Speaker 1: You've been added to the group chat with your friends
Speaker 1: Caroline can, Max Enson, and Will Brian. Human history has
Speaker 1: been shaped by courageous departure Italian explorer Christopher Columbus across
Speaker 1: the Atlantic, Lewis and Clark through the Louisiana Purchase, Babe
Speaker 1: Ruth from the Red Sox to the Yankees, the Beatles
Speaker 1: from Liverpool to the States, and David Tepper from Goldman
Speaker 1: Sachs to Appolus. Change is difficult, but it's often necessary
Speaker 1: for real growth, and so, like the monarch caterpillar becoming
Speaker 1: a butterfly, today we celebrate the courageous departure of Caroline
Speaker 1: Can a k A c C and Max Henson a
Speaker 1: k A Max Henson. These two colorful, talented young adult
Speaker 1: links have touched us all, but they've grown wings and
Speaker 1: now it's time for them to fall on. I'm mcmixon,
Speaker 1: Welcome to a historic group chat. That was everything I
Speaker 1: hope that was gonna be it more and more. We
Speaker 1: knew that this news could not come from us. We
Speaker 1: needed someone to come in and and make it special,
Speaker 1: and Mick, you nailed it. You did that for us.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I feel before we got it here, I
Speaker 1: was like, you know, Mickey, you know you prepared something right,
Speaker 1: And he was like, no, I don't believe in preparation.
Speaker 1: And I was like okay, then, like you know, I
Speaker 1: guess he maybe he just does this stuff just completely
Speaker 1: off the top of his head. And then of course
Speaker 1: we were as soon as we get ready to record,
Speaker 1: outcomes a notebook and he's got some words written. And
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, this is gonna be good when
Speaker 1: you get to be my age that your cognition is
Speaker 1: not what it what it once was. But I'm gonna
Speaker 1: miss you guys. Thank you for having me on the
Speaker 1: show and w B, it's good to see you. This
Speaker 1: is kind of sad. I mean, it's a little melancholy.
Speaker 1: You guys have have been amazing. And CC when she
Speaker 1: for came in, um, I think, um she and I
Speaker 1: kind of identified with one another right away. That that,
Speaker 1: and I loved how she's a curious minded individual. She's
Speaker 1: a gifted interviewer. She listens like a Rottweiler terrier and
Speaker 1: you know on air talent though is really rare. But
Speaker 1: in my mind, when I learned more about Caroline and
Speaker 1: how the kind of thought she puts into relationships and
Speaker 1: gift giving and and she thinks of other people first.
Speaker 1: And that's a rare quality in our business. And the
Speaker 1: legend of Maximilian Jay Henson. My golly man. He he
Speaker 1: came in just a little skinny, scrawny little thing. He
Speaker 1: kind of reminded me of myself, a slightly less good looking, robust,
Speaker 1: alpha male version of me. And um and Max. I've
Speaker 1: enjoyed getting to be friends and and being a coworker
Speaker 1: of you for these years. Well, I have to say
Speaker 1: I knew that you were lying when you said you
Speaker 1: didn't prepare for this, because every Saturday of away games,
Speaker 1: I would witness Meck writing his script to en up
Speaker 1: the game of the next day. This is in between
Speaker 1: cheese bites from our plane charcuterie board that we would have.
Speaker 1: But I feel privileged to have a script written in
Speaker 1: your notebook that you opened so many games with this
Speaker 1: past season. We'll put this on eBay and it will
Speaker 1: probably go for one cent or historical. I'm not affairs
Speaker 1: manager with him. Yeah, put that in the museum. So
Speaker 1: where are you where you guys? Headed to the hard
Speaker 1: What's the meaning of this? How could you do this
Speaker 1: to us? I know no one leaves the mother ship.
Speaker 1: I know it's true. Well, I don't know if you
Speaker 1: know this. I'm getting married, I know, and it's still
Speaker 1: on an um. Distance. Marriage was not something that Parks
Speaker 1: and I wanted to sign up for. So I'm heading
Speaker 1: back to Indianapolis to begin our lives together, and I'm
Speaker 1: I'm getting out of football completely. I'm well, I'm marrying football,
Speaker 1: so that's going to keep me in it. I'm not
Speaker 1: getting I'm not getting out of football the marrying it,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna I'm gonna work in the nonprofit world.
Speaker 1: So I'm starting with a new foundation in Indianapolis, and
Speaker 1: I'm excited. You're gonna make the world a better place.
Speaker 1: There's no room for that in football. So it's a
Speaker 1: good well. I always said if if I there were
Speaker 1: two ways that I was going to get out of football.
Speaker 1: One if I was having kids. I'm not there yet
Speaker 1: where we would love that one day, but this is
Speaker 1: not that day. Or if I was able to help
Speaker 1: people and do something that that is. This is a
Speaker 1: fun job, but I want to be able to go
Speaker 1: home and be fulfilled that I was able to help people.
Speaker 1: So this was this was my opportunity. So I'm taking it.
Speaker 1: So Maximilian is already Mary, So what's your excuse? I
Speaker 1: am getting out of football? Um, just kind of taking
Speaker 1: things in a little bit of a different direction here.
Speaker 1: I feel like I've had a really great run doing
Speaker 1: let's a very fun job but also a very all
Speaker 1: consuming and challenging job, and just priorities have changed a
Speaker 1: little bit for me personally, and just sort of felt
Speaker 1: this was the right time to challenge myself in something
Speaker 1: a little bit different. Um, which is hard to do
Speaker 1: because this is been so awesome and this was my
Speaker 1: my dream job was to do exactly what I'm doing
Speaker 1: right now. Um, but the dream has sort of changed,
Speaker 1: I guess it's the best way to put it. And
Speaker 1: so we say where you're going, Um, well, let's just
Speaker 1: say I'm moving into the corporate communications world, so discount
Speaker 1: corporate communication products with UM. So it'll be it'll be
Speaker 1: a different sort of pace and feel to it, for sure. UM.
Speaker 1: But I just think it's I think it's time. It's
Speaker 1: It's as hard as it might be to say, of
Speaker 1: what since you've worked here, are you most proud man? Uh? Individually,
Speaker 1: I would say in the eight years Panther fans just
Speaker 1: being able to trust that when I have something to say,
Speaker 1: it's um there's credibility to it. I think that's personally
Speaker 1: what I'm most proud of is just what I've been
Speaker 1: able to develop with the readers and fans who followed
Speaker 1: this team over eight seasons collectively. How far we've come
Speaker 1: as Digital part been from twelve to where we are
Speaker 1: now is without a doubt, what I'm most proud of.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm the only person left from the group
Speaker 1: that I walked into in everybody else has since came
Speaker 1: after um Or has left themselves, so it's changed so dramatically,
Speaker 1: And I'm super proud of the work we did in twelve.
Speaker 1: You know, that's not to say that we didn't do
Speaker 1: great work back then, but the way it's evolved, and
Speaker 1: the people that we brought in, the amount of talent,
Speaker 1: and you know, the level of just Panthers Digital is on.
Speaker 1: We've said this for a long time. We've punched above
Speaker 1: our weight for a long time, and I think a
Speaker 1: lot of people have had a hand in that. So
Speaker 1: to be a small part of it, uh, And you
Speaker 1: want to you want to leave a place better than
Speaker 1: you found it, right, And I sort of feel like
Speaker 1: I can. I can say that confidently with where this
Speaker 1: this group is at, no arguments. What about you c C.
Speaker 1: I think how quickly I don't know if it was
Speaker 1: the fan base accepting me or how I meshed with
Speaker 1: the fan base, but I was only here for not
Speaker 1: even a year, eleven months, and I feel you'll, like,
Speaker 1: I know Panther fans and that they know me, and
Speaker 1: that it wasn't just a one way streets. I think
Speaker 1: a lot of times in the media it's I never
Speaker 1: see who I'm speaking to, but they see me through
Speaker 1: social media or videos that I do or interviews, so
Speaker 1: it can sometimes feel like a one way street. But
Speaker 1: I feel really proud of the fact that I tried
Speaker 1: to get to know Panther fans quickly. I tried to
Speaker 1: answer questions. I tried to, you know, follow them on
Speaker 1: social media and see what their lives were like and
Speaker 1: and quickly get to know Panthers fans and growing up one.
Speaker 1: I think I had a bit of a leg up
Speaker 1: on that, but I'm pretty proud that I think even
Speaker 1: leaving here, people will still be invested in my life
Speaker 1: because I let them get to know me, and I
Speaker 1: got to know them and It wasn't just because on
Speaker 1: Sundays we were talking about the same thing. It was,
Speaker 1: you know, on Tuesday we were sharing you know, where
Speaker 1: we were eating or you know what what we were
Speaker 1: doing outside of just the football world. And um, I
Speaker 1: think that's I think that's rare. I think that takes
Speaker 1: a great fan base to allow me to do that.
Speaker 1: But then you know, I'm I'm proud of the way
Speaker 1: that I went about it for eleven months of doing it.
Speaker 1: What will you miss most about this? Gig h. This
Speaker 1: has been my identity for my whole life. Sports has
Speaker 1: been and from the time I was you know, playing
Speaker 1: everyone plays soccer when they're little, and then you go
Speaker 1: into high school and you still play sports, and volleyball
Speaker 1: was what I chose. So I played that at the
Speaker 1: next level in college, and then I got out and
Speaker 1: started covering sports. So I've always been able to say, oh,
Speaker 1: I'm Caroline can and I do this in sports, and
Speaker 1: sports is so easy to talk about. Everyone wants to
Speaker 1: know about it. I think what I'm going to miss
Speaker 1: and and have to find again is just what is
Speaker 1: the new identity of me? What what you know? When
Speaker 1: when people ask, oh, you know, Caroline, what do you
Speaker 1: do or you know, what do you consider? You know,
Speaker 1: whatever it is. I mean, that's been a big deal
Speaker 1: for me, and I think to put it perfectly on
Speaker 1: him and I were talking about it just last week.
Speaker 1: Of the decision to to take this next step in
Speaker 1: our careers was easy. We knew it was the right decision.
Speaker 1: Our lives are going in a different direction. But then
Speaker 1: going through the process of doing that and detaching yourself
Speaker 1: from what has been your identity for your entire life
Speaker 1: pretty much is the most difficult part. And it's gonna
Speaker 1: be hard to just watch the world continue, the world
Speaker 1: that you've worked in for so long, to just keep
Speaker 1: going full steam ahead while you've exited, because you put
Speaker 1: so much into this and you put, you know, all
Speaker 1: of your time and your effort and everything that you
Speaker 1: have into this job, and and to to step away
Speaker 1: from it is the right decision, but it's gonna be
Speaker 1: tough to to do everything you just said completely feel
Speaker 1: the same way. I would say, I'll miss just the
Speaker 1: adrenaline rush that comes with you know, whether it's something
Speaker 1: as walking into the stadium before the NF Championship game
Speaker 1: and just knowing all that it's about to take place
Speaker 1: and then so just something as simple as like knowing
Speaker 1: I've got a really good story and hitting published and
Speaker 1: knowing that people are about to really enjoy what I've
Speaker 1: put together. Um, that that feeling is what I'll miss
Speaker 1: for sure. Keep in touch. It's been an honor to
Speaker 1: work with you both. We said this on the podcast.
Speaker 1: What was this the last one of Hags have a
Speaker 1: great summer? You would write that in your books. We're
Speaker 1: just saying, you know, I have a great season, Hags. Mick,
Speaker 1: thanks for everything you did for us. I know we
Speaker 1: worked with you. Thanks for the kind words. Okay, you're beautiful.
Speaker 1: All right, fine, well, Nick, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: joining us. But he's not our only guest on this.
Speaker 1: What you now have come to realize is the farewell podcast.
Speaker 1: This is this is the last group chats that we're
Speaker 1: recording live together, the three of us. We do have
Speaker 1: one more episode coming that is just going to put
Speaker 1: the bow on the group chatted to be the best
Speaker 1: of coming next week. But we do have a special
Speaker 1: bitter sweets. Um. It has been weird to put this
Speaker 1: whole episode together because it has been a lot of
Speaker 1: farewell thoughts and how can we make this final group
Speaker 1: chat all three together. We even got a photo taken
Speaker 1: earlier before we started it like a real one. Man.
Speaker 1: I'm just so excited about how Mix started this thing off.
Speaker 1: That was that was He really could not have been
Speaker 1: any better. But we aren't done yet. We have very
Speaker 1: special guests coming on the podcast now. But we have
Speaker 1: to say there are many reasons we wanted these next
Speaker 1: two on the podcast, but I think a big reason
Speaker 1: because we need their advice on something. I think, you know,
Speaker 1: Max and I particularly, we're navigating an interesting part of
Speaker 1: our lives, so we we are bringing on familiar voices
Speaker 1: and faces, although you're not going to see them, yeah
Speaker 1: in this podcast. Saying goodbye to the Panthers is is
Speaker 1: a difficult thing, and these two are familiar with that
Speaker 1: very thing, very very different circum stances. Jake, as we
Speaker 1: all know, had a very emotional goodbye from the team
Speaker 1: and um, you know that was a press conference that
Speaker 1: I think he still jokes about now, but at the
Speaker 1: time was a lot of raw emotion. And Jordan's was
Speaker 1: a retirement ceremony where we had Ryan Khalil and the
Speaker 1: Quartet serenade him too Happy Trails. So to have both
Speaker 1: of them here providing some insight and some advice maybe
Speaker 1: as to how to move forward. I think we'll be
Speaker 1: really helpful. It is so there you haven't We're having
Speaker 1: Jordan Gross and Jake Dilone join the group Chat. So, guys,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming on. Well, thanks for
Speaker 1: having us. I'm so happy to be on. I've listened
Speaker 1: to you guys since the inception with group Chat, and
Speaker 1: I'm a little hurt that I haven't been invited all
Speaker 1: but maybe, but maybe it's the ultimate honor because you
Speaker 1: have to wait until the biggest show to have Jake
Speaker 1: and I on. So actually, now that I think about it,
Speaker 1: thank you and I'm flattered. Yes, it's the big finale.
Speaker 1: That's that's the only one that we deserve to have
Speaker 1: you guys on, right we there's nothing like listening to
Speaker 1: Max's voice and Caroline like the It's like you guys
Speaker 1: are in harmony and different. We're not talking about Will
Speaker 1: sticking around. Well, we'll talk about Will whenever he leaves,
Speaker 1: but for now, you know, you two it's like a
Speaker 1: two octave difference. But the harmony, the harmony is perfect,
Speaker 1: so it's going to be tough to replace. And then
Speaker 1: well yeah. And then there's Will, who was actually in
Speaker 1: an acapella group, the only one that knows something about harmony,
Speaker 1: can't even join in harmony with us. Well, there you go.
Speaker 1: I know. I'm actually why didn't you get invited to
Speaker 1: sing at the press conference? I wasn't here? Then? Well
Speaker 1: that was that was in my time in the wilderness,
Speaker 1: after after Jordan's. After Jordan's pranked me as an intern
Speaker 1: and then sent me off into the wilderness. You're just
Speaker 1: You're in a long list of people that were pranked
Speaker 1: by me, and most of them failed. Do you remember
Speaker 1: what you did to him? Gosh, I remember having fun
Speaker 1: with Will, but don't remember this specific instance. It. Will
Speaker 1: probably has nightmares about this, I really do. I've told
Speaker 1: this story. So the brief version was I was sent
Speaker 1: into the weight room to get Jordan's for an interview
Speaker 1: and he was doing uh an ab workout with a
Speaker 1: medicine ball. You know, he was not he meant to say,
Speaker 1: with a tractor time. And I went up to him
Speaker 1: and I said, hey, Jordan, whenever you get done, they
Speaker 1: need you in the locker room for an interview. And
Speaker 1: he kind of stopped midway through to say, wait, what
Speaker 1: what did you say, and the ball kept being thrown
Speaker 1: at him and it hit him in the face. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And then Jerry Simmons, who is the strength coach at
Speaker 1: the time, came over and gave me a piece of
Speaker 1: his mind. So was it really a prank or did
Speaker 1: it actually happened? It was, It was a prank, but
Speaker 1: that went a little bit wrong. The ball was not
Speaker 1: supposed to hit Jordan in the face. But yeah, just
Speaker 1: add that to the list of head injuries. Well all
Speaker 1: the way through. Well, you guys aren't getting serenaded unless
Speaker 1: Jake and I can come up with something in the
Speaker 1: next couple of minutes here. But I will say you
Speaker 1: are deserving. The players always get a big send off
Speaker 1: and it's always news breaking, but you two both deserve
Speaker 1: to have some song and dance surrounding your departure because
Speaker 1: you'd be hard pressed to find anybody in the pork
Speaker 1: with either of you that would have negative things to say.
Speaker 1: So I I never want she and the emotional and
Speaker 1: say awesome only for a year, Max and I spent
Speaker 1: more time together than that. But well done, and whoever
Speaker 1: gets you next is lucky to have you and Jake.
Speaker 1: We must we must do something wrong because we both
Speaker 1: showed up for one year together and people are leaving
Speaker 1: like crazy. So we gotta figure this out. Man. Everybody
Speaker 1: just I don't understand it. I mean, they just want
Speaker 1: to like get up and leave. Now, the question would be,
Speaker 1: are they intimidated by us? Is that I don't I
Speaker 1: don't know. I would doubt. I would doubt that's it.
Speaker 1: But that has to be a question that's brought up right. Well,
Speaker 1: you know what really started it for me of me
Speaker 1: thinking about leaving was that BS of someone else winning
Speaker 1: Rookie of the Year for our radio Chris. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: mean that that was really the start of the domino
Speaker 1: effect that just got me out the door. Jakes the quarterback.
Speaker 1: He had to win. There. They're used to people being,
Speaker 1: you know, talking like they're so great and getting the
Speaker 1: big contracts and all that stuff. So he had Jake
Speaker 1: had to win. Plus he was the only true rookie.
Speaker 1: You know, I was here for a short time before, Caroline,
Speaker 1: you've been doing this Jake, Jake's the only rookie. He
Speaker 1: needed to win the quarterback. It's the right thing to do.
Speaker 1: I guess he was the only one that technically fit
Speaker 1: the criteria to even win the award, but I still
Speaker 1: think there should have been a closer battle for that one. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just know that when we would throw when we
Speaker 1: throw it down to Caroline on the sidelines and she'd
Speaker 1: do her her her update, I'd think, God, I gotta
Speaker 1: really get better at this job because she's way better
Speaker 1: than me. And then I just try to think of
Speaker 1: something that's karenly would. They're like, yeah, so the old lineman,
Speaker 1: I can tell you right now, here's what they're thinking.
Speaker 1: You were just making things up. Oh every single game.
Speaker 1: Don't tell them because I'm coming back next year more
Speaker 1: made up stuff. You know, No, we won't, we won't.
Speaker 1: But who wasn't that said, you've you've listened since the beginning.
Speaker 1: That was me Jordan Jordan's what is your what's one
Speaker 1: of your favorite moments from the group chat? I didn't
Speaker 1: What did you guys do the during the awards? One
Speaker 1: of the awards shows? Was it? Which one? Was it
Speaker 1: the Auscar? Was it the Oscar? Yeah? That one was good.
Speaker 1: That was creative because you had your best dressed and
Speaker 1: you had your Oh I like that one. That one's entertaining.
Speaker 1: You know, I get a lot of time. It's you
Speaker 1: guys have made it easy to keep up with the
Speaker 1: team because you can only read so many you know,
Speaker 1: mixed not was on before us, he's not on now.
Speaker 1: To defend itself, you can only get so many, like
Speaker 1: written reports or whatever from the field. Group chat gets
Speaker 1: you Panther news, much like this episode today, Panther news
Speaker 1: with hardly any serious, natured any of it. So that
Speaker 1: one was good. I mean, you're gonna get a little
Speaker 1: bit of Panthers football, Will's calves, anything else that we
Speaker 1: we deem appropriate for that day exactly. But what do
Speaker 1: we got, Jake for advice for moving on? I'm sorry, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm sorry. I was polishing my Rookie of the
Speaker 1: Year um. For moving on, I think the biggest thing
Speaker 1: and one you don't burn any bridges, which I don't
Speaker 1: think either one of you are burning any bridges. Usually
Speaker 1: you burn the bridge when you get fired or cut,
Speaker 1: and I don't think that's I was the only one
Speaker 1: in this group chat that got cut, you know, so
Speaker 1: you don't need to rub it in, but I was
Speaker 1: the only one in Jordan's retired on his terms, you know,
Speaker 1: YouTube or whatever. You'll think you're moving on for bigger
Speaker 1: and better things, So, uh, don't burn any bridges. Uh.
Speaker 1: And and second of all, you never know when you
Speaker 1: can come back. You just never never know. Did you
Speaker 1: guys think that you would be back? Well, no, I'd
Speaker 1: be totally honest. I knew at some point. Now it
Speaker 1: took a little time. Yes, you're always going to go
Speaker 1: back to Carolina at some point, but to say that
Speaker 1: it would be in the capacity that it is now,
Speaker 1: uh No, I can't say that was something at that
Speaker 1: time of my life that I truly thought about. I
Speaker 1: hoped I would be but when we decided to move
Speaker 1: back home to Idaho, I just thought that the distance
Speaker 1: would be too great for me to be a part
Speaker 1: of things. So incredibly flattered when the conversation came up
Speaker 1: to be on the color team. And then just what
Speaker 1: an amazing time we live in when you can run
Speaker 1: podcasts or live radio shows or whatever and you don't
Speaker 1: even know where everybody is that's on the radio show. Right,
Speaker 1: So that's been wonderful. Last Jake said, don't burn any bridges.
Speaker 1: And you guys aren't enjoy being away though too. I'll
Speaker 1: say that, you know, when I got done playing football
Speaker 1: and you guys different roles, but you can you can
Speaker 1: understand this, the pressure of the NFL and for you guys,
Speaker 1: the deadlines and to have stories and in website bits
Speaker 1: and be up and you have your personality be you know,
Speaker 1: lively and fun all the time like that wears at you.
Speaker 1: And for me as a player, you know, I had
Speaker 1: a lot of different roles in a high level of
Speaker 1: pressure on me, and when I said I was done,
Speaker 1: it was like it was a giant weight off my shoulders.
Speaker 1: Just to get to exhale a little bit and see
Speaker 1: the funny thing that you'll see, especially you know, Caroline,
Speaker 1: You'll still be in the football world a bit with
Speaker 1: your husband, um, you know, being with the Colts, but Max,
Speaker 1: if you're you know, away from football more, you'll see
Speaker 1: how the whole world lives and half the people out
Speaker 1: there more don't even know what the Panthers are, right,
Speaker 1: And it's funny to say, but like there's this whole
Speaker 1: other world that goes on and it's wonderful to kind
Speaker 1: of get to live in that a little while and
Speaker 1: then swoop back in when you want to. So um no,
Speaker 1: it's good stories to tell of where you've been so far,
Speaker 1: but where you're headed is going to be even better,
Speaker 1: and it's it's people will always find it interesting that
Speaker 1: you wrote articles for the Panthers, were an offensive linement
Speaker 1: for the Panthers, worked in the weight room, for any
Speaker 1: where that your life has touched. The NFL is always
Speaker 1: going to be a topic good discussion. And when people
Speaker 1: meet you and are introduced through a friend or something else,
Speaker 1: is my buddy Max, he used to be a writer
Speaker 1: for the Panthers. How about that? And then you have
Speaker 1: to tell who the best interview. People are gonna wanna
Speaker 1: know who's the best guy to interview? Man, you gotta
Speaker 1: tell me right now, tell me some funny stories. You're
Speaker 1: nailing the voice. So that's why it'll be. I just
Speaker 1: told I just predicted your future. But no enjoy it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's I think, you know in eight years
Speaker 1: and I was, I was lucky Jordan and obviously wasn't
Speaker 1: didn't have the pleasure of covering Jake, But Jordan and
Speaker 1: I started in twelve, so I got in right when
Speaker 1: you guys were starting to really get things clicking a
Speaker 1: bit um, you know, Cam coming into his own and
Speaker 1: twelve and four the the kind of magic ride that
Speaker 1: team kind of went on after such a poor start,
Speaker 1: and then of course we know what happened in fifteen
Speaker 1: and you know that kind of era of Panthers football.
Speaker 1: I feel very privileged to have gone a chance to be,
Speaker 1: you know, chronicling every step of that journey. Uh, and
Speaker 1: obviously you were a big part of that. And just
Speaker 1: the locker room culture. I don't know what other locker
Speaker 1: room cultures were like across the league. This is the
Speaker 1: only team that I've gotten a chance to be embedded with,
Speaker 1: But I don't think that there were many that were
Speaker 1: really quite like what this group was and what you
Speaker 1: guys had established during this time. No, I think you're
Speaker 1: exactly right. That's one thing. Jordan played for one team,
Speaker 1: and I was, you know, I have was with the
Speaker 1: Saints and the Panthers and the Browns and Texans. But
Speaker 1: I can promise you not all locker rooms were like
Speaker 1: the one we had in Carolina. Um, it was. It
Speaker 1: was unique and different. It was just, uh, it was
Speaker 1: a very serious, but it was very loose on the Also,
Speaker 1: it just it was a way you had professionals and
Speaker 1: I knew how to had a good time on the field,
Speaker 1: how to be ready to play, but then off the field.
Speaker 1: And when I say off the field, meaning in the
Speaker 1: locker room, it was you probably got to see and
Speaker 1: hear things that not many locker rooms get to be like.
Speaker 1: And that culture went from one coach to a to
Speaker 1: another because Jordan played for coach Fox and you know,
Speaker 1: we the players ran that locker room. You know, from
Speaker 1: from Steve Smith to to Jordan, I'd like to think myself,
Speaker 1: you know, uh, to Thomas Davis, the John Beeson's, Ryan
Speaker 1: Khalil's the players ran the locker room. And then Rivera
Speaker 1: gets here and the same thing those players, they policed it,
Speaker 1: and it was evidenced by the success that was that
Speaker 1: was uh had that was on the field. So it's
Speaker 1: a that's something that's pretty unique to Caroline in itself.
Speaker 1: I can guarantee you that. Well, we do have to
Speaker 1: bring up here is that the final thing of when
Speaker 1: you guys are really getting off the hook, really with
Speaker 1: with Max and I stepping away because I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: say we beat you guys in downloads for podcast, but
Speaker 1: I would just recommend that the two of you never
Speaker 1: look up the numbers if you want to think that
Speaker 1: you are the number one Panthers podcast that ran for
Speaker 1: this season. What what if you mean beat us and downloads?
Speaker 1: What is that? What? What? What are the qualifications? Alright, fine,
Speaker 1: you may have beat us by a little bit, just
Speaker 1: a tiny bit, yes, a little did well I should
Speaker 1: have stopped listening then I probably got us too closely by. Well. Actually,
Speaker 1: if it's a per episode basis, you guys won. But
Speaker 1: if you're talking total show, total episodes, they did do
Speaker 1: more episodes, that doesn't out we did. We did. We
Speaker 1: did quality over quantity. No wait, he's saying we did
Speaker 1: quantity over I just we just we worked harder, though
Speaker 1: he worked harder. Oh my gosh, statistics are for losers
Speaker 1: and Jordan. Listen, I've already had the Rookie of the
Speaker 1: Year trophy up on my mantel. I'll give you the
Speaker 1: you know, the download trophy that we'll send that to
Speaker 1: fruitlent Idaho. I mean, well, I guarantee, our guarantee will
Speaker 1: beat Max and Caroline next year. Yeah. So, speaking of
Speaker 1: being able to just take a deep breath and exhale
Speaker 1: all the pressure, you're welcome, thank you. Yeah, I have
Speaker 1: another bringing in. They're bringing in fresh blood. Caroline said,
Speaker 1: you guys are leaving, then we gotta you know, maintain
Speaker 1: our stakehold on the top podcast. You gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: do your scouting report before the season begins and make
Speaker 1: sure you're going to beat him. I'm gonna get I'm
Speaker 1: gonna get a point. Do it. And inside source tells
Speaker 1: me this new podcast is garbage. I'm gonna leak it
Speaker 1: out there to people. Oh man, well, guys, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for calling in. I know, I had a
Speaker 1: blast working with you guys this year. It was fun
Speaker 1: to hear both your voices on the radio. And I'm bummed.
Speaker 1: I'm sad I'm gonna miss it, but just now I'll
Speaker 1: be tuning in and and it'll be a little bit
Speaker 1: to listen to make in his poetic way of setting
Speaker 1: up the game and all of his antidotes. But you
Speaker 1: guys were fun, always gave a lot of insight, and
Speaker 1: I appreciate you guys. Well, I would feel the same.
Speaker 1: Best of luck and and you know the new endeavor Um.
Speaker 1: One thing you do have to look forward to the weather.
Speaker 1: It's so much better better in Indianapolis than it is,
Speaker 1: So that's something that you're gonna be able to enjoy. Um.
Speaker 1: But no, it was. It certainly was a lot of fun. Um.
Speaker 1: I guess you can say y'all are professional and y'all
Speaker 1: work I mean somewhat. I'm just saying that, just agree.
Speaker 1: But uh, but we did a good job, and Caroline,
Speaker 1: you were on it. You know certain things I'd like
Speaker 1: to think. I would watch a game and and try
Speaker 1: to watch sidelines as much as possible because you can
Speaker 1: just kind of tell some things. And next thing, you know,
Speaker 1: I can hear David Langdon in the years in my ear,
Speaker 1: in our ear saying going down the Caroline and what
Speaker 1: I want to say you you you already come up
Speaker 1: with about what's going on in the sideline. So that
Speaker 1: was pretty good at So whoever's gonna fill your shoes
Speaker 1: will uh will have to be ready. Well thanks guys. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would echo that. Jake said it all and and
Speaker 1: he talked about Caroline, so I'll talk about Max. Max,
Speaker 1: you always uh, we're very approachable and fair to the players.
Speaker 1: And then getting to work with you on the media
Speaker 1: side as well, and did a nice job of letting guys,
Speaker 1: building trust and rapport with guys. Yes you're a homer,
Speaker 1: but also reading your articles, especially now from Idaho, staying
Speaker 1: up with the team, they're very fair. So you did
Speaker 1: a nice job balancing that and that's tricky, you know, Caroline,
Speaker 1: you did that as well, but that's a tricky thing
Speaker 1: to do. Some nice job and we'll see you guys again,
Speaker 1: look forward to getting together down the road. Well, I
Speaker 1: think it's the poll. I think is allergies. I'm just
Speaker 1: crying now on here. But guys, seriously, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining us. Um it is just to see
Speaker 1: you later. We're not really going that far, but guys,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for calling in. Thanks a lot.
Speaker 1: And you know what, I think we just kind of
Speaker 1: up some you know, podcast downloads. Jordan, I think we
Speaker 1: helped him out. This is the Jordan and Jake podcast
Speaker 1: hang off. Thanks guys, Bye bye. Well, Caroline has really
Speaker 1: only a matter of time until the next like Hall
Speaker 1: of Honor reunion, they invite us back and we'll get
Speaker 1: to spend time with Jordan and Jake. And honestly, you know,
Speaker 1: I was kind of looking at the banners the other day.
Speaker 1: My name is a little longer. I think I think
Speaker 1: our designers can work on that. Though. What's the rule?
Speaker 1: How many years do is I have to be what
Speaker 1: you're reviving? Yeah, I guess that's true. We have to
Speaker 1: be a few more, but eventually we'll get invited back
Speaker 1: fitted for our Blue Blazers. We need to figure out
Speaker 1: who's on that voting committee really slide slide our names
Speaker 1: in there. But we're not done with the guest. We
Speaker 1: have another guest and that the next person we're bringing on.
Speaker 1: We we made him the president of the groupies that
Speaker 1: the president of our fake fan club has a number
Speaker 1: one fan but we do want to We wanted to
Speaker 1: bring him on because obviously, if no one listens to
Speaker 1: your podcast, you don't get to keep having a podcast.
Speaker 1: So all of you out there that listened every single week,
Speaker 1: which tweeted us, leave us reviews all those things, we
Speaker 1: we really really do thank you so much for doing that.
Speaker 1: But we are bringing on you know him on Twitter
Speaker 1: as mayor of Flavortown, although if you search mayor Flavortown
Speaker 1: there are many many mayors. So we're just going to
Speaker 1: let him introduce himself, um and we're just going to
Speaker 1: talk to him about all the great service that he's
Speaker 1: done for us as president of our fan club. Right now,
Speaker 1: we have a special guys joining us, So thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us. Mayor of Flavortown. Thank you
Speaker 1: for having me. Where are you currently in my apartment
Speaker 1: in New York City. We didn't know what you were
Speaker 1: going to sound like we were hedging bets, but okay,
Speaker 1: we didn't get any exactly what we thought from your
Speaker 1: altar on Twitter, which is obviously not you. But this
Speaker 1: was a discussion that we had a couple of weeks
Speaker 1: ago about what exactly will you break it down for
Speaker 1: us and tell people, tell people what's going on your
Speaker 1: avatar and also your handle because we like to pub
Speaker 1: people that are funny. So you guys actually nailed it.
Speaker 1: If you did, I can't recall who it was, but
Speaker 1: it was. It is Guy Fietti. Um. But if you
Speaker 1: actually look at the avatar, it is exactly So. When
Speaker 1: when I first moved to New York, I was traveling
Speaker 1: a ton for work, and I happened to live on
Speaker 1: the same floor as Bobby moynehead and he and I
Speaker 1: obviously kept odd hours because I was flying in at
Speaker 1: five am, he was leaving a snell at five am,
Speaker 1: and we would both be completely drained in the elevator
Speaker 1: together and we would communicate through basically a series of grunts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's as funny as you would expect. And after I moved,
Speaker 1: he actually moved first, but then I left the building.
Speaker 1: It was my tribute to him. Okay, but this is
Speaker 1: not your only celebrity connection. Um, you shared a hot
Speaker 1: tub with a celebrity. Oh yes, when I was When
Speaker 1: I was we'll keep it PG here a child. Um,
Speaker 1: but I think it was eleven years old ish in Hawaii.
Speaker 1: Um just happened to run into a certain teen heartthrob
Speaker 1: who uh was staying at the hotel and ended up
Speaker 1: sharing a hot tub with Mr Jonathan Taylor Thomas. It's
Speaker 1: pretty good, right, Although I love the way you set
Speaker 1: that up that you made. I was like, where is
Speaker 1: this going? Yeah, Bill was getting nervous. It's like private school,
Speaker 1: you know. Vibes over there just like like, oh, this
Speaker 1: is gonna be bad. Well we do know we uh,
Speaker 1: since we put you in charge of the groupies and
Speaker 1: you are the president of our fan club number one,
Speaker 1: we I mean thank you for your service of doing that,
Speaker 1: um and yeah and letting us volunteer. I know, it's
Speaker 1: it's I know, it's kind of a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: coordinating and making sure that all the events run smoothly,
Speaker 1: So we really do thank you for that. But we
Speaker 1: we did want to get your first impressions because when
Speaker 1: we first came up with this idea for the group chat,
Speaker 1: we named it the group chat because in a group chat,
Speaker 1: you talk about anything and everything. So we didn't want
Speaker 1: we don't want to plan too much. We just wanted
Speaker 1: to come up and talk about what we wanted to.
Speaker 1: So when you first heard the group chat, what were
Speaker 1: your thoughts? Well, As a life flung Panthers fan, having
Speaker 1: moved away from Charlotte, it disconnects you a little bit.
Speaker 1: I love the way you know, you guys kind of
Speaker 1: converse like friends, which I'm sure you are. It's all
Speaker 1: it's all fake. It's all fake. We hate who we
Speaker 1: hate each other more. It's a good It's kind of
Speaker 1: like shooting it with your friends, just talking about the Panthers,
Speaker 1: and you know, you get a little behind the scenes
Speaker 1: action from from you guys that you're at the stadium
Speaker 1: so much, but we do live here, it feels like.
Speaker 1: But Mayor, we appreciate you joining us. We appreciate you
Speaker 1: taking on the large task of being the president of
Speaker 1: our fan club. I know it was a heavy lift.
Speaker 1: Um but someone had to do it, and we really,
Speaker 1: we really do thank you. It's really just a lot
Speaker 1: of hate mail reading, but make it work. Well. The
Speaker 1: good news is, um, you're not gonna get that anywhere
Speaker 1: you might get up. You might get more positive mail
Speaker 1: now than us Yankees are off the air of may
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. We at least know your first name.
Speaker 1: It is Mark. We appreciate you joining the group chat
Speaker 1: and we can still be friends on Twitter, and you're
Speaker 1: welcome for no longer receiving hate mail. Yes, I'm sorry
Speaker 1: to see the show go, but thank you guys for
Speaker 1: your service. Thanks for listening to Mary. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: So hopefully we get a couple more positive reviews from
Speaker 1: mayor of Flavor Town to kind of kick us off
Speaker 1: here and in one final big push of some not
Speaker 1: even not even from him, just everyone, just everyone, just
Speaker 1: please just go flood us with five stars. That can
Speaker 1: be our goodbye. It's just go fly with positive reviews
Speaker 1: and five stars. Most tell us that we made you
Speaker 1: laugh and cry. This is an emotional episode. I want
Speaker 1: to hear how sad you are. Yeah, try try, that's
Speaker 1: especially like when you're saying goodbye to a place of work, especially,
Speaker 1: Like it's just it's nice when people are sad when
Speaker 1: you tell them, you know, like it may you want
Speaker 1: them to be sad, like you don't want them to
Speaker 1: be sad, but it's also like it shows you that
Speaker 1: this was a special place and it meant something that
Speaker 1: you were here and worked with these people. So yeah,
Speaker 1: all of our listeners now there tell us about how
Speaker 1: sad you are that we're leaving. Well, I will say,
Speaker 1: through this entire experience of you know, coming to the
Speaker 1: conclusion that I was going to leave, and you know that,
Speaker 1: I felt a little funny because eleven months is going
Speaker 1: to be my entire time with the Panthers, and so
Speaker 1: I felt, sure, it's not eleven years. The way people
Speaker 1: talk about you, it's eleven years. I think that's been
Speaker 1: the most surprising part of this is you know, like
Speaker 1: like we were talking about with Mick, we pour our
Speaker 1: our heart, our soul, our time, everything. I mean there
Speaker 1: there are many sacrifices that are made with any job,
Speaker 1: but especially one in sports where a lot of people
Speaker 1: aren't paying attention to sports unless it's in their free time.
Speaker 1: So we are working more than just the nine to five.
Speaker 1: We're working when it's other people's free time, so sacrificing
Speaker 1: a lot. And I think maybe that's why it feels
Speaker 1: like eleven years, not just eleven months. It has been.
Speaker 1: It's just been really cool and a little bit emotional too.
Speaker 1: Here from an organization that you've only been with for
Speaker 1: eleven months. Let you know how much of an impact
Speaker 1: that you made and in the way that they're going
Speaker 1: to miss you or hey, I'm still going to call
Speaker 1: you about this, and you know, I just I think
Speaker 1: that has been for me in this last couple of weeks. Um,
Speaker 1: it's been probably the most speaks to what speaks to
Speaker 1: what you've done and what you've accomplished in just a
Speaker 1: short time here. It's yeah, I mean I think that's
Speaker 1: absolutely deserved. Um, like you said, you have you haven't
Speaker 1: been here a full year, but I mean just ask
Speaker 1: around and it certainly doesn't feel that way and that
Speaker 1: that's a credit to you and the work you've done
Speaker 1: here so well. I think I was here for eleven months,
Speaker 1: you were here for eight years. Eight years a long time.
Speaker 1: It's the only job I've ever had. I have an
Speaker 1: intern with the Broncos coming out of school and then
Speaker 1: it's been here and that's it. Like I've literally grown
Speaker 1: up here. Will loves doing this and of course so
Speaker 1: he did it to me like she pulled up like
Speaker 1: old videosve just just looking at me like it's crazy,
Speaker 1: Like I just look like a child. Um. So I've
Speaker 1: literally grown up here, which is what makes this hard.
Speaker 1: Um just because you spend you spend so much time
Speaker 1: here and just I'm thirty years old. I spent nearly
Speaker 1: a third high life just working for this place. But
Speaker 1: when I think about the end of something, I says storyteller,
Speaker 1: I really think about the beginning and kind of to
Speaker 1: your point, Caroline, like I think about first deciding to
Speaker 1: like pursue this and the sacrifices that it took because
Speaker 1: it was always looked at as an awesome job, right
Speaker 1: everybody who would want to work in sports, who wouldn't
Speaker 1: want to work and the NFL. In order to actually
Speaker 1: do it, you have to compete with all those people
Speaker 1: who want to do that very thing. So I think
Speaker 1: about the weekends in college, driving to Duluth, Minnesota to
Speaker 1: cover a hockey game when the rest of my buddies
Speaker 1: were partying on a Saturday, you know, and my first
Speaker 1: assignment for the student newspaper covering a track and field event.
Speaker 1: They didn't even tell me what I was supposed to
Speaker 1: cover at the event. They just sent me there and
Speaker 1: you're covering how many It was impossible. I don't even
Speaker 1: know what I wrote after that store, but that was
Speaker 1: like my first assignment. So I just think about all
Speaker 1: those things and then to get as far as it
Speaker 1: took me here to be at the super Bowl, to
Speaker 1: be with an NFL team for eight years, I mean,
Speaker 1: not not bad, not bad. Did you think about during
Speaker 1: those weekends though, when you were first starting out of
Speaker 1: that being a sacrifice, No, at the time, you know
Speaker 1: that it was. It was a blast, right. I have
Speaker 1: just with my buddy, with the two of us for
Speaker 1: the Hockey Beat writers, and it's what we wanted to
Speaker 1: do like this. It wasn't. It wasn't like this was
Speaker 1: homework assignment that we were forced to do for a class.
Speaker 1: Like this is we we signed up for it, um.
Speaker 1: But I think just looking back on it now, it's
Speaker 1: just it's it's just something to reflect on as as
Speaker 1: a man, all of that kind of work. That's I
Speaker 1: think what's sad about saying goodbye to or closing this
Speaker 1: chapter is just because you know the amount of work
Speaker 1: and the hours and the sacrifice that went in just
Speaker 1: to just making this possible. So kind of closing that
Speaker 1: because it's it's hard because you just you know will
Speaker 1: obviously Caroline, all of us, anybody who's makes it to
Speaker 1: a chair like we're sitting in right now, has gone
Speaker 1: through a lot and and sacrificed a lot to to
Speaker 1: be there as fun as cool jobs as I'm sure
Speaker 1: people probably are like I don't need to hear this,
Speaker 1: and mean, you guys get to get paid to watch football,
Speaker 1: you know, And I hear that too, Um, but yeah,
Speaker 1: there's there's a lot that goes into over the years
Speaker 1: making something like this possible, and at the end of
Speaker 1: something that's just always find myself just sort of thinking
Speaker 1: about those moments. Yeah, I think about the beginning to
Speaker 1: IF And the reason I asked that about sacrificing is
Speaker 1: because in the moment you don't realize I mean, you're
Speaker 1: a college kid and all we wanted was this, and
Speaker 1: so you don't think of it as sacrifice. That's what
Speaker 1: I wanted to do. But I think looking back now
Speaker 1: getting to the point in my career where I am
Speaker 1: I am able to help other people that want to
Speaker 1: be in this role, and so you turn around and
Speaker 1: they're asking you questions. And I think that's when it
Speaker 1: dawned on me how much we have put into these careers.
Speaker 1: And everyone does, whether you're an investment banker or a
Speaker 1: secretary or you know, anything that anyone does, you're putting
Speaker 1: in the time and the sacrifice to be able to
Speaker 1: make that happen. And I think, as as I look
Speaker 1: at this next chapter of my life and next chapter
Speaker 1: of my career, I think that's what I'm I don't
Speaker 1: know how to half do something we've been all in
Speaker 1: our entire lives and our entire career. And I think
Speaker 1: that's a great way to live. But I'm genuinely concerned
Speaker 1: about my work life balance because we don't haven't and
Speaker 1: I hear that a lot of people don't have that.
Speaker 1: So if you have any tips out there, of uh,
Speaker 1: you'll never feel at work life balance. But I'm going
Speaker 1: to be taking a month off to just get resettled
Speaker 1: into set parks and I up well and where we're living,
Speaker 1: and to try and take two of everything and get
Speaker 1: rid of one of those and put it into a
Speaker 1: space where we can we can live comfortably. But it's
Speaker 1: just such a new it's a new stage of life,
Speaker 1: and we really do we appreciate everyone following along with
Speaker 1: this part of our lives. We hope, like I said earlier,
Speaker 1: we I hope that I've made a connection with painther
Speaker 1: fans that isn't just about football, and that we can
Speaker 1: continue to connect because I think that's a part of
Speaker 1: the job that means the most to us. It's fun
Speaker 1: to cover football, and it's fun to do that, but
Speaker 1: if you didn't have a connection with who you're talking
Speaker 1: to and the fans and all of that, it's certainly
Speaker 1: would not be as fun. So we're not saying goodbye.
Speaker 1: We're just doing it on the podcast because they won't
Speaker 1: let us back on here. What we leave. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: mean I'm excited to come back for for a game,
Speaker 1: maybe tailgate. That would be an experience, right, I will say,
Speaker 1: did I tell you guys about the bye week or
Speaker 1: it wasn't I think it was our bye week. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I had my first beer out a football game at
Speaker 1: a game. Yeah, I forgot you could do that. It's amazing, Right,
Speaker 1: I'm excited and believable. Yeah. No, So I'm excited for that.
Speaker 1: Maybe pop bye practice every once in a while. I'm
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to not having to be at every
Speaker 1: panther's practice. I've been at every panther's practice for eight years,
Speaker 1: so I'm gonna take a little bit of break from that.
Speaker 1: But maybe I'll stop in every once in a while
Speaker 1: and that will be nice just to to still be
Speaker 1: in the area. And you know, I'm excited for the
Speaker 1: next people who are going to be doing this. You know,
Speaker 1: I just think it's sort of time for somebody else
Speaker 1: to at least I can speak for myself do what
Speaker 1: I've done. It's time for somebody else to tell tell
Speaker 1: the stories. And I've had a good run, and I'm
Speaker 1: looking forward to seeing what a fresh voice and a
Speaker 1: fresh perspective brings to this um. And I'll be following
Speaker 1: along for sure. We do have much more ahead of us,
Speaker 1: just for being the three of us sitting around the
Speaker 1: podcast talking and we haven't heard from Matt. He's crying,
Speaker 1: He's really sad. He just he's not quite over, you know,
Speaker 1: talking to Jake and Jordan's and just realizing the heaviness.
Speaker 1: Are you gonna make it without us? I mean, people
Speaker 1: will be a lot nicer to me. Probably he did
Speaker 1: get picked on a lot while we were sitting here.
Speaker 1: Although did I live up to my New Year's resolution? Okay, good, Well,
Speaker 1: now you don't have to worry about it, because it
Speaker 1: is that time where we are wrapping up our fair
Speaker 1: well episode. We really really do thank you guys so
Speaker 1: much for giving us this opportunity to talk to you
Speaker 1: every single week and to stay in touch with you
Speaker 1: on social media. But none of that has to end um,
Speaker 1: and we do have one more episode coming. We're going
Speaker 1: to share the best of group Chat, which I don't
Speaker 1: know for you guys, it's been really fun to go
Speaker 1: back and listen to the ridiculousness that we said into
Speaker 1: these micros. Literally the first episode. Oh yeah, the first
Speaker 1: five minutes of the first episode. Just wait, you have
Speaker 1: to tune in next week because the very first thing
Speaker 1: that will says on this podcast you might have tear.
Speaker 1: It might be better than when Matt forgot who suitcase?
Speaker 1: Probably not, but in the moment, we do think it'll
Speaker 1: make you laugh at guys, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: giving us this privilege to bring you the group Chat
Speaker 1: every single week. We hope you enjoyed this farewell episode,
Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you one last time next week.