there's a photo gallery on Panthers dot
Speaker 1: com and I mean really it was like history. Like
Speaker 1: he walked in uh different rooms, and like one of
Speaker 1: the rooms I recognized as soon as the door opened.
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, they filmed the Crown here. I
Speaker 1: got I know this room. And then you know, she's like, well,
Speaker 1: you know, yes, they did film the Crown here. But
Speaker 1: this is also rumored to be where Whitston Churchill gave
Speaker 1: his never given speech. Um, there's no photos of it,
Speaker 1: and so you can't you know historically verify that, but
Speaker 1: went in. Churchill went to the school, him and his brother,
Speaker 1: and so they you know, this is where the speech happened.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was just we don't have anything close
Speaker 1: to what we were experiencing of that and then you
Speaker 1: walk in like pride and the Prejudice was shot at
Speaker 1: the school and the Harry Potter room. It really was
Speaker 1: we we love thinking. I hope they had a great
Speaker 1: practice because that tour was just unbelievable. The history. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, in the States, we we can look, I'm
Speaker 1: already saying in the States, however, it was that that
Speaker 1: was good, right, thank you, thank you. But in the States,
Speaker 1: you know, well we'll say, you know, in the nineteenth
Speaker 1: century and all these this school was founded sixty years before,
Speaker 1: like a hundred years before the United States was even
Speaker 1: like discovered. Like it's so the history is just unbelievable.
Speaker 1: And it's not like a museum where you can't touch anything.
Speaker 1: I mean, she's like, yeah, go stand behind the podium,
Speaker 1: go it. And you know, the school when it first
Speaker 1: opened was just one room and there was like each
Speaker 1: corner of the room was a class and they would
Speaker 1: sit with their chalkboards and face the wall, and against
Speaker 1: the wall there was like a chair that faced it
Speaker 1: was more like a booth like you kind of sit in,
Speaker 1: and then there's a table in front of you, and
Speaker 1: you could see where the teacher had like hit the
Speaker 1: you know whatever the pin of the point like on
Speaker 1: the wood to where they had like chipped away at
Speaker 1: the wood of like and and the she pointed out,
Speaker 1: she was I don't think I would want this teacher,
Speaker 1: because apparently they got very mad a lot because they're
Speaker 1: the thing and you can sit there and you can
Speaker 1: touch it, and you can, you know, touch where Winston
Speaker 1: Churchill etched his name into the wall, and it was
Speaker 1: just it really was a fascinating tour to see. And
Speaker 1: then that we met the I'm not I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: remember his exact name, but he was the master of keys,
Speaker 1: like that was his his role, and so he was
Speaker 1: the disciplinary for the boys in the morning. It was
Speaker 1: all boys school. He would of the disciplinary in the morning.
Speaker 1: And then he actually carried all the keys to the school.
Speaker 1: So if you wanted to go, like we wanted to
Speaker 1: go into this room that was locked, well we had
Speaker 1: to go find that the him to get the key
Speaker 1: to go into and he was very like a dressed
Speaker 1: to the nines, and he keeps all the boys making
Speaker 1: sure that they're in their uniforms correctly with their hats,
Speaker 1: and it was I just had to kind of like
Speaker 1: keep looking Bill. Bill was there, and if Bill and
Speaker 1: I we can't be serious about anything. I mean, we
Speaker 1: kept looking at each other like and seen like, alright,
Speaker 1: great job everyone. That was a great scene. We'll run
Speaker 1: this back like it felt like a movie. Just there
Speaker 1: is no equivalent to that in the States, and it
Speaker 1: was just it was a fascinating day of practice. I'm
Speaker 1: sure practice was great as well. Have you have you
Speaker 1: found transport in London? And the reason why the reason
Speaker 1: why I say that is having spent the last year
Speaker 1: in Charlotte, most people telling me referencing the bad traffic
Speaker 1: I seven, et cetera, and just you know, think the
Speaker 1: chaos of trying to travel into up town. Now you
Speaker 1: guys have to sample in London for the last few days.
Speaker 1: How's it being Well, I've tried to get on the
Speaker 1: tube and I still haven't actually gotten into the tube
Speaker 1: correctly yet. Can't get the ticket to work. I can't
Speaker 1: We couldn't get the ticket to work. And then when
Speaker 1: I tried to buy a ticket, couldn't get any of
Speaker 1: my credit cards to work. And so literally I've gone
Speaker 1: on the two maybe six times, and each time I've
Speaker 1: just had someone swipe in I'm gonna take you on
Speaker 1: the tube like today, Will, Like this could not happen
Speaker 1: to a better person. Where there's a group of us
Speaker 1: going through the tube, like everyone gets through just fine,
Speaker 1: Like they just bought we bought like twelve cards for everybody,
Speaker 1: and in one transaction the one card that I got it, yes,
Speaker 1: and and and everyone's kind of walking through and it's
Speaker 1: like where's Will, And he's back and he's frustray to
Speaker 1: try to pick we still, man, I mean we just
Speaker 1: die laughing, like of course it's Will that can't get
Speaker 1: through with this card. But I was amazed that the
Speaker 1: attendance at each station, until you know, at all hours
Speaker 1: of the day and night, we're just there and like, yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: come on, very kind. It's just any way you can try,
Speaker 1: anyway you get around the traffic. And otherwise it was
Speaker 1: at one point, you say, trying to get out of
Speaker 1: Central on this trying to come to to practice yesterday, Um,
Speaker 1: we we just stopped turned around because it's gonna take
Speaker 1: us an hour and five and I'm just not gonna
Speaker 1: work it. Really, even coming from the airport here, I
Speaker 1: mean getting getting out of the traffic there and being
Speaker 1: an NFL team, you get very spoiled with police escorts everywhere.
Speaker 1: They do not do police escorts here, and so that
Speaker 1: was very funny. And when we realize how spoiled we are,
Speaker 1: I mean we're like, where's the escort? Like what come up, Paul?
Speaker 1: That we are not getting an escort, you know, to
Speaker 1: get through this traffic, but they do not do police
Speaker 1: police escorts here, and so that it really has been
Speaker 1: a I mean we were looking at ubering down to
Speaker 1: central London and it was like, Okay, that's gonna take
Speaker 1: an hour and fifteen. Or you know that there's a
Speaker 1: train leaving every what ten minutes here in every twelve minutes.
Speaker 1: You get on it and you'll be down there in
Speaker 1: forty five minutes, and it Yeah, it's nice. The tube
Speaker 1: is actually extremely like it's not New York subway. It is.
Speaker 1: It's nicer than the New York subway. It felt a
Speaker 1: little bit like DC. I don't know if you guys
Speaker 1: have been on the DC Metro compare, but it gets
Speaker 1: very crowded, very very Yeah. When where we are and Wingley,
Speaker 1: it was I mean we got on we with a
Speaker 1: whole car to ourselves and then we're thinking, gosh, this
Speaker 1: is fantastic. Now by the time we were down in
Speaker 1: central London, I mean there were there were we were
Speaker 1: sitting down, there were many butts. And Max took a
Speaker 1: great picture of Rob Yes with this gigantic camera bag
Speaker 1: holding it like a child. It was fantastic. So many
Speaker 1: people just right up against him. He's got this giant
Speaker 1: camera bag like pressed up against his chest. Is that
Speaker 1: was pretty great? Well, we do need to talk a
Speaker 1: little bit of football instead of just talking about magic
Speaker 1: and Harry Potter and all the things here and because
Speaker 1: there is a game, and like Paul said that the
Speaker 1: number one thing that we've heard from this team is
Speaker 1: you have to win. This trip will be spoiled if
Speaker 1: if the end is you lose in your back on
Speaker 1: the plane home. So Tampa got here a day later
Speaker 1: than the Panthers did, which good luck advantage Panthers, right,
Speaker 1: And I think definitely advantaged Panthers because I don't know
Speaker 1: if you can tell I'm not as enthusiastic on this podcast.
Speaker 1: So whoever doesn't like when I'm very loud, you're welcome.
Speaker 1: This is this is your podcast, because the jet lack
Speaker 1: is real. The jet lag, that's what it is. The
Speaker 1: jet lack is real because you want to go. I
Speaker 1: don't appreciate the laughter. It's you know, it's you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's a yeah, lack of good rest. It's
Speaker 1: a lack of good rest. Lack of good rests celebrating
Speaker 1: with the Panther fans that are here so full experience. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we activated, Yes, a lot of a lot of activation.
Speaker 1: But back to the sleep, because that's the big thing
Speaker 1: that the first night that we were here, I was
Speaker 1: so tired at dinner, like I I would have curled
Speaker 1: up in the booth and just gone to bed. But
Speaker 1: then we get back and I'm wide awake and I
Speaker 1: don't go to bed until three am, even though I'm trying,
Speaker 1: Like I was in bed around midnight and could not
Speaker 1: could not fall asleep until three. Last night was more
Speaker 1: of a voluntary stay awake until three because the activating
Speaker 1: of the panther areva um. So I don't I'm not
Speaker 1: sure what today might be Saturday Saturday. It is Saturday,
Speaker 1: and I'm not sure what time it is right now,
Speaker 1: but I do think the players do. I think the
Speaker 1: players are well adjusted, and I think to your point,
Speaker 1: they have an advantage over Tampa Bay, who got in
Speaker 1: a day later. And that's all at the end of
Speaker 1: the day. That's what this is about, right, trying to
Speaker 1: beat the Bucks when they were your matchup in week two.
Speaker 1: I think Carolina has done a really good job of
Speaker 1: trying to make this as routine as possible. I mean,
Speaker 1: some of the guys have gone sightseeing, but a lot
Speaker 1: of like Christian tool Us the other day, he was like, dude,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm not doing anything. I'm just getting prepared for
Speaker 1: Sunday here to win a game. So I feel like
Speaker 1: you're gonna see a very well prepared, business like Panthers
Speaker 1: team at Tottenham on Sunday, and they're gonna have to
Speaker 1: be good because this Bucks team has given teams problems
Speaker 1: all the year. They gave the Saints a game last
Speaker 1: week they went destroyed l A put up fifty five points.
Speaker 1: Uh So this is this is going to be a
Speaker 1: challenge and in the division game, this is when you've
Speaker 1: got to have him. You don't want to get swept
Speaker 1: by a division arrival this early in the season. We'll
Speaker 1: have to see how Dante Jackson is coming back, you know,
Speaker 1: miss the last two games with the injury. You know,
Speaker 1: Tampa's vertical passing games what we've heard about all week
Speaker 1: with with Godwin and Evans, and you know there are
Speaker 1: there were times last week when Ross Cockwell was close,
Speaker 1: but you know he got beat a little bit, you know,
Speaker 1: d J Chark and how does how does Dante's presence,
Speaker 1: you know, how does that then change the nickel with
Speaker 1: Ross back in the nickel um And so that's gonna
Speaker 1: be about test form. Yeah, it's been interesting to look
Speaker 1: at the different schedules of the team where you know,
Speaker 1: the Panthers it was they got in that that day earlier,
Speaker 1: but then you know it was you're gonna get up
Speaker 1: and we're gonna go to practice earlier that. The Bucks
Speaker 1: have been practicing in the after They practice in the
Speaker 1: afternoon on Friday. Today again their schedule is pushed back
Speaker 1: a little bit. But that game is a it's not
Speaker 1: a late game here, you know, I mean back in
Speaker 1: in the States, of course, it's nine thirty. Everyone waking
Speaker 1: up and having brunch and watching the Panthers. But I'm
Speaker 1: interested to just see how is that going to play
Speaker 1: a factor. And it is hard because when when we
Speaker 1: were here in with the Colts, the adjustment was different.
Speaker 1: You couldn't quite They took a little bit of a
Speaker 1: later approach as well, um, and it was just it
Speaker 1: was a tough, a tough adjustment. I think it was
Speaker 1: tougher than it is now with with the players figuring
Speaker 1: it out, getting here day earlier, getting not getting up
Speaker 1: and moving like you're seeing guys at nine and ten o'clock.
Speaker 1: They're up and moving when you know that's the middle
Speaker 1: of the night back at home. Um. So it will
Speaker 1: definitely play, But like coach Riveria said, both teams are
Speaker 1: doing it. There is no like we think it's an
Speaker 1: advantage that the Panther has gotten here a day earlier,
Speaker 1: But we have no idea. They will find out as
Speaker 1: soon as they kick the ball, all right, I mean, curiously,
Speaker 1: who starts faster? Honestly, I think that'll that'll be a
Speaker 1: test early on to see which team comes out the
Speaker 1: gates stronger. I mean, my key to this really is
Speaker 1: con Christian get going. His worst game by far was
Speaker 1: against the Buccaneers in Week two at sixteen carries for
Speaker 1: thirty seven yards. This Buccaneers run defense is number one
Speaker 1: in the NFL and yards allowed per per attempt. They're good,
Speaker 1: They're They're good at stap in the run. Carolina wants
Speaker 1: to run the ball. I mean, that's been their key
Speaker 1: of success. There's been no secret they've hitched their wagon
Speaker 1: to twenty two and the m v P of the
Speaker 1: league so far has been carrying him. Can he do
Speaker 1: it again Sunday? Are they gonna be able to find
Speaker 1: ways to get him into some open space in the
Speaker 1: run game? Big challenge for the offensive line? She kill
Speaker 1: Barrett had three sacks in that week to match up.
Speaker 1: How are they going to handle him this time around?
Speaker 1: That's what I'm looking for Carolina's offense. Paul, what's your
Speaker 1: kee of the game? And you meant it was with CMC.
Speaker 1: If we go back to that Thursday night game, it
Speaker 1: was so noticeable that it was the first game in
Speaker 1: over a year that I that I've seen where he
Speaker 1: did not have that impact, And so I had to
Speaker 1: hats off to the Bucks. The way the way they
Speaker 1: played that played that night, You've definitely got a sense
Speaker 1: if you think about you know that Friday morning we
Speaker 1: woke up, we were owing to to where we are now.
Speaker 1: It's different sense in this organization, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: And you can even send some from the guys this
Speaker 1: week that this game is so important because it is
Speaker 1: the Bucks, because they felt that night they let themselves down.
Speaker 1: I mean everyone that they sent that d down and signed.
Speaker 1: So this is why you can sense that extra there's
Speaker 1: an extra need, want, desire to win this game. So
Speaker 1: to your point, he's gonna start faster. I think this
Speaker 1: is where the Panther fans and you know everyone's gonna
Speaker 1: listening to this and fans were here help us out tomorrow.
Speaker 1: You know, we this can be our home game if
Speaker 1: we if we work really hard, which I know you
Speaker 1: guys will have been just just seen the scenes of
Speaker 1: the last twenty four hours, and so we'll start fast.
Speaker 1: I'm hoping because the combination of the stadium are fans,
Speaker 1: the noise, our team will be ready. And to your point,
Speaker 1: the fact they've been here a day earlier, the fact
Speaker 1: that they're just getting used to the being in this climate.
Speaker 1: It does take you twenty four hours to start to
Speaker 1: get used to it. Um, you know, quietly confident for tomorrow.
Speaker 1: Quite the confidence coming from the bridge. It's nappy Americans
Speaker 1: all the time. Yeah. I spent a long period of
Speaker 1: time around Mr Tepper oh Man. Well, what's something that
Speaker 1: you know, we hear CMC and all these things. But
Speaker 1: the defense. I think Tim Bay has had this offense
Speaker 1: that no one really saw coming, like which like hanging
Speaker 1: a lot of points out. How different is this defense
Speaker 1: from the first time that they saw him in Week two?
Speaker 1: Because you're talking about the sack Street boys, they were
Speaker 1: not a group the pass rush. Over the last three
Speaker 1: I mean, since the Tampa Bay game, Carolina has led
Speaker 1: the league in sacks. And it's not just the sacks.
Speaker 1: It's the big plays, it's the strip sacks, it's the
Speaker 1: forced fumbles, it's the I mean last week Brian Burns
Speaker 1: with a touchdown, Like they're scoring points off the defense,
Speaker 1: and how important that is to kind of take some
Speaker 1: pressure off of Kyle Allen. I think in a way,
Speaker 1: you know, he doesn't feel like he has to go
Speaker 1: out there and score every drive or he's got to
Speaker 1: go eight yards and put a ten play scoring drive together.
Speaker 1: That this defense can can do some of that lifting
Speaker 1: on its own. Now, that's a lot to ask a defense,
Speaker 1: but they they feel like they should go out there
Speaker 1: and get a strip sack every play. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: literally what this defensive line is feeling right now. That's
Speaker 1: their vibe and and that that's one of those kind
Speaker 1: of special sort of things when you get that group
Speaker 1: of people together. Bruce Servants now back Coach Rivera talked
Speaker 1: about his influence yesterday and just is he might not
Speaker 1: have the stats already, but when he's out in the field,
Speaker 1: it's just like we're gonna go wreck somebody because Bruce
Speaker 1: Servants right next to me. You know. I thought that
Speaker 1: was interesting because you put him in the same category
Speaker 1: as Trey Turner for the offensive line, and everyone knows
Speaker 1: how you know, he's the captain. He everyone knows the
Speaker 1: influence that Trey has now with the new way that
Speaker 1: that offensive line looks, and he was saying that that's
Speaker 1: what Bruce Servant is to the defensive line, which I
Speaker 1: think that was like an under the radar thing that
Speaker 1: I know, I didn't I didn't necessarily see, especially with
Speaker 1: him being injured and not not being out there and
Speaker 1: them still being a you know, as productive as they are,
Speaker 1: we're doing the offensive line to Tray Turners still not
Speaker 1: in there. You're going to see the same five guys
Speaker 1: that we saw, you know, last week, and I think
Speaker 1: it's actually it's going to be great for them. You
Speaker 1: want some guys back, obviously, and you hate the injuries
Speaker 1: on the offensive line, but to have two weeks together
Speaker 1: is going to be really really big for this offense.
Speaker 1: They've had five different offensive line combinations. They're finally going
Speaker 1: to get some continuity here and be able to do
Speaker 1: that again. But um, it is interesting too. I think
Speaker 1: the guys that travel that are injured and and and
Speaker 1: that's not normal people like when when when guys are
Speaker 1: injured and you're going on a trip this long, and
Speaker 1: it's you know, maybe they're gonna stay back and they're
Speaker 1: they're gonna, you know, just focus on getting better there.
Speaker 1: But I think what's interesting about this team is now
Speaker 1: you're traveling, your trade Turner, you know, you're you're traveling.
Speaker 1: Great little is here and it's good to see that
Speaker 1: that maybe they are getting closer and that's why you
Speaker 1: bring up But I think too, it's just this team
Speaker 1: and the way that they get along and the time
Speaker 1: that they spend together. Ron talks about that a lot
Speaker 1: of they just they like each other and they like
Speaker 1: to hang out. And when you have the downtime that
Speaker 1: you do here and and you're not gonna wander out
Speaker 1: or they can't run home quickly. You know, between this
Speaker 1: this downtime in between meetings that you're allowing them to
Speaker 1: spend time together here and experience this together and seeing
Speaker 1: the team. So it is gonna be another big matchup.
Speaker 1: I think it's so interesting how different this Panthers team
Speaker 1: is versus the you know, week to Thursday night game, um,
Speaker 1: and then everything else that's different about this road trip.
Speaker 1: This is not a normal Everything is different than the
Speaker 1: first time that they played the Bucks. But I now
Speaker 1: have to have Paul signed us off. You brought us
Speaker 1: in this podcast. I feel like you're going to have
Speaker 1: to set the scene for us of for the game
Speaker 1: of what people can expect, and we'll say bye at
Speaker 1: the end of it. Ladies and gentlemen of Panthers Nation.
Speaker 1: This is going to be an amazing day. Sunday, October
Speaker 1: sixty two thousand five people in the Tommam Hotspur Stadium,
Speaker 1: sixty two thousands of which we supporting the Carolina Panthers,
Speaker 1: this is our day. Keep pounding, goodbye, bye,