WEBVTT - Happy Half Hour Episode 54: 1 Carolina 0:00:07.520 --> 0:00:11.719 It's time for a Happy half Hour with your friends 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:23.040 Christen Balboni, Will Bryant and Darren Gamp. It's that time 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.520 of the week. It is the Happy Half Hour podcast 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.120 with your friends, Will, Darren, Kristen and producer Matt Guys. 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:31.000 Not a lot going on this week. I'm not sure 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:34.160 what we're going to talk about for the next half hour, 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:37.479 any ideas, but I know it's going to be a 0:00:37.520 --> 0:00:39.879 happier half hour than if we had taped it at 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:43.240 nine thirty yesterday morning. I know that we are taping. 0:00:43.280 --> 0:00:46.800 We're taping on a Friday morning. We usually tape Thursday mornings. 0:00:46.840 --> 0:00:49.360 But um, there's a little bit of news going on 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:54.840 about this time yesterday. This time Thursday morning, one person 0:00:54.920 --> 0:01:00.720 by the name of Cam Newton is back on the Panthers. Um, 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:03.040 what was that? Is that? A thing? That was? It 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.440 was m That's what I always used to yell every 0:01:06.480 --> 0:01:08.559 time he touched the ball for Like, is that because 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:14.280 you were um reserve on the Acapella group? Yes, I 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:18.160 don't know. There's there's just the quarter pounders, quarter pound 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.240 quarter pounds. Yeah, there's just something about the name Cam 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:23.679 that just screams that it needs to be sung in 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:28.280 a in a tenor Italian tenor voice. I've never thought that. 0:01:28.319 --> 0:01:31.800 But but he's a rock star, I mean. And that's 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:34.560 the thing about Cam Newton, and that's what made yesterday 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:38.440 such an interesting day, for lack of a better word, 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:41.720 is Cam Newton moves the needle. Will could go through 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:43.520 all the web traffic numbers and all that kind of 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:45.800 stuff and it's amazing the amount that's what's coming up 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:49.400 for the next ten minutes and was just out of 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:53.720 interest in this man. Is because he's the guy you 0:01:53.760 --> 0:01:56.919 want to see. Yeah, I mean it's I have always 0:01:56.960 --> 0:01:59.600 compared quarterbacks the lead singers in rock bands, and that's 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.560 what ca him is. I remember when he moved through 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:04.400 the combine before he was ever drafted here, it was 0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:06.840 like the Beatles had walked through the r c A Dome. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:09.639 They're just it was just this phalanx of people behind 0:02:09.760 --> 0:02:12.440 him and it kept growing with every stick can I 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.720 can I amend that for a second in my mind, 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:17.520 I completely agree with you about quarterbacks being lead singers. 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.440 I would say, I don't think every quarterback is equivalent 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:22.760 to the lead singer of a huge band. I think 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:27.760 there's just a few. Yeah, there's just that's true. That's true. 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.160 That's true, that's true. I think you could count on 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:34.200 two hands the number of quarterbacks who have that rock 0:02:34.280 --> 0:02:38.240 star superstar magnetism, and he's one of them. There's no 0:02:38.280 --> 0:02:41.760 doubt about it. He is absolutely one of those guys 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.800 who's the who's the rock star that you're comparing him to. 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.960 I've always said he's like Jim Morrison to me, because 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:50.480 he dresses funny and he writes this weird poetry that 0:02:50.520 --> 0:02:58.480 nobody understands, and his Instagram far yea what is described 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:02.000 it as poetry. But when Jim Morrison was on stage, 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.480 even if you didn't understand it, even if he scared 0:03:04.520 --> 0:03:06.760 you a little bit, which he probably should have, and 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:10.919 he starts talking about lizards and whatever, it's like, oh 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.079 my god, I can't take my eyes off this man. 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.480 And that has I mean, and whether whether he's great, 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:21.799 whether he's old, cam. I thought it was interesting when 0:03:21.800 --> 0:03:24.360 Fitterer said it yesterday. We don't expect him to be 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.120 ten years ago, Cam I. I don't think that's a 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:30.079 fair expectation to put on the man. I don't think 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:33.920 the human body can do that for fifteen years without 0:03:33.960 --> 0:03:37.600 some kind of effects. But he's still worth watching. And 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.000 the last time we saw him, you know, Fitterer caught 0:03:40.040 --> 0:03:41.760 him in Week two last year when he was with 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.520 the Seahawks. They played in the Sunday night game out there, 0:03:44.600 --> 0:03:47.880 Cam throws for four yards and a touchdown, runs for 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:50.240 two more, and nearly dove over the goal line for 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:52.920 a last second game winning touchdown. My god, and I 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.120 know that, um that a lot of Panthers fans remember 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:57.760 that game because I feel like last season it was 0:03:57.800 --> 0:03:59.960 like required viewing. You watch, if you're a Panthers fan, 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.600 you watch the Panthers game and you watch Cam, right, 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.080 I mean, and and the beginning of cam season last year, Yeah, 0:04:06.080 --> 0:04:08.600 they he played very well. They were very successful at 0:04:08.640 --> 0:04:10.800 the beginning of this year in preseason. You know, obviously 0:04:10.920 --> 0:04:12.640 snaps are liminated. They were trying to work in mac 0:04:12.720 --> 0:04:15.040 but you know, he looked good. He was completing passes. 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:18.360 You know, it's Cam at They They also said this yesterday. 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:21.000 Cam is healthy. You know, Cam has not been taking 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:24.240 months and months of hits. He hasn't been you know, throwing, throwing, 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:26.479 throwing for months and months. You know. Yeah, there's there's 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:28.720 eight games left right now, and Cam is healthy and 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:32.840 that's something that they valued highly when thinking about this, right, 0:04:32.839 --> 0:04:34.880 And I remember talking to people about it when he 0:04:34.920 --> 0:04:37.640 went to New England. Uslie, I don't know based on 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.640 the physical status proms he had with the shoulder. Here, 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.239 I said, I don't know if Cam can play sixteen 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:45.479 games in a season, much less seven and I and 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:48.280 I said in after you left, I said, but if 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:50.080 he could ever get to a place where they only 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.440 needed him for seven or eight games at a time, well, 0:04:52.440 --> 0:04:55.440 guess what. Well here, I was just gonna ask you, 0:04:55.680 --> 0:04:58.760 considering all that we heard yesterday and with the physical status, 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.760 why then you thought he had been sitting at home 0:05:01.960 --> 0:05:04.040 and you just explained it. Yeah, I mean, and and 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:07.440 I think a lot of people, you know, had reasonable concerns, 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:10.920 and you know, I don't know that it's long term sustainable. 0:05:10.960 --> 0:05:13.760 But that's the thing that from talking to people on 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:15.760 the other side of the building who were involved in 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:18.280 the football decision over and over, the thing you kept 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.880 hearing is this is not about two thousand and eleven. 0:05:21.360 --> 0:05:25.960 This is not about This is about today right now, 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.799 this next eight week sprint for the rest of the season. 0:05:30.200 --> 0:05:32.200 How much he got left and how much he has 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.240 left is gonna say a lot about what the Carolina 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:37.560 Panthers do over the next two months, and just before 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:39.640 we go forward, as we as we look at the 0:05:39.680 --> 0:05:42.560 next two months, then will you give us kind of 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.520 um uh, what is it the cliffs notes of what 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:49.680 everyone has said about when we think we'll see Cam 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:53.480 on the field, what his role is going to be, 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.040 because that's I think been overshadow just in the return. 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:58.200 I mean, he was here at the stadium yesterday, so 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.240 a lot of the attention. Yeah, a lot of the 0:06:01.240 --> 0:06:03.440 attention has been focused on that, and rightfully so for 0:06:03.480 --> 0:06:06.839 Panthers fans and and the people of the Carolinas. But 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:10.279 but what are we hearing um in in what role 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:13.320 he will play? You know? And bless his heart, p 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:15.479 J Walker is going to start this week. Don't know 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:17.800 where you're going, but I know anytime someone from North 0:06:17.839 --> 0:06:20.920 Carolina says bless his heart, I feel for PJ. Because 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.640 he was so excited about bringing the juice this week 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:27.480 and and having a change at quarterback might have done 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.040 some good. And now it's completely overshadowed, I think. And 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:33.680 they have all insisted PJ is going to start and 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:35.800 they're going to continue down that path because He's had 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.719 all the work this week after Sam's injury, so he's 0:06:39.760 --> 0:06:42.440 going to continue to start. It didn't bring Cam Newton 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:45.760 in here to not play, and I refuse to believe. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:47.919 I don't think Matt Rules gonna yell at me for 0:06:47.920 --> 0:06:50.840 giving away trade secrets. But I can't imagine a situation 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:53.359 where if they're at the goal line in Arizona on 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:55.800 Sunday and we don't see big old number one out 0:06:55.800 --> 0:06:59.120 there on the field. I mean, it's or not necessarily 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.279 even goal on. They brought him here to play, and 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:03.839 that's what matter All has said that he said, I 0:07:03.839 --> 0:07:07.120 didn't have not bringing not signing anyone. I'm not paying 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:09.960 anyone for them to bring energy to the locker room. 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.120 We are bringing everyone here to compete and that includes 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:15.520 ball and I can't, like I said, I just can't 0:07:15.560 --> 0:07:18.520 imagine a situation where, you know, and part of the 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.320 reason Cam didn't talk last night to all the people 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:23.640 who were here wanting to talk to Cam Newton was 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:26.360 he was holed up in meetings Matt, with Joe Brady, 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:29.920 with the offensive staff. And it wasn't so he could 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:32.440 just get caught up on a playbook. It's what you know, 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.120 that's one of those source my two eyes things. He 0:07:35.240 --> 0:07:39.560 gonna do something on Sunday, So well, stay tuned, get 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:45.440 your popcorn. Two eyes like that. I've got two sources right, 0:07:45.480 --> 0:07:50.880 one on the left one. Um, So for for context purposes, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:53.880 how long? I mean? Now, this is this is the 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:56.520 Panthers that he's rejoining, but it's a it's a new staff. 0:07:56.560 --> 0:07:58.920 He had a couple of months with the staff very 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:03.640 early on before or before both sides parted ways. Um, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.680 how long do you expect the average or the talented, 0:08:07.720 --> 0:08:10.040 however you want to put a quarterback who was coming 0:08:10.080 --> 0:08:13.360 in eight weeks since this season, nine weeks into the season? Um, 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:18.400 to take to learn the playbook? Um, the ready to 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:20.760 be to be ready to go out. And I can 0:08:20.800 --> 0:08:22.680 see what you're saying about, you know, potential goal line 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.920 situation packages. How long does that typically take when you're 0:08:25.960 --> 0:08:28.080 picking up somebody from the street. You know, the good 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:31.400 news is it's going to be quicker than a twenty 0:08:31.400 --> 0:08:34.640 two year old quarterback off the street. And that's or 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.679 a guy that can't use his legs right now. And 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:40.439 that's the thing that was interesting too yesterday when they 0:08:40.480 --> 0:08:43.079 compared it to Stefine Gilmour. I think it was Scott 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.040 who said it was like Stefine when he came in. 0:08:46.520 --> 0:08:49.160 He's thirty one years old, he's not twenty one anymore. 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:50.959 He's not as fast as he used to be. He's 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.920 coming off an injury. But because he knows where to go, 0:08:54.480 --> 0:08:58.760 he's a half step faster, because he doesn't spend time processing, 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:01.520 it's just knowledge that's in his head that he can 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:05.559 immediately put into play. And because Cam has I mean, 0:09:05.640 --> 0:09:08.720 I think that being in New England, a completely different 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:12.360 kind of system is going to help him because when 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:15.800 you learn things, your mind stays elastic, and you did 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.160 things a certain way for a long time, and then 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:20.160 you did it a completely new way, and now you're 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:22.280 coming back and doing things in a little more you know. 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:26.160 So I think that Cam's experience and Cam's ability to 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:28.400 pick things up on the fly are going to be helpful. 0:09:28.480 --> 0:09:32.360 But I think mostly he's always been an instinctive player, 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.800 even in the even in the Mike Schouler days, he 0:09:34.880 --> 0:09:38.480 always looked best in rhythm situations in two minute when 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.160 he could improvise a little bit. And and I don't 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:43.440 think that they are just drawing place up in the 0:09:43.480 --> 0:09:46.600 dirt for Cam. But I think there, you know, that's 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:48.640 when he's always been at his best. And I think 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:51.400 they recognize and and part of the thing that's cool 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:54.920 in this situation is at least two guys we're there 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:57.680 when he was improvising, you know, d J. Moore knows 0:09:57.720 --> 0:10:00.440 what's happening when Cam does this, and Cam knows what's 0:10:00.440 --> 0:10:02.880 happening when, you know, and the other guy and the 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:05.200 other guy. You know, when when Christian comes to the 0:10:05.200 --> 0:10:07.360 line and he's looking at a linebacker and he's gonna 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.280 go this way, that way or that way, Cam knows 0:10:09.320 --> 0:10:11.280 which way he's gonna go, and he's going to throw 0:10:11.320 --> 0:10:13.960 the ball before he makes that move. And that's something 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:16.160 that you know, isn't in a playbook, That's not something 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:18.240 you get from just studying film. That's because these two 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:20.560 guys have done it before, um, and I think that 0:10:20.600 --> 0:10:22.839 has value, you know at the outset you Oh, by 0:10:22.880 --> 0:10:26.880 the way, they ran forty seven times for two D 0:10:27.120 --> 0:10:31.360 three yards in Atlanta with Chuba Hubbard, Amir Abdullah, Royce 0:10:31.440 --> 0:10:34.640 Freeman and Sam Donald. Well, you reckon they're gonna do it. 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:39.240 Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton. I mean, that's that's the thing. 0:10:42.520 --> 0:10:45.320 But if you want to run and if Matt's leaning 0:10:45.320 --> 0:10:49.040 into and he and he is, He's the whole rationale 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.920 for this is his defense is playing too well to 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.520 just offer it up. We gotta do everything we can 0:10:54.600 --> 0:10:56.920 to support a defense that's number two in the league, 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.000 playing at a high level of special teams, that's really improved. 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:03.760 Do anything you can offensibly to support it. And when 0:11:03.800 --> 0:11:06.160 he's already talked about we want to run the ball, 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.640 we want to support those guys. You just brought in 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:12.400 the best running quarterback in NFL history. You rest your case. 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.400 I don't even have anything to say about I mean 0:11:14.600 --> 0:11:16.080 the weight. Tarren looked at me. He looked at me 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.440 right in the eye, and he had his like his 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:22.439 fingers steepled, And I was like, yes, what would you say? Yeah, 0:11:22.520 --> 0:11:26.120 I don't even you made your point. I agree, case closed? 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.160 What UM. I would love to talk to you guys though, 0:11:30.240 --> 0:11:32.880 about what it looks like behind the scenes when you 0:11:32.920 --> 0:11:37.280 have historic news like this breaking. I find it fascinating. Um, 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.840 even though I was here and and focused on my 0:11:39.880 --> 0:11:42.080 own stuff, and in that sense, you guys are really 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:48.319 on um. Just the rapid response team you're publishing the news. 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:50.120 I mean, it's going up on the web, it's going 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:52.280 out on on social and you've got to find the 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:56.560 right tone for it. What was yesterday? Like, well, they're 0:11:56.640 --> 0:12:00.080 obviously you're you're perfect. You're put in a situation and 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:02.920 where you have to you have to be prepared, but 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.560 you have to be prepared to have everything changed at 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:10.360 the moment's notice. Um So, for me, once, once this 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.120 became a possibility, you know, once this became a thing, 0:12:13.440 --> 0:12:18.360 I went through multiple iterations of what the thumbnail for 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:20.880 an article that eventually was read a hundred and eighty 0:12:20.880 --> 0:12:23.200 five thousand times. And for anyone who does a thumbnail 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.079 small picture, you know, just in case right, and and 0:12:26.480 --> 0:12:28.800 you know, figuring out all right, what's the you know 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:31.920 what version of cam? You know, is it running cam, 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.600 celebrating cam, throwing cam, you know, all these different things. 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:36.480 Oh my god, well when he throws, his body is 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.680 like this, so his arms are no longer in the frame. 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:40.640 I mean, all of these things you just don't even 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.280 think about that you're dealing with it, like you know, 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:44.240 six in the morning that you're trying to work through. 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.360 And and then for us, just yeah, figuring out timing 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.640 and then when it happened, it's a go, go go, 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.360 and you have you know, five six seven different things 0:12:53.360 --> 0:12:55.040 that are going through all these different channels. We were 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:58.960 all sitting together and it was like, Okay, push copylink, 0:12:59.160 --> 0:13:02.600 send you know, Twitter out, you know, push notification on app, 0:13:02.679 --> 0:13:06.280 next article, uh, gallery videos, you know, and then it's 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.120 what's the tag or what's the what's the copy for Twitter? 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:11.959 You know, it's Darren working through this is how we 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.680 should say this or wait, let's you know, let's tweak 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.280 that a little bit. You know. All of those things 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:18.559 were something that it was cool because some of the 0:13:18.600 --> 0:13:21.640 people we've have here are new and they were watching 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.720 those of us that had done this when we release cam, 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:30.160 when Luke retired, when when you signed stuff on Gilmour, 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.960 or when you know you you hire that rule and 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.079 those moments when it's so much pressure and you know 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.200 the world is about to look at you and you 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:41.000 have to do it exactly right. Um. And I think 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:43.640 that I think it was a really cool thing to 0:13:43.679 --> 0:13:45.920 continue to go through with people that you've gone through 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.520 it before, because it just continues to build those bonds 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:51.800 that are kind of hard to describe. Yeah, everyone coming 0:13:51.800 --> 0:13:55.160 together team atmosphere. It really is. And and I remember 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:57.920 one line it's always stuck in my head. Ted Williams, 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.400 the Baseball Hall of Fame or maybe maybe the greatest 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:02.960 hitter of all time. And I asked him how you 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:06.360 hit a baseball and he said, it's all about wait, wait, wait, quick, quick, quick, 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:10.800 And that's what yesterday was like. It was preparation. It 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:14.120 was you know, and again there's no point b s 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:16.760 and people. We had a little you know, you know 0:14:16.920 --> 0:14:19.560 the team is doing certain things. You know the team 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:23.440 is looking in certain directions, but you have to prepare 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:26.240 for a lot more than just one narrow thing at 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.840 one narrow moment. Will and I have a content graveyard 0:14:29.880 --> 0:14:32.440 of stories that we've prepared that have never gone to press. 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.200 And you can't you knew it was moving in a 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.160 certain direction. You've got stuff lined up, you've got stuff prepared, 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.600 but you don't know when, and you don't know how, 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.240 and you don't know what the tone is going to be, 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.120 and you don't know if it's the terms are too 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:50.320 and we didn't know those things because they still didn't 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:52.760 know all those things. I mean, this thing evolved. It 0:14:52.840 --> 0:14:55.880 went from Tuesday night and initial conversation between Matt and 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.800 Camp two. Then they talked numbers, and then they get 0:14:59.800 --> 0:15:02.800 to a place and then they arranged for Cam to 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:06.000 fly up here on Thursday morning, and then Cam's gotta 0:15:06.040 --> 0:15:09.720 sit down with Dave and work through some of the 0:15:09.840 --> 0:15:12.760 stuff from a year and a half ago and what 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:14.640 it's gonna look like on the other side and what 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.640 the expectations are for the next couple of months. So 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.600 you know, all those things were happening without me and 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.680 Will knowing what was being said in that room or 0:15:24.720 --> 0:15:26.960 how it was going or what the tone was. So 0:15:27.120 --> 0:15:30.200 you weren't in the room with Cam and Daves enough. No, 0:15:30.920 --> 0:15:33.080 uh yeah, Will was actually the one that took the 0:15:33.120 --> 0:15:35.600 picture of Dave and Cam in the driveway as far 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:39.360 as you know. So I have a story just for 0:15:39.400 --> 0:15:42.120 the podcast listeners, and no one, y'all can't tell anyone 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.160 got this, So don't tell anyone this. This is a 0:15:44.160 --> 0:15:46.880 fun This is Will for thirty seconds going into a 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.360 very very nerdy place, and I'm just gonna do it 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.560 real quick. So well they're used to it. You don't 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:55.160 have to. Everyone knows. So when when back in one 0:15:55.240 --> 0:15:57.360 Cam was released, Um, one of the things I did, 0:15:57.440 --> 0:16:00.960 you know, obviously Cam's bio is linked in thousands and 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.720 thousands of place over the world of the Internet. And 0:16:04.040 --> 0:16:07.200 when you release someone, you take your bio off the website. 0:16:07.360 --> 0:16:10.120 All of a sudden, all those links are dead for 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.160 four error page cannot be found. Those aren't good for 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:17.120 websites when you have page errors. So what I did 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.440 was I set up a redirect through the league for 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.080 whenever and someone clicks on this link that was Cam's bio, 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:24.960 it just redirects to the roster, so it fired to 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:28.080 this news you're saying, so like Africa after that happened 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.680 in so the last two years, anytime that cams just redirect, 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:38.120 will staff mean yeah, so you know, so it helps 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:39.520 it helps your s c O. You know, all those 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:41.960 sort of things to not have four or four you know, 0:16:42.040 --> 0:16:45.160 page errors. Well, some somewhere along the line in the 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.800 last forty eight hours I remembered if we're about to 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:51.360 republish Cam's bio, that redirect has to be taken off, 0:16:52.080 --> 0:16:54.320 and that goes through someone at the League. That goes 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:57.680 through someone else. Obviously, you have to be careful about 0:16:58.000 --> 0:17:00.160 who you're telling or you know how before this thing 0:17:00.200 --> 0:17:03.920 really gets out. So on Thursday. Once things start going 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.760 in a direction that you know, it's kind of out 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.480 there in the media. I sent in the request of hey, 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.639 we need to take this redirect off, and they're like, yeah, sure, great, 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:15.560 you know, thirty minutes later, nothing, forty five minutes later, Yeah, 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:17.720 we're still working on it. You know, as we're getting 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.240 close to doing this, it should be down to the 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:21.320 next ten minutes. I'm like, I don't know if I 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:23.639 have ten. While this is going on, will looks like 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:26.400 one of those cartoon thermometers where the red just keeps 0:17:26.400 --> 0:17:28.160 going up and up and up, and you see these 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:30.480 waves of heat. I bet the glasses were on, the 0:17:30.520 --> 0:17:35.639 glasses were off it. There were stress. So they somehow 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:37.760 it all worked out. They literally got it down minutes 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:39.720 before we went live with everything. And they didn't know, 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.600 they didn't know our timeline. They're like, yes, you know, 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:46.360 they're just people. Yeah, sure, hold on in, Charlotte needs 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:49.199 us to push this button. When can we do that? Well, 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:53.400 let's see, I got a breakfast meeting and quick zoom call. 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:58.280 I did have some people on Twitter got a kick 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.480 out of seeing him back on the raw, her with 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:03.760 his Patriots headshot in a Panthers Jersey. We do what 0:18:03.840 --> 0:18:06.600 we gotta do until until we can get that head shut. 0:18:07.280 --> 0:18:10.280 I want to close with with one thing that both 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.600 Will and I got to see yesterday. Again, this is 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:16.239 just for the podcast listeners. So, um, when Cam got 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:19.879 to the stadium and after his meeting with Dave and 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:25.440 before all the everything started, before the physicals and uh 0:18:25.480 --> 0:18:27.880 the you know shaking hands and the meetings with Fitterer 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:32.479 and and everyone in rule. Um, we just kind of 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.400 heard that he was going out or he was out 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:38.240 on the field right like I'm walking past my office 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:40.399 and also here Gams on the field. Cam's on the field, 0:18:40.800 --> 0:18:43.240 and there might have been five or six of us 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:47.480 that saw it total, um, and Will you have much 0:18:47.560 --> 0:18:51.359 more of a historical perspective on what he did. But 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.320 I got to see it too my first time in 0:18:53.359 --> 0:18:56.080 the building. Um, since he's been here, you know, working 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.400 with him. Um, I mean as a fan of course, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.920 and I've I've met him several times. But you know, 0:19:00.960 --> 0:19:02.840 I think and I was looking back at sight traffic 0:19:02.840 --> 0:19:06.919 in are two biggest days where Panthers released Cam Newton 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:09.840 and Panthers higher Kristen Balbona within like a week of 0:19:09.840 --> 0:19:14.480 each other. Quiet all right? Um, yes, yes, one free 0:19:14.480 --> 0:19:18.000 agency signing to place the other. Yeah, of course corresponding 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.560 move I think, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. Yes, Um, but I 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:23.399 don't want to. I don't want to, you know, upset 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:25.160 Cam on his way back. So obviously I didn't wait 0:19:25.200 --> 0:19:28.600 better traffic than that, you know. Um, but but what 0:19:28.640 --> 0:19:31.360 do we see? Like? It was awesome? So I'll preface 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:33.800 with this. Growing up, I was that kid that like 0:19:33.880 --> 0:19:37.359 imagined running out through the backyard into like the super 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.600 Bowl tunnel. You know, you like put on like Eminem's 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:43.399 lose yourself like. I played it literally for three hours 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:47.080 on a drive up to a Panthers game in middle school. Parents. Yeah, 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:50.119 I mean, on on on, you know, headsets or whatever. 0:19:50.359 --> 0:19:53.479 In just like imagining like a movie of you know, 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:57.479 highlights or magical things. You're just everything you grew up 0:19:57.480 --> 0:19:59.960 thinking about sports in that like Final five Minutes or 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:03.239 remember the Titans or whatever movie that just moves you. 0:20:04.040 --> 0:20:07.440 Cam is the embodiment of that. In real life, it's 0:20:07.480 --> 0:20:11.000 called on TikTok. It's called the main character. There you go, 0:20:11.160 --> 0:20:15.360 ye and so Cam before every game, um, in during 0:20:15.400 --> 0:20:17.600 the warm up section before guys, put on their paths. 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.720 You know, kickers are out there kicking, people are running around. 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.320 There's trainers shagging balls. And Cam would go from one 0:20:23.400 --> 0:20:25.800 end zone to the other, just taking the ball and 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:28.199 like dribbling it, and it always would bounce back in 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:30.040