For many years, I was intrigued by American football.
It was a completely foreign entity to me in the early 2000s. But I was fascinated to learn about this alien sport from across the Atlantic, having grown up on a diet of American sports-based movies.
As a fan of basketball and US culture, it felt the other popular sports in America went hand in hand.
I felt a desire to know more.
I could have been a Cheesehead
In the late hours of Sunday 6 February, 2011, I was wide awake scrolling through Twitter to find #SuperBowl trending.
The Super Bowl XLV match-up between the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers was approaching half-time.
I watched the rest of the game with no understanding of what was happening, but I was hooked. I fell in love with the sport that night and needed more.
As the 2011 season began, I began watching as many games as possible to wrap my head around this complex sport.
I was enjoying what I was watching but struggling to understand. Something felt missing. For me, that was a team to support.
Finding my tribe
The first team that came to mind was Green Bay, having watched them win Super Bowl XLV. A lot of people follow the first team they watched but this felt too simplistic to me.
My second choice was the New York Giants. At that time, I was obsessed with New York City. As little as I knew about the NFL, I knew the Giants were good, led by Eli Manning.
Coincidentally, they went on to win that season’s Super Bowl. Again, that felt too easy.
Weirdly, the Carolina Panthers were the first NFL team I ever knew… without knowing it. Going back to the late 90’s, my cousin visited his dad in the United States.
Upon his return, he brought me back a Panthers jersey, helmet and pants, along with shoulder pads and a Brett Favre football.
In the time between then and 2011, I had not heard a thing about the Panthers. Knowing nothing about the NFL, some teams were instantly identifiable. I knew of the Miami Dolphins because of Ace Ventura and the Los Angeles Raiders because of NWA.
Other franchises or logos were recognisable as popular NFL teams, but the Panthers seemed to be complete anonymous. This appealed to me.
Getting to know my team
Intrigued about a team I knew nothing about from a city I had never heard of, I started my research.
Firstly, I needed to find out if they were even an active NFL franchise, then find out how good – or bad – they were.
Learning that they were the worst team in 2010 with a 2-14 record did not discourage me. In fact, it solidified them as the team for me.
Then, I needed to study the team and who the quarterback was. This was the rookie season of the first overall pick in the 2011 draft, Cam Newton.
Reading about the dynamic Newton breaking rookie records and watching highlights with Steve Smith and Greg Olsen got me excited about the prospect of Carolina going from worst to first.
The highs and lows
I have celebrated highs with this team, like the NFC South three-peat titles of 2013, 2014 and 2015.
In fact, 2015 was one of the greatest single seasons by a team in NFL history, with the excitement surrounding Cam Newton’s MVP campaign.
However, I have also felt the sting of not making the playoffs since 2017, and the team posting losing records every year since 2018, including the 2-15 season of 2023.
It is safe to say these last 14 years as a Panthers fan have been a rollercoaster ride – but I would not change it for the world.
