‘Gives the city hope.’ Carolina Panthers fans bask in belief provided by Bryce Young
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Panthers pick Bryce Young No. 1 overall in 2023 NFL Draft
On April 27, 2023, the Carolina Panthers selected Bryce Young with the top pick in the NFL Draft. With a young quarterback finally in place, what’s next for the team as it prepares for the future?
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Derrick McGill stood at midfield on the Bank of America Stadium turf, soaking in the rain and the moment he hopes his hometown won’t soon forget.
“Even with the storm,” McGill said, “it’s the perfect day.”
McGill stood with his two brothers, Cleveland and Angelo, on Thursday night. They were there for the Carolina Panthers’ NFL Draft party as the team made its selection with the overall No. 1 pick.
All three are lifelong Charlotteans. All attended Olympic High School, not 10 miles away from where they stood on Thursday night. All have been Panthers fans since Charlotte got its NFL franchise in 1993 and played its first season in 1995.
And all three agree: Bryce Young — the undersized but dazzling Alabama quarterback that the Panthers traded up to No. 1 overall to get — can deliver something that this franchise, this team, has craved for too long.
Hope.
“It gives the city hope,” McGill said. “You know, being here in Charlotte, it’s starting to grow. We got a lot of transplants coming here. And sports kind of bring everybody together. I love to see everybody here. Perfect day.”
Fans who braved the elements on Thursday for the Panthers’ NFL Draft party — elements like rain and wind and anticipation and free beer — all seemed to speak similarly high of Young. They cheered about as loud as they had all 2022-23 season when commissioner Roger Goodell announced Young’s name.
Some had their Luke Kuechly-jersey-wearing kids on their Luke Kuechly-jersey-wearing shoulders, a former Panthers generation passing a unique kind of hope on to the next.
Generations of Panthers fans were littered across the field on Thursday. One of those pairings, Nate McNelis (son) and Bob McNelis (father), were walking toward the East exit when they were asked about what brought them to the stadium.
The answer was simple: To see Young officially become a Panther in the stadium in which he’ll one day play.
To see the future.
“He’s been my pick ever since they moved up, really ever since I started following the draft again,” said Nate, a born-and-bred Charlottean and Appalachian State student who drove three hours to see Thursday’s spectacle with his dad. “I was just mesmerized with how well he plays the game. He was playing like he was in slow motion.”
The McNelis family has been season-ticket holders since the franchise arrived here. But there was a period, after the painful Super Bowl loss in 2015 and the at-times despondent seasons afterward, where enthusiasm for the team waned. But that family fandom returned this year — in the form of a group text with Nate, his mother and his father.
“I’ve been texting them about it nonstop,” Nate said.
His father interjected with a laugh: “I’m starting to wonder if he’s studying at App State. ... No, but we’ve been getting daily updates as to what he’s been thinking, and from Day 1, he’s had Bryce Young.”
All of Charlotte was on display at Bank of America Stadium. All races and genders and generations. Casual fans cheered with hardcore fans and vice-versa.
There were lifelong Charlotteans, like Sandy Ross, who wore a Jon Beason jersey and a hat with different lapels for every anniversary she’s been a season ticket holder.
And there were brand-new Charlotteans, like Mike Lazarz, a fresh-out-of-college Chicago native who wore a No. 9 Alabama jersey, a spot of Crimson in a sea of Panther-poncho blue: “He’s a calm, cool, collected guy,” Lazarz said of Young. “But he’s got a dog inside of him.”
It’s true that Young has delivered a palpable sense of possibility even before setting foot in the Carolinas. It’s also true that this sort of hope was paved by his top-pick predecessor of over a decade ago: a quarterback named Cam Newton.
Newton, in spirit, was present on Thursday.
“I’ll always love Cam,” said Rick Cummings, another Panthers fan since 1995 who didn’t let the weather prevent him from missing Thursday night at the stadium. “He’ll always be a part of this franchise, and hopefully he’ll have a statue out front.”
Cummings sat in Section 310, like he had for decades, when Newton made his return to Bank of America Stadium in November 2021 against the Washington Football Team. He stood for a while right at midfield, the place where Newton — the 6-foot-5, 245-pound, smiley quarterback who for a period played like he wore a cape instead of a jersey — spiked down a football after scoring a rushing touchdown and roaring to the equally emotional crowd.
That kind of moment might not be engineered by a guy like Newton again in this stadium. And if a moment like that comes in the future, it’ll come thanks to someone who looks a lot different than Superman.
Young is 5-foot-10, 204 pounds. His magic lies in his creativity — in his scampering in a backfield and setting his feet more so than bulldozing defensive linemen.
“He’s a totally different player,” said Cummings. “It’s going to be exciting to see. Everybody is talking about his size. And yeah, it’s a concern, but what I would say is: The NFL has moved toward a score-friendly, pass-friendly, offensive-friendly league, and hopefully they’re going to protect him.”
The night saw team owner Dave Tepper say “Super Bowls” were in the future thanks to Young’s arrival. It saw new coach Frank Reich pump up the crowd and general manager Scott Fitterer claim that Young was always the Panthers’ guy.
But above all else, it featured a goose-bump-bubbling kind of hope shared among its fans — courtesy of a new season, a new quarterback, a new era.
“This is great,” Sandy Ross, the aforementioned lifelong Panthers fan, said as she scanned the crowd that buzzed with possibility.
She then seemed to speak on behalf of everyone: “We need this.”
This story was originally published April 28, 2023 at 5:30 AM with the headline "‘Gives the city hope.’ Carolina Panthers fans bask in belief provided by Bryce Young."
