Speaker 1: Merry Christmas and Groupies, we get into some of our
Speaker 1: favorite Christmas traditions and we recap some big news frame
Speaker 1: member of the group Chat, it's me. I'm the one
Speaker 1: with the big news. We gotta give him a lot
Speaker 1: of credit. This was not just a like Caroline makes
Speaker 1: it sound like he's got no time. He made himself
Speaker 1: some time to prepare for this. This is an intricate
Speaker 1: plan that involved multiple steps. Multiple people came in for it.
Speaker 1: So Parks just want to give you a big round
Speaker 1: of applause from all of us here. And then we
Speaker 1: put together our Carolina Panthers at Christmas list. I want
Speaker 1: flashing lights at night games when we score touchdowns. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: it's kind of copycatting everyone. Really, we have those things
Speaker 1: and so much more on this episode of the Group Chat.
Speaker 1: You've been added to the group Chat with your friends Caroline, Can,
Speaker 1: Max Sensen, and Will Brian. Merry Christmas, Groupies. Can we
Speaker 1: believe it's already here, that it's Christmas? You've been preparing
Speaker 1: for Christmas? First, I've been in the Christmas spirit really
Speaker 1: since I moved here, since May. It's been Christmas. But no,
Speaker 1: I did put my Christmas tree up. What everyone thinks
Speaker 1: is too early, but really I've just been more joyful,
Speaker 1: more happy, more full of the holiday spirit than everyone else.
Speaker 1: So welcome, guys. This is what it felt like for
Speaker 1: me for the past six Back in July, she was
Speaker 1: getting ready. We just we just turned down the air
Speaker 1: conditioning at Watford and it felt very cold. Ye. No,
Speaker 1: I did put my Christmas tree up this year before Halloween,
Speaker 1: which was a new ear, a new early for me.
Speaker 1: But I didn't have any Halloween plans, so that's kind
Speaker 1: of skipped over that one. But everyone, welcome to the
Speaker 1: Christmas edition of the group chat. We are all excited
Speaker 1: for Christmas because it's the best time of the year.
Speaker 1: That's what I say. Maybe the other guys disagree. But
Speaker 1: if you don't like Christmas, if you don't like the
Speaker 1: holiday spirit, get out, Matt. Do you like it? My
Speaker 1: favorite is Thanksgiving? But Christmas is I'm just kidding. He's gone,
Speaker 1: all right? Well did invite him in? Why? Why did
Speaker 1: I extend the invitation and early invite and early exit?
Speaker 1: Oh man, No, but it is. We're excited for Christmas.
Speaker 1: We're excited for the last week of this season. And
Speaker 1: don't take that the wrong way out. There groupies that
Speaker 1: I'm excited for the season to end. That's not what
Speaker 1: I mean. But it is one last final home game
Speaker 1: for the Carolina Panthers, and we're going to get into
Speaker 1: the game a little bit coming up. But first, let's
Speaker 1: talk about Christmas and just how wonderful. Let's if it's
Speaker 1: this time of year, holidays, a lot of love, lots
Speaker 1: of love. You know, it's it's kind of this is
Speaker 1: this the most popular time here where people, you know,
Speaker 1: get down on a knee and pop a question. It's
Speaker 1: a good time of year. I have seen a lot
Speaker 1: of couples get engaged. I have seen one couple in
Speaker 1: particular get engaged that it was me, Guys, yeah I
Speaker 1: got engaged. If you haven't heard the news yet, where
Speaker 1: have you been? I think you're living under a rock
Speaker 1: because it was the news of the weekend, before it
Speaker 1: was before the game. It was yeah, you just showed
Speaker 1: the Gerald McCoy literally just like having a dance party.
Speaker 1: As soon as he found out and saw you, I
Speaker 1: was very, very surprised. I did have a small hunch
Speaker 1: and everyone has asked that, how did you not see
Speaker 1: it coming? Because we talked about that this wouldn't happen
Speaker 1: until after the season. So my fiance, now I can
Speaker 1: say that he, if you don't know, is a coach
Speaker 1: for the Indianapolis Colts. So I never thought it would
Speaker 1: happen in season because they live, breathe, eat, sleep football,
Speaker 1: and there's no time. He would get home late at night,
Speaker 1: get up in the morning going to the office. I
Speaker 1: wasn't thinking at all that he was he was going
Speaker 1: to propose. So he got me really really good on Saturday,
Speaker 1: December one. Because you're listening, groupie, he's a big groupie.
Speaker 1: We gotta give him a lot of credit. This was
Speaker 1: not just a like Caroline makes it sound like he's
Speaker 1: got no time. He made himself some time to prepare
Speaker 1: for this. This is an intricate plan that involved multiple steps.
Speaker 1: Multiple people came in for it. So Parks just want
Speaker 1: to give you a big round of applause from all
Speaker 1: of us here at Bank America Stadium. That was very,
Speaker 1: very well done. He did such a good job. The
Speaker 1: best part was, you know how every girl, this is
Speaker 1: what I've heard, we start giving nudges like you just
Speaker 1: you know, hints here They're like, hey, buddy, when you
Speaker 1: gonna ask or know how to buy ring or do
Speaker 1: you know all of these things that females think we
Speaker 1: know all about. The best part was I started to
Speaker 1: do this in the last couple of weeks, knowing that
Speaker 1: the season was coming to an end, and the way
Speaker 1: that he was talking about it when we would talk,
Speaker 1: I genuinely didn't think he knew how to even buy
Speaker 1: a rink. I was thinking, Oh, my gosh, how do
Speaker 1: I how he got some help from a friend of yours?
Speaker 1: Is that right? He did? Yeah? So smart man, that's part.
Speaker 1: So I started talking about this at the beginning of December.
Speaker 1: He had already started this process at the beginning of October.
Speaker 1: So he made me eat all of my words and
Speaker 1: it was hilarious. And all of my friends and family
Speaker 1: have known since October. So everyone, you've been hiding this
Speaker 1: secret for I know, props to my dad because my
Speaker 1: dad cannot keep a secret. And he almost he almost
Speaker 1: blew it. He almost gave it away a week before
Speaker 1: and it made my intendants go up a little bit
Speaker 1: of like could it happen? But he didn't blow it.
Speaker 1: No one did, and he come really surprised me. All
Speaker 1: I thought I was doing was going to pick him
Speaker 1: up from work because when I'm up there visiting him
Speaker 1: in season, i'd take his car during the day. Well,
Speaker 1: he's at work, so I dropped him off at five
Speaker 1: thirty in the morning, and I come pick him up
Speaker 1: whenever he's done. And on Saturday, that was at around
Speaker 1: two thirty, and I showed up and I was not
Speaker 1: just picking him up. So then everything when it was
Speaker 1: it was a multiple stop. He took me to different
Speaker 1: places around Indianapolis that um, well he did it. He
Speaker 1: sent me there, and then at each location there were
Speaker 1: five different locations. And at each location, I have different locations.
Speaker 1: I mean, like this is a this is the real deal.
Speaker 1: I'm writing taking just honestly, men out there take notes.
Speaker 1: He's seeming to different locations, and at every location was
Speaker 1: a different part of my family, his family or my
Speaker 1: best friends. And then at the final location where my
Speaker 1: best friends and they sent me around the corner and
Speaker 1: that's where he was, and then he proposed and boom,
Speaker 1: we're engaged. Just like that. Boom as the adrenaline rush
Speaker 1: still in full force. Have you started like come down
Speaker 1: a little bit or is it still like cloud nine? No,
Speaker 1: it's still cloud nine. Him and I were talking about that.
Speaker 1: Actually this morning because when we left each other, normally,
Speaker 1: when we would leave each other, it was so sad
Speaker 1: and it was just the worst feeling. But we left
Speaker 1: my name. I left Indianapolis Monday morning to come back.
Speaker 1: We were just so happy. We were like, okay, Like
Speaker 1: now now starts the actual planing of Okay, we get
Speaker 1: to plan the actual wedding day, but then make plans
Speaker 1: to be together for the rest of our lives. And
Speaker 1: it's not just talking about it anymore. So I think
Speaker 1: that was no, We're still in cloud nine. I wake
Speaker 1: up in the morning and I haven't taken the ring
Speaker 1: off since I got it, and so I'll like wake
Speaker 1: up in the morning and I posted it on my Instagram.
Speaker 1: It feels like, you know when Miss America she wins
Speaker 1: and then she takes that photo with the crown on
Speaker 1: and the sash on, like she just woke up. She's
Speaker 1: living her dream, Like I get it. I wake up
Speaker 1: and I'm like, oh, yeah, we're still engaged, Like we yeah,
Speaker 1: this is real, that really happened. So I've hung the
Speaker 1: cliche we are engaged banner in my apartment. But yeah,
Speaker 1: so that person, I feel like it was ten episodes
Speaker 1: ago where you were literally unable to even mention that
Speaker 1: you were dating him. It's so weird. I know, I know,
Speaker 1: it was a weird thing. You know, when something means
Speaker 1: so much to you, you get weird about sharing it.
Speaker 1: That was how I felt with him and I because
Speaker 1: a lot of my life is on display for many people,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people that I know nothing about
Speaker 1: their lives, they know a lot about my life. So
Speaker 1: I was very protective about this piece of my life.
Speaker 1: But now it's like, well, you better get on board
Speaker 1: and know about him because he's going to be around
Speaker 1: for the rest of my life. So or as we've seen,
Speaker 1: it's you better get off board now this might be
Speaker 1: this is a great part. So for all of you
Speaker 1: on social media that I it has been so great
Speaker 1: and wonderful, and thank you so much for reaching out
Speaker 1: on social media and saying such fine things. But for
Speaker 1: the two hundred of you that decided to un follow
Speaker 1: me on Instagram the day that I posted that I
Speaker 1: was engaged, see you later, socause I appreciate the transparency
Speaker 1: of why you were following me, the reality of moving
Speaker 1: forward that you have no shot. So the mikes picked
Speaker 1: that up. That was a loud, loud that was that
Speaker 1: didn't know that that happened. People unfollowed me on Instagram
Speaker 1: on Sunday, the day I posted about being in k
Speaker 1: It's is just so funny. I'm sure. I don't don't
Speaker 1: think Parks on mind that too much. No. I I
Speaker 1: showed him last night. I was like, is this not
Speaker 1: the funniest thing you've ever seen? He was like, I mean,
Speaker 1: we know, but now we know that that's your fault.
Speaker 1: But yes, thank you guys so much for bringing that up.
Speaker 1: I do love talking about it, but it is one
Speaker 1: of those things I don't know if other people like
Speaker 1: talking about it, so I will talk about it all
Speaker 1: day long. So thank you for bringing it up. But
Speaker 1: now we can talk about Christmas. I still think I
Speaker 1: win Christmas. A really Parks wins Christmas. Also, I got
Speaker 1: him a jacket for Christmas? Is that that kind of
Speaker 1: funny and ironic? I was feeling and ear ring, so
Speaker 1: he threw me off the scent we celebrated Christmas. I
Speaker 1: will not see him this week. We celebrated Christmas actually
Speaker 1: on Friday night, and he gave me a pair of
Speaker 1: very nice ear rings. Yeah. Man, we are making Parks
Speaker 1: sound like the greatest guy. Ever pretty much, very nice
Speaker 1: beautiful hoop diamond earrings. And I was like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: thank you so much as the best guy, and I
Speaker 1: even laughed about it. Then I was like, babe, I
Speaker 1: got you a jacket, a black jean jacket, which is
Speaker 1: so cool, but a black jean jacket and then a
Speaker 1: little a little pendent thing like you know. I thought
Speaker 1: it was a pretty good gift. But then he gave
Speaker 1: me the ear rings and I was like, wow, thank
Speaker 1: you so much. And I was like, okay, well, maybe
Speaker 1: he does know how to buy ring because he knows
Speaker 1: how to do Okay, right, all right, We're fine. Maybe
Speaker 1: he has talked to a jeweler because these obviously came
Speaker 1: from a jewelery. Four hours later. Yeah, And he said
Speaker 1: that he was just dying inside, as you know, as
Speaker 1: we're like getting ready for bed and going to sleep.
Speaker 1: Of like, he has no idea, and he did. He
Speaker 1: threw me off the scent. Apparently that was his mother's recommendation.
Speaker 1: He was like, Mom, I think she's she's catching online.
Speaker 1: I don't know. She said a couple of things. She
Speaker 1: was like she was like jewelry, get her jewlry for Christmas,
Speaker 1: and she won't know, and I didn't know. So he
Speaker 1: got me diamond earrings and big old diamond rings. So
Speaker 1: and I got him a black jean jacket. Love you, babe. Yeah,
Speaker 1: So sorry about that, Parks. I'll try and I'll try
Speaker 1: and get you something a little bit more cool. I
Speaker 1: said yes, though, that's a that's you said yes, which
Speaker 1: is really all he wanted for Christmas, I said, I
Speaker 1: said yes. But so I officially, or maybe Parks officially
Speaker 1: wins Christmas unless one of you has a secret that
Speaker 1: you haven't been telling us for the last couple of days.
Speaker 1: But I do want to hear. Do you want to hear?
Speaker 1: What are you looking for to most about this week
Speaker 1: in Christmas? Well? Is this? Do we want to do
Speaker 1: Christmas memories? Now? It's just a good time to talk
Speaker 1: about Christmas is past. Yeah, well let's why don't you
Speaker 1: kick us off here? What what's what's one of your
Speaker 1: favorite Christmas memories? So this is this is gonna sound
Speaker 1: pretty funny to be on a Carolina Panthers podcast. But
Speaker 1: I think when I was six or seven, I got
Speaker 1: like the full jersey pants, shoulder pads, helmet, plastic for
Speaker 1: Choy Aikman and I was just you know, I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I have to uh two sisters that are a lot older,
Speaker 1: and they were kind of like off um like with
Speaker 1: with their family at this point, and I'm just like
Speaker 1: running around the backyard by myself, growing passes to myself
Speaker 1: as joy and then running into trees to try to
Speaker 1: see how could the shoulder pads were. Yeah. I just
Speaker 1: learned a lot about you in this moment, like not
Speaker 1: not really an only child, but kind of an only child,
Speaker 1: but you're also the baby, which makes a lot of sense, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they're sixteen years older than me. Yeah, I just I
Speaker 1: thought it was so cool to have pads on, and
Speaker 1: so I was just running into things, into trees, lowering,
Speaker 1: lowering my helmet, very very poor form. Yeah, it would
Speaker 1: have been ejected from the game, Yes, absolutely, Troy Aikman.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so then you know, flash forward several years
Speaker 1: later and you know, when you're working for the team,
Speaker 1: he's covering a game. We have any photos, Well, that'd
Speaker 1: be good to see some photos of you, and I'm
Speaker 1: not sure, Yeah, but yeah, that's a good. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: funny you say that. I guess it's it's telling that
Speaker 1: we are both sitting where we are right now because
Speaker 1: one thing I always remember about UM leading up to
Speaker 1: Christmas in the holiday season, what I wanted. I would
Speaker 1: get the NFL Shop um like brochure in the mail
Speaker 1: every year, and there was a page that had all
Speaker 1: the jerseys on it, and that was that was the
Speaker 1: one thing I wanted every year was in New Jersey.
Speaker 1: And I made some horrible jersey choices over the years,
Speaker 1: some really bad ones, like I would always pick a
Speaker 1: guy who would then get like traded or without a
Speaker 1: new team, like the very next year, like I gotta
Speaker 1: I got like a Terrell Owens Niners jersey right before
Speaker 1: he went to his next team, which was maybe like
Speaker 1: the Eagle. Yeah, something like that. UM with Danny and Tomlinson.
Speaker 1: Same thing, which is a cool jersey still Danni and
Speaker 1: Thomlinson Chargers still pretty cool. Eventually I just started to
Speaker 1: go to like the throwback which they came out with
Speaker 1: those kind of like vintage and I really like this one.
Speaker 1: This was a Oiler's Earl Campbell jersey, like the baby Blue.
Speaker 1: I was really proud of that one. UM. So yeah,
Speaker 1: I was always a Jersey guy. That was the gift
Speaker 1: I wanted. So now I've got some that are just
Speaker 1: do you still have them? Oh yeah, they're still Like
Speaker 1: my mom is desperate to get rid of them, and
Speaker 1: I just won't let her because there's something that like there.
Speaker 1: It's cool to me. Oh yeah, here's nothing. I like
Speaker 1: Plexico Burris right before the whole like the thing. It's
Speaker 1: like he's serious, but that's cool to have. Where you
Speaker 1: were like a trading card guy. I was. I was
Speaker 1: big into trading cards, big into that. UM got like
Speaker 1: books and and then I would get like the magazine
Speaker 1: that would like tell you how much they were worth.
Speaker 1: So you like set up like the spreadsheet and like, oh,
Speaker 1: I have five dollars worth of cards. And you would
Speaker 1: get the ones that had like a little like game
Speaker 1: Warn Jersey Patch on it, more like the autograph on it.
Speaker 1: Those were always really cool. Yeah there's some, there's some,
Speaker 1: you know, and like so my era of like having
Speaker 1: them was kind of like kind of like like Smitty Moose,
Speaker 1: I remember having like bake It's kind of like early
Speaker 1: two thousands. Mine was more like nineties, And I would
Speaker 1: offer a lot of times. Family would get me once
Speaker 1: that they would just like see in the grocery store,
Speaker 1: not necessarily like tops or whatever that had all the licenses,
Speaker 1: so you'd get these cards and they'd photoshop all the
Speaker 1: logos off of them. So it's just like a guy
Speaker 1: with a blue jersey and like a white helmet, and
Speaker 1: it's just like who is that? Like what is what
Speaker 1: is this? Like how do they get how do they
Speaker 1: take pictures without the helmet on? Other random Christmas memory,
Speaker 1: I remember being at that age where I was just
Speaker 1: old enough to kind of start figuring out what it
Speaker 1: was all about, you know, And we were at like
Speaker 1: a friend's house and one of my friend's dad's dressed
Speaker 1: up as Santa and was supposed to be kind of like,
Speaker 1: you know, a big oh, I here's Santa, but I
Speaker 1: could tell who it was, and so that was weird,
Speaker 1: kind of like him coming in and like really trying
Speaker 1: to sell it, but then also being like, I know,
Speaker 1: I know who you are. You're not fooling you know,
Speaker 1: Mr Stevens. So that always just kind of sticks out,
Speaker 1: is like him really trying hard and he did a
Speaker 1: nice job, but I was at that point where I
Speaker 1: was like, I can't get this one past. My favorite
Speaker 1: memory the memory is growing up is my mom always
Speaker 1: made breakfast cast roles you're not a breakfast okay, so
Speaker 1: we actually she had to make two because my brother
Speaker 1: loved his with bacon, and I love bacon by itself.
Speaker 1: I don't like bacon on or in other things. So
Speaker 1: she made a sausage one for me. So it's like sausage, eggs,
Speaker 1: a little bit of gravy. Um. I don't even know.
Speaker 1: I never made it. Yeah, there's there's cheese in it.
Speaker 1: But then mine, I liked the bread at the bottom.
Speaker 1: My brothers was the bread at the top, So completely
Speaker 1: different ones. And I actually have not been home for
Speaker 1: Christmas in four years because of working in sports, we
Speaker 1: just don't really get to do that. And then being
Speaker 1: an indie like we do here, we got half of Christmas,
Speaker 1: even Christmas Day off, so it wasn't enough for me
Speaker 1: to go home. So I am going home for Christmas,
Speaker 1: and I'm so excited about the breakfast cast good for you.
Speaker 1: I'm excited. And I've never been home for Christmas while
Speaker 1: my two nieces have been alive, so I haven't been
Speaker 1: able to see their joy on Christmas. Is that that
Speaker 1: the best part of Christmas? When the little kids get
Speaker 1: to open that's the best. So I'm excited they do
Speaker 1: Christmas at their house with Santa to see what he brought,
Speaker 1: but then they come over to my parents house, so
Speaker 1: we'll do Christmas afternoon together. So I'm so excited about
Speaker 1: that for this week. Was the best gift we are
Speaker 1: going to get to football? Just hang with us. What's
Speaker 1: the best gift you ever got? I don't know that
Speaker 1: I have one that immediate. Do you have one that's like? Yeah?
Speaker 1: When I got that is when I completely lost my mind.
Speaker 1: I was so crazy excited. There was a bike one
Speaker 1: year because I didn't get like big gifts, and that
Speaker 1: was like that was a big one. Yeah, I don't
Speaker 1: know do you do you have? I just have one
Speaker 1: year that I vividly remember that. Okay, let's hear Santa
Speaker 1: brought me a scooter, a Razor scooter in a boombox.
Speaker 1: So I remember going out in the driveway and in
Speaker 1: the South, you can go out and it's seventy you know,
Speaker 1: So we had the boom box going and my parents
Speaker 1: that year got me an in Sync CD. So I
Speaker 1: was playing the insnc C D and my boom box
Speaker 1: on my scooter driving around the driveway and it was
Speaker 1: if you had to guess what song you were playing
Speaker 1: what would it be? Would be the track that you
Speaker 1: It was the No Strings Attached album, so it was,
Speaker 1: you know, one of those all of them big in
Speaker 1: sync fan right here. I mean, I know a lot
Speaker 1: of words to in sinc songs and not go. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know that I know the particular songs on
Speaker 1: that album. I'm sure if you said what they were,
Speaker 1: I would. Yeah, I didn't look that up for this podcast. Sorry.
Speaker 1: Were you into Backstreet Boys too? Are just? And I
Speaker 1: didn't have a favorite? I wasn't. I didn't a lot
Speaker 1: of people like Backstreet Boys all the way. No, it
Speaker 1: was kind of a rivalry. It was one or the other,
Speaker 1: but I like, I loved them both. I do not
Speaker 1: hate any boy band. So I was that kid. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that's just the one. I just remember that one. I'm
Speaker 1: sure there were other Christmas is where I got other
Speaker 1: amazing gifts, but Razor scooter that's a big, huge My
Speaker 1: brother got one as well, so we were scooting around.
Speaker 1: It was very fun. My brother broke mine, not not his,
Speaker 1: he broke mines and so no, we don't have ours anymore.
Speaker 1: We have a gravel drive away down to you guys,
Speaker 1: don't remember a gift like one that just sticks out
Speaker 1: the bike. That's a good one. Yeah, that was a
Speaker 1: good one and in the class and like the big one.
Speaker 1: Like I got my first car on my birthday, So
Speaker 1: that was like the July one. But I remember so Carolin,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm not sure. So nineteen nine, yeah,
Speaker 1: that was. That was the winter after Hurricane Hugo, which
Speaker 1: some some of our listeners here in Charlotte would have remembered.
Speaker 1: It came through Charleston and then went straight up to
Speaker 1: Charlotte and Charlotte doesn't usually get hit by hurricanes, but
Speaker 1: it got hit by that one. So that Christmas was
Speaker 1: the biggest snowfall ever in like Charleston history. So it's
Speaker 1: literally like four months after the biggest hurricane hits, then
Speaker 1: it's like the biggest snowfall. How old are you at
Speaker 1: this point? I was three. Yeah, I was gonna say,
Speaker 1: but I distinctly will always remember that because like it
Speaker 1: was a white Christmas and we I've never had a
Speaker 1: white Christmas in the South other than that one, and
Speaker 1: so that was cool because we were like out, you know,
Speaker 1: in the snow and learning how to Like I had
Speaker 1: no idea what snow was It's incredible. Yeah, growing up
Speaker 1: in Jersey we had you right, you have some of those. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I was gonna say that eighty nine. I was like,
Speaker 1: I was born in eighty nine. I was like, how
Speaker 1: does will remember this? But three, I guess that was
Speaker 1: probably one of your first memories. That's about when it
Speaker 1: begins for you. You mentioned snow are graphic designer Kelly Streeter.
Speaker 1: She's super talented. She's from Florida, and she has never
Speaker 1: seen snowfall. She says that she has seen it on
Speaker 1: the ground before, She's never seen it. She's never seen it.
Speaker 1: Best she posted on her Instagram is still such a
Speaker 1: good story of a good Southern girl. She posted that
Speaker 1: it was snowing thirty minutes from here. She took a
Speaker 1: she took a screenshot of the map and it was like,
Speaker 1: oh my god, it's snowing thirty minutes from here. That
Speaker 1: just made me laugh. Hopefully she gets really hope. How
Speaker 1: about how about this to throw in a little Christmas
Speaker 1: stat guy, we love this. According to the Internet, I
Speaker 1: can't remember where I saw it, but over the last
Speaker 1: like hundred years, every single year Charlotte has had at
Speaker 1: least one snowfall of one inch, Like, there's not a
Speaker 1: lot of snow in Charlotte, but every single year there's
Speaker 1: been at least one big snowfall. Kelly, it's going to happen, happens,
Speaker 1: gonna happen. All right, Well, now there, we're twenty minutes
Speaker 1: into our Christmas podcast. Let's talk a little bit of
Speaker 1: Panthers football. So let's go into but let's keep it
Speaker 1: the Christmas theme here and let's go our Carolina Christmas list?
Speaker 1: What is on our list for the Carolina Panthers really
Speaker 1: just for this upcoming year? So these are going to
Speaker 1: be the gifts that keep on giving that we're not
Speaker 1: just going to get on one day, but we hope
Speaker 1: to get throughout the year. What do you guys want
Speaker 1: to see? Where to begin? Will? Are you gonna start
Speaker 1: this again? Let's have why don't you kick this? I'll
Speaker 1: go with one and then we can keep going. Let's
Speaker 1: just go around one by one. Right. So, one of
Speaker 1: the things I want to see and feel in everyone
Speaker 1: to experience is some fourth quarter optimism. I feel like
Speaker 1: over the last two years, there's just been these close
Speaker 1: games and it's just felt like, right, how how is
Speaker 1: this one gonna end? How is this one going to
Speaker 1: go south? You know, all those times at the goal line,
Speaker 1: all the different times that there's been a takeaway or
Speaker 1: you know, couldn't get a stop on third down, and
Speaker 1: it just feels so long ago those feelings of like, hey,
Speaker 1: we're gonna win this game, Like we're gonna win this
Speaker 1: game and it's going to be exciting and they I
Speaker 1: think you just haven't felt that in a while. I
Speaker 1: want to feel that again. Yeah, just just confidence, right right,
Speaker 1: I mean, just to feel like we're gonna do this,
Speaker 1: this is gonna end well. And I think that's I
Speaker 1: think that's one of the first things you want the
Speaker 1: next head coach, whoever it's going to be, of this team,
Speaker 1: is to inject some confidence since the entire organization, you know,
Speaker 1: and I think that's generally what a fresh face springs is.
Speaker 1: This is a new beginning. There's gonna be a lot
Speaker 1: of things said about what we're gonna do, how we're
Speaker 1: gonna do it, and that's a naturally, I think, going
Speaker 1: to get people excited. Um. And then I think once
Speaker 1: the game started get in it's a team that you
Speaker 1: just want to see play with confidence. I have not
Speaker 1: seen that in a long time. Yeah, um, I mean
Speaker 1: earlier in this season we saw it in parts, but yeah,
Speaker 1: right now, I think that this group you can just
Speaker 1: see in the body language out there. Um. And obviously
Speaker 1: the frustration is obvious when you hear these guys talk
Speaker 1: after games what's now been seven losses in a row.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't look like a confident group right now.
Speaker 1: And it's hard to win in this league when you
Speaker 1: lack that. And of course we've seen what confidence can
Speaker 1: do for a team, you know, fifteen season. I've never
Speaker 1: seen a group more confident than that one. I mean,
Speaker 1: you knew Wednesday Thursday coming off the practice field that
Speaker 1: team was getting ready to blow somebody out. Um. And
Speaker 1: that was rare and that was really special. But that's
Speaker 1: what this team is trying to get back to. Even
Speaker 1: as recently as seventeen seventeen, there's some great moments, just
Speaker 1: you know, great times here at the stadium where you
Speaker 1: just felt like, all right, close game against Minnesota, close
Speaker 1: game against Tampa Bay, here we go, we're gonna win
Speaker 1: this thing. And they did well. Obviously a lot of
Speaker 1: things play into feeling that way, like you're talking about.
Speaker 1: Here's one of them on my list is guys who
Speaker 1: can help this defense the run. I think that's defensively,
Speaker 1: there were such high expectations coming into the year. Obviously
Speaker 1: this group has has fallen way short of that. There
Speaker 1: are a lot of guys on expiring contracts going into
Speaker 1: the offseason, especially up front on the D line. UM,
Speaker 1: we don't know exactly what a new staff is going
Speaker 1: to envision as far as the scheme and all of that.
Speaker 1: Regardless of what you do, whether it's a three four
Speaker 1: four three, a hybrid of both, the first priority has
Speaker 1: got to be figuring out how to fix this run defense.
Speaker 1: UM and free agency, the draft, whatever it's going to
Speaker 1: take to bring in the right kind of guys to
Speaker 1: do that. We've seen that this team can rush the
Speaker 1: pastor at a high level, but you're putting yourself so
Speaker 1: far behind the eight ball if you cannot stop the run. Uh.
Speaker 1: And I think you know, as we've we've seen this
Speaker 1: team's confidence has really started to dissipate when a team
Speaker 1: is running it down their throat. UM. I think that's
Speaker 1: the quickest way to feel defeated on a football field
Speaker 1: is to have that happen to you. So that is
Speaker 1: a huge priority for me going into the off scene's
Speaker 1: growing out up front defensively, what is it going to
Speaker 1: take to make this group more effective and stop in
Speaker 1: the run? I'll piggyback off of that. I want a
Speaker 1: top ten pick. Feel pretty good about this one, But
Speaker 1: there is still the chance that the Panthers can land
Speaker 1: outside that top ten. And I even think when you
Speaker 1: look at what this team needs, I mean, everyone wants
Speaker 1: to be even higher in the draft at this point
Speaker 1: in this season. So if we're talking I believe they
Speaker 1: could go as high as six right now with the
Speaker 1: way that this last week could play out, But then
Speaker 1: they could also play themselves and other teams can help
Speaker 1: them play themselves out of a top ten pick. So
Speaker 1: I think when you talk about that run defense, or
Speaker 1: the offensive line and the DBS or the quarterback, all
Speaker 1: these different positions that we're going to be talking about
Speaker 1: for weeks and weeks and weeks this offseason and on
Speaker 1: into next next season, that that top ten pick is
Speaker 1: a big deal. And it begs the question, Caroline, if
Speaker 1: you get to like six, seven or eight and you
Speaker 1: think a quarterback right right, you would think so? And
Speaker 1: then and I think you know, you also have to
Speaker 1: look at the teams that are around you. This draft
Speaker 1: isn't super deep with quarterbacks. They never really are. But
Speaker 1: I don't think you're going to even find out a
Speaker 1: Will Greer in this draft, like like you did. Um,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, look, Russell Wilson,
Speaker 1: not a first round pick. Find this gym. Maybe there's
Speaker 1: a guy. You know. The thing about it is, it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter if thirty one other teams don't like a guy.
Speaker 1: If you do, then you go get your guy. I
Speaker 1: think it is. It's just gonna be fascinating with with
Speaker 1: the Panthers hiring a vice president football Operations and this
Speaker 1: assistant GM role, a lot of changes coming, and this
Speaker 1: top ten pick is very enticing for whoever that person
Speaker 1: is from the new coach that's coming in all of
Speaker 1: these things. So I want to top ten pick for Christmas.
Speaker 1: I want to see how that how that pays off
Speaker 1: the Panthers, and regardless of what position you go with
Speaker 1: the top ten picks, a huge asset to hatch. That
Speaker 1: would be nice. Alright, we'll read back to you. Yeah, So,
Speaker 1: going a little bit further afield from the on the
Speaker 1: field stuff, i'd like to get to know why. I'd
Speaker 1: like to get to know why and how. And I
Speaker 1: think part of that is hiring a new coach that
Speaker 1: selfishly embraces digital, embraces us. Oh, this is a good one,
Speaker 1: embraces pulling back the curtain a little bit and giving
Speaker 1: the fans some perspective on what's going on and and
Speaker 1: and really kind of allowing us to help them and
Speaker 1: allowing us to do really cool things. So I think
Speaker 1: I think if if this higher goes a certain way,
Speaker 1: like that could be a really cool and interesting spring
Speaker 1: in summer as we get an opportunity to kind of
Speaker 1: tell the story of kind of the next chapter of
Speaker 1: Panthers football. And I think that'd be really exciting for
Speaker 1: kind of all of us involved. I think that would
Speaker 1: be really cool. That's a really good I might I
Speaker 1: want to put that on my Christmas list too. A
Speaker 1: coach that embraces the digital age. Well, I saw that
Speaker 1: at the Cult Theory. Very it was very cool, very
Speaker 1: good one. Will Um here's one. I don't know for
Speaker 1: sure that anything like this is happening, but it's been
Speaker 1: a long time since the Panthers have taken a look
Speaker 1: at their uniforms and made some tweaks. And I've been
Speaker 1: on the uniform beat all season. So I'm gonna continue
Speaker 1: with that trend and go with on my list, uh
Speaker 1: my wish list, maybe you know, just see see some changes.
Speaker 1: I'm not doing anything major, but and again, this is
Speaker 1: just something that I personally would like to see. Maybe
Speaker 1: you guys would agree. I think that would be fun
Speaker 1: for this next chapter of Panthers football. A little new
Speaker 1: UNI rebrand. But I did have on my list more
Speaker 1: all blue jersey combinations. I love the blue. It's a
Speaker 1: cool and awesome, eye catching blue. I want more blue,
Speaker 1: so I'm with you, do it alright. Another one on
Speaker 1: my Christmas list, I want a later staff bus on
Speaker 1: away games. This is totally selfish, but let me let
Speaker 1: you in on a little secret. When we go to
Speaker 1: away games, I love a one o'clock away game. I
Speaker 1: will take all the one o'clock away games because we
Speaker 1: will can be back in our homes like seven thirty.
Speaker 1: So give me all the one o'clock away games or
Speaker 1: prime time because I know they're fun. But we get
Speaker 1: back really late. However, when it is a one o'clock kick,
Speaker 1: we have to get up so early to take a
Speaker 1: staff bus that gets to the stadium five hours before
Speaker 1: kick why why uh? And then you can't uber because
Speaker 1: the buzz takes you right underneath the stadium, so you
Speaker 1: don't have to go through any security, which is great
Speaker 1: and wonderful. But if we can be selfish with our
Speaker 1: Christmas list, I would prefer a later staff bus on
Speaker 1: a way game, and a bus that goes back to
Speaker 1: the hotel in case you forget your back. For Matt,
Speaker 1: that would be on Matt's list. A bus that also
Speaker 1: takes you. I want a later staff bus on away
Speaker 1: games selfishly. So if if any football ops are listening,
Speaker 1: they're just taking it, just consider it. Just consider it.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it has to happen, but just consider it.
Speaker 1: There's a there is a buzz that actually goes over
Speaker 1: before the early staff bus. That's for equipment staff. So
Speaker 1: I feel like if you're on that early staff bus
Speaker 1: and you're like, I want to go that early, that's fine.
Speaker 1: Go with the earlier. Just go even earlier, have breakfast,
Speaker 1: their chill there or the people that I still want
Speaker 1: to go early. The early player bus is also very early.
Speaker 1: I'm just throwing it out there. I would like an
Speaker 1: early or late staff It's your Christmas wish. You can
Speaker 1: wish for whatever you want. I can be selfish with
Speaker 1: thank you. Do you have any others? Will I have
Speaker 1: another one? Especially coming off this Colts game, Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: I've got Now I'm getting even more superficial. I was
Speaker 1: going to go to football first. Yeah, we get a
Speaker 1: dynamic return guy. Mm hmm. The hem hines man torched
Speaker 1: Carolina and I just I feel like, you know, all
Speaker 1: season the Panthers have really had a hard time rowing
Speaker 1: in and a guy that they can trust to handle
Speaker 1: the return responsibilities. And maybe maybe it's in the draft
Speaker 1: this year, you take it doesn't have to be a
Speaker 1: high round draft pick, but somebody in like the mid
Speaker 1: rounds who has a proven track record of being able
Speaker 1: to secure the ball and then make something happen electric
Speaker 1: You just, man, that would help. Um. So I hope
Speaker 1: that by next season there's somebody who that it is
Speaker 1: clear that this guy is going to handle that role, um,
Speaker 1: because this year it's been just a little all over
Speaker 1: the place, and as we saw an Indie, having somebody
Speaker 1: like that, who can you know they can change a game? Yeah? Completely,
Speaker 1: So that's what I would like to see. That's a
Speaker 1: good one. I want your superficial one now, Um, I
Speaker 1: want flashing lights at night games when we score touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, it's kind of copycatting and every really, I
Speaker 1: will say, the first time I ever went to New England,
Speaker 1: their pregame show with the flashing lights is really cool,
Speaker 1: ye will. Since the Ravens had like so like gigantic bird,
Speaker 1: you get like a panther to crawl, can you explain
Speaker 1: that to me? Was it just on a video people
Speaker 1: saw it, so you see it through your phone. But
Speaker 1: then they what I think they did is they used
Speaker 1: the tech that they had integrated into their app for
Speaker 1: this also onto the video board, so that in case
Speaker 1: you weren't on the phone, And so that that's the
Speaker 1: kind of thing that like, I really wanted to see
Speaker 1: what we can do because it's hard with so many
Speaker 1: different models and tight and that that was the thing
Speaker 1: I found this year with androids, and I like, everyone
Speaker 1: has different things that may or may not accept these
Speaker 1: men in reality things. But if you can get it
Speaker 1: for the video board, I mean, holy cow. Or if
Speaker 1: we could just get a real panther to come over
Speaker 1: oversized and crawl. Years ago it had real panther was
Speaker 1: in America Stadium, not during a game. But it was
Speaker 1: for like a special shoot. I've heard stories all about this.
Speaker 1: And let's just say the panther went rogue. Did he really? Yeah?
Speaker 1: He got loose. Yeah, that's all I'm gonna say. Where
Speaker 1: do you go? Everywhere? Maybe maybe went into some rows
Speaker 1: in the stadiums, jumped from the field of those stands. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we're people just freaking out. It was. There was not
Speaker 1: a lot of people. It was like a special shoot,
Speaker 1: you know, for some you know, I don't know, I
Speaker 1: don't know, I can't remember what it was. A Greg
Speaker 1: Brandon like TV broadcast commercial thing. Maybe yeah, maybe it
Speaker 1: was like kind of like a hype video of sorts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: isn't that crazy. Essentially, what what happened, according to Greg
Speaker 1: was that they had a camera like on the ground
Speaker 1: that he was like lying right behind, and they had
Speaker 1: the panther's trainer. Was supposed to have the panther run
Speaker 1: and then jump over Greg and the camera. And the
Speaker 1: first time, like it worked and it looked good. Then
Speaker 1: I let's try it one more time. Let's get one
Speaker 1: more take. And the second time, the panther kind of
Speaker 1: like slipped and like came up short and like landed
Speaker 1: with face like right up against like the camera and
Speaker 1: Greg and freaked out because it like didn't Yeah, it
Speaker 1: freaked out, and so then started like racing around going
Speaker 1: nuts like they all and and like everyone's trying to
Speaker 1: run to the stands and get away or run up
Speaker 1: the tunnel, and the panther like jumped into the stands
Speaker 1: running around because I mean the panther was scared, and
Speaker 1: so they had to. It took a while. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: want this to happen again. Virtual reality panthers, virtual reality.
Speaker 1: I want a real panther. It's my Christmas list? Okay,
Speaker 1: anyone else? Do we have another one? You got one? Yeah?
Speaker 1: What do you got? Met? Nothing? He's shaking his head.
Speaker 1: You don't have any nothing? Man? Wow, what do you
Speaker 1: want for real Christmas? What's something that's on your actual
Speaker 1: Christmas list this year? I don't think I have anything
Speaker 1: on my Christmas. I think the new GoPro is pretty cool.
Speaker 1: I want That's not what I'm saying, the GoPro. How
Speaker 1: about a national championship for the l s U Tigers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: for I mean, if if we beat Oklahoma this coming weekend,
Speaker 1: and yeah, that's I wanted money or tickets or something
Speaker 1: because I'm probably gonna go to New Orleans if we
Speaker 1: because you're on the team. I mean you are pretty much. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean you are. Hello. That's a good one. Maybe
Speaker 1: someone out there listening to you are one of the
Speaker 1: most popular. I mean there's only four of us, but
Speaker 1: you are probably the most popular person on it. Like
Speaker 1: I said earlier, it's because I don't talk. The more
Speaker 1: I talk, I think, the less interesting. Quite back there,
Speaker 1: you're going to give away too much. This this like
Speaker 1: mystery about who is this man that appears every now
Speaker 1: and then really really has the group? He's on edge?
Speaker 1: Is there anything else for Christmas? Guys? Anything else? I
Speaker 1: think we've covered the big big ticket items. Huh. I
Speaker 1: want to see Star Wars. Yeah, I mean too. I
Speaker 1: haven't seen it yet. Not a big movie yea, and
Speaker 1: not a Star Wars. Haven't seen any of them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you're not a big movie person. I'm not. I love
Speaker 1: I love the movies that I've already seen, and it
Speaker 1: was like a really good I love that I've seen.
Speaker 1: I don't want to see anything. Well I didn't, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I guess I didn't. How did you come to see
Speaker 1: those movies? Did you like movies at any? Point. I
Speaker 1: just I've never been a go to the movie theater person.
Speaker 1: We just didn't. We family growing up, we didn't do that,
Speaker 1: and so that's a that is a Christmas tradition for me.
Speaker 1: And so there was a Christmas where of my parents
Speaker 1: and I did that because my brother he played collegiately
Speaker 1: for football, so he never came home for Christmas. So
Speaker 1: we we did one year, but we even said it,
Speaker 1: we kind of left and it was like, that just
Speaker 1: doesn't feel like Christmas, Tess. So I don't remember a
Speaker 1: Christmas where I didn't go see a movie on Christmas. Okay,
Speaker 1: that's cool. I love that tradition. We just never a
Speaker 1: big movie goer, so then seeing new movies was never
Speaker 1: a thing that I did. So then you would wait
Speaker 1: for it to come out and then the hype is
Speaker 1: kind of gone. So I missed the whole love the movies,
Speaker 1: but I have. I mean, I love good rom com
Speaker 1: but I when I sit down to watch a movie,
Speaker 1: I'm more so doing it to just kind of relax
Speaker 1: and Zoe now not so much keep up with a plot.
Speaker 1: So I've seen have you watched The Holiday yet? Now?
Speaker 1: Parks is really getting a kick out of this. Because
Speaker 1: I have watched The Holiday. There's not an embarrassing amount
Speaker 1: of times for you to watch it. But if there was,
Speaker 1: I've surpassed that already. This year too started It's a
Speaker 1: year round movie for me, but definitely when it starts
Speaker 1: to get Christmas time, it's it's rather I saw it
Speaker 1: for the first time this year. Really, it's so good,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Is that the one with Jack Black? Yeah,
Speaker 1: there was an interview where they were asked of Jack
Speaker 1: Black what his favorite Christmas movie was, and he didn't
Speaker 1: remember he was in. He forgot he did that. He
Speaker 1: said someone else's movie, and the interview was like, not
Speaker 1: your own. He was like, I have a Christmas movie?
Speaker 1: What's my Christmas? Oh? The Holiday? I did see that.
Speaker 1: It was a long time ago that they made that movie. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good one. What's all right? Top number one
Speaker 1: Christmas movie? And then that I have a clear number
Speaker 1: like ELF is AMC just play elfe? Know we did
Speaker 1: we didn't do number one. Yeah, I'm pretty sure we
Speaker 1: did the top five or we top three together? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you did, like the whole bit where you did
Speaker 1: I remember Max saying the ELF. I'm just are you
Speaker 1: guys looking at this TV. By the way, what do
Speaker 1: we watch? David always has a random channel on his
Speaker 1: dead's always Samuel Jackson and Bruce Willis are like super
Speaker 1: bloody right now in the age of this huge battle.
Speaker 1: This is not a Christmas movie. Now they're in the
Speaker 1: ocean swimming. See if anybody any of your groupies out there.
Speaker 1: From what I've just said, all right, we're ending there
Speaker 1: because apparently we've already done the movie bit something like it.
Speaker 1: Bruce Willis now has a blanket wrapt around him. I
Speaker 1: think we're coming up on forty minutes. All right, guys,
Speaker 1: it's Christmas. We just can't let you guys go. We
Speaker 1: want to keep talking about I hope everyone has a wonderful,
Speaker 1: wonderful Christmas and we will talk to you next week.
Speaker 1: Who wo