This week on the Happy half Hour.
Julius was surrounded by studs Mike Rucker and Chris Jenkins and Brinson Butner and Dan Morgan and Mark Fields and Mike Minner.
And he was that guy.
I mean, he was the one they all looked at and like, Yep, that dude's different. Tut's I know.
It's time for the Happy half Hour with your friends. Kristin Balboni, Augusta Stone, and Darren Gannon.
Hello, friends, Welcome to the Happy half Hour. The post bye week condition of the Happy half Hour.
Augusta Stone, how was mama?
Mama's great? Everyone was good. The one thing that I needed to follow up on was that we weren't able to go to the high school football game because they moved it to Thursday night instead of Friday night and we already had plans. They claimed it was for weather. There was no weather the whole time I was home, so not sure what's up with that. But everything else this was really good. How about you, Darren?
Everything was good.
I went to the went to Raleigh to see the kids, dropped by the State Fair. I am a huge fan of State Fair food, as you can tell by my physique. I am committed to fitness, especially if it includes food items on a stick. I had many of those while I was gone, some some less. The deal pickled doughnut was underwhelming. I wasn't prepared to enjoy it, and I didn't. There were many fine items, though. The delight, the true delight of the State Fair.
Was the red velvet banana pudding.
Oh my goodness, that sounds divine.
Yeah, it was exactly as good as it sounds.
I think more more things should come with a mix of red velvet cake in them, you know, like red velvet pork chops, red velvet mashed potatoes, cheapers.
No, I thought for a second you were going somewhere really normal with it, like, oh yeah, like red velvet. Well you said put it, but like brownies or cookies. Red velvet cookies, by the way, very good. But you just went off the rails.
Man red velvet fried chicken.
Oh well maybe okay, but there's a chicken and waffles thing that's really really good when you put the syrup on it. I'm not actually going to swat that one down as much as mashed potatoes.
Yeah, but it could be good. Maybe that was a bridge too far. I did go brisket.
And waffles on a stick. It was kind of you know, it was it was interesting. It was interesting. I give it a solid B.
There you go, There you go. I love maple syrup on like savory things like that. I think it's a cool like way to balance each other out. I had vegan chicken and waffles up in Boston, Massachusetts once, or it was actually Cambridge, which is right outside of Boston where Harvard is. It was awesome. It was so good, so out of tim would recommend, and I'm sure it's even better not vegan.
I was gonna say, I'm trying to imagine, you know, because there is an egg component in most of your baked goods or waffle type products. So you went vegan waffle, which is one thing, but vegan chicken and.
Yeah, yeah, Apple sauce is a great egg substitute just in general, if you're like looking, I know when eggs were super expensive back then, I was like loving Like I'd see random like Facebook posts about like things to do other than eggs, and I'm like pretty familiar with that, like flax seeds mixed with oil or apple sauce. Apple sauce is so good in like different, Like you could literally use cake mix put apple sauce in it instead
of eggs. It does the same thing and you can't tell it honestly makes it feel like more like gooey.
When my kids were younger, I would make banana bread when the bananas were starting to go bad. And you know, when you got kids around the house, there's always a cup of apple sauce somewhere they got stuck in a lunch box and carried home because nobody wants to eat a cup.
Of apple sauce.
But so yes, I have used that baking hack before sex. All right, all right, I guess we I guess we're obligated on this football podcast to eventually, at some point talk about football, and we'll get to that, but not yet, because first and foremost this week, coming out of the
bye Sunday, the Houston Texans are in town. But more importantly, I don't know more importantly, but very very important, the Carolina Panthers are adding to the Hall of Honor Musin Mohammad Julius Peppers will join that esteemed list of greats along the opposite wall of Bank of America Stadium here, and it's going to be regardless what's going on with the season, regardless what's going on.
With the game.
I just think it's such a neat opportunity for the franchise to see these two guys come home.
And the content has been awesome this week. If y'all haven't checked it out yet, the videos that our video team has made for Julius and Moose are both so incredibly good, like totally must watch content, so fun, so cool, how many people they got to sit for those interviews, and I really enjoyed those videos. They were just so well done. So definitely check that out. But yeah, that's an exciting time. I mean, I think it's really cool
whenever the franchise. I love like you talk about, you know, the nostalgia of the franchise because it is, you know, young in general, but you have this kind of really cool legends, living legends aspect of this whole thing, and you get to see it kind of come to fruition on Sunday. I think it's really exciting. And I mean, again, the content's been awesome. Darren's written amazing stuff, the graphics
have been great. The wallpapers that they posted on social media a couple of days ago just everything has been so cool, and I think it's a good opportunity to flex the department for a minute. It's awesome stuff.
Those two guys too, I mean occupies such a unique place. I mean you mentioned a fairly young organization. And also, Happy Birthday, Carolina Panthers. Thirty years ago today the NFL granted a franchise to the Carolinas, and here we are it is today. Happy Birthday, Carolina Panthers. You are now thirty, you're old enough to run for Senate. Maybe they should, but it's uh, but no.
In that time.
I think sometimes in this conversation's come up with Hall of Fame selection committee meetings. I've actually had other voters say, you know, for a team that hasn't won a Super Bowl, for a team that's so young, you're up here talking a lot. And it's going to become more in the coming years, with Julius being eligible next year, with Luke Keighley coming a year after that. Steve Smith's eligible and has been a semifinalist the last couple of years, so
it's possibility we'll talk about him. But you're reminded at times like this, how rich the history of this franchise is when you can talk about a musin Mohammed who at large stretches of his career wasn't even the best receiver on his own team. And yet when you look at his numbers, I mean, he is, I think twenty eighth in receptions, thirty fourth in receiving yards all time in NFL history, He's in the top thirty five in
both categories. And to think about one hundred years of football across thirty plus teams at different points in football's history, you know, what Moose was able to do was amazing.
And just walking around talking to players now, I mean, there's a piece we'll have coming up tomorrow and Panthers dot Com about current players talking about what they actually recall of these guys, and Jonathan Mingo flat out admits he was like, I didn't really know that much about Moose until I met him in Spartanburg and started cooking burgers with him. So you know, that's the age difference,
you realize. But in talking to Feeling and Djhark and guys with a few more years on him, they remember Moose for his physicality, They remember the way he would block people. They remembered him going and getting plays. I mean a lot of receivers. When you think about big yardage guys, you think about guys like Steve, guys who were fast guys who are getting downfield.
Moost did the dirty work for fourteen.
Years and also caught a bunch of passes, made a bunch of plays, and was able to create really a unique place.
In Panthers history exactly.
And I like the I mention that because the thing that I've kind of appreciated and respected so much in you know, just thinking about their careers and digesting all the content, is the longevity of both of their careers. Again, you wrote a great story this morning on Panthers dot Com, posted about an hour ago about kind of them getting to come back home again and to both of them spend over a decade in the league. It's really cool that they were able to loop right back around where
they started. And I love the Julius Peppers side of it, you know about the I've been in North Carolina. I needed to get away, but then he wanted to come back. You know, It's just it's so special and it's so cool that you look down and you read the amount of years that they've been here and it it's so it's so cool to think about how their careers are really long and they ended up back, you know, here in the comfortable place, in the place where they were meant to be. It's just really really cool.
And it does blow my mind because it practically never happens. I mean, I you remember Jared Allen for all his years in Minnesota or Kansas City, and Jared Allen finished here in twenty fifteen. You know, I remember Reggie White's final year in the NFL was as a Carolina Panther, and it was just weird the whole time when you saw him in the locker room. It's like, this is not where you're supposed to be. You're you're supposed to be wearing some shade of green. You're not supposed to
be in black and blue and silver. It was just it was so unusual at the time. It remains unusual in my mind. But for those two guys to be able to come home and finish this thing up is you know, it's a special layer of the story, Julius says, And we're going I predict we're going to have a
lot more Julius content in the next year. Because with him being eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time this year, I don't think it's going to be a very long wait before I end up getting shipped back to Ohio to do more Hall of Fame content again, because Julius is just He's special, and again talking to guys in that locker room, even the young kids who weren't able to fully appreciate him in like a film watching capacity, you know, not watching him as
a peer the way football players are used to watching other players, but just when you hear them talk about it, it underscores the fact that Julius is just so different. I mean, he is just otherworldly. I was watching NBA games last night and you see Victor wimbin Yama and a guy that size isn't supposed to do those things, and that's what Julius did for seventeen years. I mean, I just think about the fact that Julius was surrounded by studs at every level on almost every team he
played on. Early on his first couple of years with the Panthers, He's out there on a defense that also includes Mike Rucker and Chris Jenkins and Brinson Buckner and Dan Morgan, and Mark Fields and Mike Minner and I could go on and on and on, and he was that guy. I mean, he was the one they all
looked at and like, Yep, that dude's different. And he comes back in twenty seventeen and you see the pictures of him standing at midfield next to Thomas Davis, next to Cam Newton, next to Greg Olsen, and when you put it in that context, you realize that this is one of the most incredible football players any of us have ever seen. For a course of a seventeen year career, it just never ever happens. And for it to be Julius and for him to so casually discuss.
I mean I could have played a couple more years if I wanted to. I just yeah.
You think it's like you understand you're talking about something that's never happened, and you just casually, oh, yeah, I could have played another couple no question about that.
It just blows my mind.
I know it's gonna be so cool to see them all here. I think it's going to be such a such a gift for everybody. He gets to cover the game, everyone who gets to come. I love It's funny. I have noticed in the NFL schedule, and again, you know, I'm still pretty novice. This is my second year. But when the Panthers have like a home game, like a crucial catch game, then we'll go on the road and we'll be at their crucial catch game. We have a Hall of Honor game. When we were in Miami, they
were inducting someone. So it's like, I get I love that I saw it in Miami, and now we get to see the Panthers version of it with the speeches and everything. You know, everyone's getting honored, and I think it'll be really cool. I'm really excited. I think there's a banquet as well that you'll be covering this week, Darren. That'll be really cool.
Saturday ninth, there's a dinner where all that and the neat thing about it is.
And I thought it was cool talking to J. J.
Jansen about this because JJ has lived half of this franchise's existence as the long snapper, played more games than anybody here. JJ was talking about that sense of place that this creates. He said, when you see Julius in Mooch, you're reminded of the two three teams. You're reminded of thirteen,
fourteen fifteen. You're reminded of seeing Julius come back here in seventeen, and it's just you get a sense for what it means to all these people, not just the guys in the locker room, but the fame, the stands. And that's why you know Sunday's going to be a need opportunity to share that there are going to be a lot of team legends coming back for the weekend.
You know, just looking at the guest list for the different events, you realize it's going to be a who's who, and you know you just casually get guys like Jake and Jordan talking about these guys and to hear the respect they have for both these cats is it just brings home the point that this is going to be a special weekend for a lot of people exactly.
And on top of that, where after the bye Panthers are playing the Texans, I will I think we can kind of redirect now to the what's going on on the field.
We've covered mam All red velvet, banana pudding and the Hall of Honor. We now must talk about the current Carolina Panthers.
But you've written about it and I think it's true, and we've been saying it for a while. This stretch of the schedule is more friendly. It is more teams that are kind of in the vein, like you said of the Panthers, kind of the you've you've mentioned the jury of their peers. I think is what you've said and what you wrote this week in the mail bag,
and it's true. I mean, you look at the next few games and I think this is kind of the start of that stretch where okay, these are teams that are Adam Peel was actually talking about it yesterday in the locker room in similar standings with a new head coach, with their rookie quarterback c J. Stroud, who is very well stored, very good friends with Bryce Young since middle school. First and second overall pick we've heard it all, but
we'll be hearing even more of it, I'm sure. But you know, kind of in similar similar boats, obviously not the same, but similar. They're coming here and then you know, it kicks off kind of the Colts Bears part of things, and I think it's a it's an interesting starting point to come off the buye. The newness of Thomas Brown calling plays, which we talked about last week, and we'll hear from him again today and kind of hear how that's been going in practice and in preparation. But I mean,
you know, that's that's something to look forward to. It'll be different and it'll be a different opponent. It won't be the Detroit Lions, it won't be the Miami Dolphins. And I think that's something that Panthers fans despite the O and six start, which you can't ignore, but I think it's something that you can look forward to and be like, Okay, the next few games are not against the NFL's top five offenses. That's not bad, right, Yeah.
Not facing the Detroit Lions and the Miami Dolphins back to back, I think is a good thing, not a bad thing for these guys. And it is I am constantly reminded one of the most amazing things to me about football players in general. But you know, just kind of this, when you get in this situation, the thing they are able to do is compartmentalize and kind of put that to six in its box over there. Can't
do anything about it. Obviously, hate it. Nightmare start couldn't have gone any worse, But you take a week off, and it gets a little easier to kind of put it in its little box and just stick it in the attic and forget about it if you will. Now it obviously where I am not, it is my vow to not talk about playoffs or any of that kind of stuff. That it's not pertinent win a game, win two games, do something for a little bit before I'm
even going to entertain any of that talk. But I think what they have the opportunity to do is kind of hit reset in a lot of ways. As you mentioned, there's a new play caller now, Thomas Brown's in charge of this offense now and gives Frank Raich a chance to step back and sort of be the CEO, be over the top of the entire operation.
And it can't hurt.
It's not going to get worse than an zero to six starts, So I think from that standpoint, it helps. The schedule helps, and I think these guys there are reasons to believe, based on what we've seen of Bryce young It at stages of this season, that he is getting better.
So if you.
Can put some of that stuff together, here's your opportunity to change some of the results. And I think those guys definitely need that exactly.
And I know we talked about a little bit between you and me, but I was looking at the injury report because I'm getting ready to write five things to know where I'm getting ready to prep for it. And usually let to go over there because I like to say, Okay, well, especially with this season, who's available, what's going on? And it is shorter, But there are some guys that have hit ir there are some guys still coming off of injury. But at the same time, there are some guys who
are working back. Austin Corbett principle among them leming to participant yesterday. He talked in the locker room a little bit yesterday, and I know you're really in tune with the O line in Corbett after that awesome story you got to do kind of chronicling all of his steps
in the process and getting activated and coming back. Wanted to share, or wanted you to share kind of what your thoughts were on whether or not you know when you think he'll come back, when you think he'll be ready, and the kind of difference that he'll be able to make along the offensive line. Because Austin Corbett is a huge piece of that that they've been missing, and we've kind of seen that and felt that through the first.
Six week right.
I think last year as it was happening, you know, we remarked on it a good bit because it was so unusual. But to go through a season with only two versions of an offensive line and for the change to have been a conscious change, to go from Bradley Boseman or from pad alf line to Bradley Boseman, and then for that five to play out the rest of the year. That's unheard of in the NFL. And obviously
that luck did not continue going into this year. They've already played three different left guards, three different right guards. There's another change, and I'm assuming at this point that
Austin's going to be out there on Sunday. There's been no official word, but everything is pointing toward this being the week that you get Austin Corbett back on the field, and I think that's going to have the opportunity to stabilize because with all that, if there's been a common thread to the offensive line stuff through those first six games, it's been other teams have been able to get way too much pressure up the middle and they've taken advantage
of the fact that you're constantly shuffling guards and putting, you know, the backups to the backups in those spots. I mean, it's it's not just that you're playing backups. It's when Chandler's of oola goes down and all of a sudden, you're looking at Cade Mason, Calvin Throckmorton, and Calvin Throckmorton wasn't even here in training camp so and all of a sudden he's looking like a stable starting option.
So it shows how much flux.
They've been in, and I think getting Austin back stabilizes some of that, but it also creates when you think back to last year when you go Bozeman, Corbett, Moten.
Now you've got a side of the line that you know.
In a short yardage situation, in a crucial situation late game, you know you can trust those three cats, and you know that they're going to know where the other one's going to be, you know which direction they're moving, you know what.
They favor, all that kind of stuff.
I just think creating that kind of stability can only be a good thing for Bryce Young, for Cube Hubbard, for Miles Sanders, who's back on the practice field this week after missing a game and after a rough start of his own. It can only be good for all those guys, So I want to see, if you know, I think Austin is going to lend a little stability and credibility to that offensive line.
It's it's both balanced and ballanced.
You know, they are better and bigger and stronger, so it can only be a good thing. We'll see how that manifest itself, especially in the run game exactly.
Well. I like that you mentioned the run game because that was another thing I was thinking about, which was and I don't think, I truly don't think we're gonna see a big difference with Thomas Brown calling plays. I don't think it's gonna be one of those things where like, oh my goodness, they're running so much more or they're passing so much more, or I don't think it's gonna be anything quite like that. I think it's more of an operational thing that we probably don't see. But like
you know, you still want to see the results. M And I think it'll make Frank Craig's game days easier. And I think but but there's still some convencial wisdom to think that there might be a little bit more focus on the run just because of Thomas Brown's you know, influence as a as a running backs coach and you know kind of what he did throughout throughout his past before he got here. I think they have shown that Chuba Hubbard can be a good option back there. Getting
Miles Sanders back, I think will add more variety. I'm excited to hear today if Thomas Brown mentions anything about, you know, working with the running backs and thinking to highlight them a little bit more in the run game, and especially having Austin Corbett back up the middle. I think it's just even smarter to think about it that way.
So that's something that I have been intrigued by. And then of course, like I mentioned, but having Miles Sanders back on the practice field just gives you, gives you more options, gives you more people back there. But also, you know, a big week for Bryce Young. I think he's been asked at point blank about like him and CJ. And then they've been asking Frank this week about you know,
how do you feel? And of course Bryce is the guy and I think, you know, it would be he to have a good game this week and kind of build on you know, he's been consistently getting better week by week, and now he has the the bye week to kind of refresh. But I think he looked good in Miami, especially for that one quarter that we talked about that was just really good and everything kind of
hitting on all cylinders. I think I think it'll help him too to have a guy like Austin Corbett back there and kind of continue to work with chemistry with the receivers and that I'm feeling and everybody. I think it's a good thing. So I think it's a I think it's a big week for Bryce Young to kind of you know, be in front of essay in the press conference. It was so fun. He was so excited, you know, talking about all the guys he knew on the other side. I mean, Willie Anderson was his teammate
and they were really close. CJ. Stroud is his childhood friend, he played basketball with all in southern California. Like, he was just so excited. So I think this will be an exciting week for him to have some maybe not extra juice, but just kind of you know, no after the game that ah man, I know, so many people over on that sideline and put on a good show for them. I think would be really cool.
Yeah, no doubt.
I think it's interesting that there are people who want to relitigate the twenty twenty three NFL Draft after six games.
I wonder what these people for Owen K's look like.
Because if you're really trying to think it should have gone a different way after six weeks, I mean I worry, honestly.
Obviously, CJ.
Stroud's off to a good start, Tamiko Ryan's doing a great job as coach in Houston. He's got that thing that you want your coach to have, and they are off to a good start. But these guys, you know, again, I kind of laughed because seeing the process evolve from January when Frank Reich rolled in through February March you make the trade for the number one pick, and then when they really zoomed in on those final four guys, when you watch that thing from up close. Of course,
they haven't changed their mind. Of course they're convinced. I mean, all the stuff that went into this, they still believe. And there's nothing we've seen out of Bryce that necessarily thinks this is not Oh my god, he's shorter than he we thought. He's getting every pass batted down to line of scrimmage. It's not like that, he's not. You know, this thing hasn't gone perfectly. Obviously they're zero to six, but there's individual parts of each game where it's like, Yep,
that's what Frank was talking about. Yep, that's what they're looking for. And as they go through this thing, you know, if it continues to build, you know, we'll see how it goes. But that is that's the key to this thing for the rest of the season. And again O and six is sort of in its own box over there.
Now.
It's what can you do, what can you build? How can you progress in this thing? And this week's going to be the first step in that exactly.
You know, I'm glad that you said that, because I agree. I've kind of winced multiple times, like it has been six weeks and Bryce Young is not the main issue on offense. If you watch the games and you sit back and you're like, oh, it's bright, No, no, it's not, it's really not. And I think he has shown steady improvement and I'm excited to see what the bye week does for him. I'm excited to see him against other
teams and you know, every week. And I think, like you said, you know, we can take the O and six starts. So we're not going to say the P word that ends with an FS or anything like that, cause that's not what this season's about. The season is about what can we see from Bryce Young? How can we develop Bryce Young, how can we get Bryce Young's familiar in this system, and also changing some things up.
I mean, Thomas Brown's the play caller, and that won't be extremely different, but it'll be a little different and it's something that they get to build on now through the last stretch of the season, I wouldn't I was about to say half, but we're not even halfway through.
Yeah, I keep saying half and it's third I know, I.
Know, I know.
I had to stop myself and say a stretch because it's not halfway or not halfway done. But but there's a decent stretch left and I think that's kind of where we're focused on. And I think the wins, you know, they could come, the more they develop and the more they get healthy again, especially on defense. Xavier Woods came back to practice yesterday, which is, which is a huge plus. But you know, there's still tons of holes back there, and I mean, you know, working with a good defense
would help. And there's just been a lot of an opportune things happen this year with injuries that haven't helped Bryce at all. But I think I think if you refocus the season to be like, Okay, let's see what we have from him, Let's see what we can do from him, I think that's a that's a way to look at the games and watch the games and maybe you know, compartmentalize that oh to six like you mentioned, and just kind of see this in its own like
little pocket. And I think I think the results are going to be better than when things were a little bit shaky, when people were falling out left and right, when the offensive line was getting poached, like you said, just off and off, and often someone's hurt now, someone's hurt now, and you're like, oh my goodness. Speaking of which, Chandler's Vala also came back to practice yesterday, which was
awesome to see. So I mean, things are things are looking up after the bias they should, especially injury wise. I mean, guys have extra time and there's still plenty of pieces and guys that are not fully there yet. But I think the healthier they get, the more familiar they get, the the more kind of Frank's able to take that CEO approach as we've talked about, and you know, letting Thomas Brown kind of run the thing as a play caller and have more you know, kind of focus
in other areas. I think I think it's a it'll I think it'll show, if not this week, at some point down the stretch that Okay, they're kind of figuring it out, because I mean, they all came here and we've talked about it, didn't know each other, didn't know, you know, kind of they knew that they had a lot of respect and that they were all like, really experienced coaches, but they didn't know immediately how this whole
thing was going to mesh. And I like the signs of progress that we've seen the we're not gonna stay doing it one way because it's it's not working, so we're gonna try something else. And it's not major sweeping changes, but it's small things. And I think that's that's something else that you can turn too. It's not that they're
doing nothing they're making changes. So I like it, and I'm optimistic about this next stretch because, like you mentioned, I mean, it does feel like these next few games are not the kind of teams where you know, these teams are gonna, you know, necessarily make a big playoff run or they have these insane offenses that move super fast and there's nothing you can do about it, like you know what I mean, Like it's not as inevitable when you look at the Texans, when you look at
the Colts, when you look at the Bears. So I think, I think that's something that and I'm not saying they're guaranteed wins, but I think they're guaranteed you know, decent shots, which I don't know we would have said about the teams that are the whole world exactly exactly what.
I know exactly we shall see. It's all hypothetical up until Sunday, join us. Regardless of the game, all of honor Sunday Mussin Muhammad Julius Peppers will be here to be celebrated.
We can talk more about that then we will.
Continue to all this week and more than anything else, I think I've written on my little notepad here in front of me.
The thing I'm going to take away from this podcast.
Million dollar idea, red velvet, chicken, and office. We'll explore that and report back with results next week on the Happy half Hour