Hi, this is Dewey Jenkins. After my four years in the Navy, you're an A and I moved to Charlotte, even though neither of us were from here. I was from the Mountains of Virginia and she was from Florida, but we agreed that Charlotte was where we wanted to build our future together. I was a full time student at U n c C by day and ran a janitorial business that night. And a few years later I bought a little air conditioning company and that's how I
met you, and I'm really glad I did. It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends Kristen Belboni and Will Brian presented by Morris Jenkins. That's right, it's that time of the week, the Happy Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins, and Mr Jenkins told me that he loves football and he looks forward to the show all week. When you're plumbing her air conditioning is after up. Called Morris Jenkins or visit Morris Jenkins dot com. Kristen
here with Will and Matt and Uh. It's been quite an interesting week here in Charlotte. It started on Saturday night the Panthers going up to Green Bay, playing the Packers close, but ultimately not getting it done. Another one score loss for this young team. Then on Monday, the team parted ways with general manager Marty Hernie and now they are getting ready to face the Washington Football team and former head coach Ron Rivera. So many what a week? Many?
Where do we start? Where do we start? Let's start with the Marty Hernie news. It was the end of his contract coming up um last year on his contract, and it just seemed like from everything that owner Dave Pepper said, it was time. It was you know, his contracts was not going to be renewed at the end of the season, and maybe in both parties interests um to go ahead and let it happen now when he had made the decision, so that they could both start
to look elsewhere. I think that many people expected something like this maybe to have happened last year. You know, a new owner comes in, you know, he gets a new head coach. You you kind of think that he's going to just do everything new. And I think one of the things that I give uh Dave Tepper a lot of credit for was that he understood kind of
this is a long game. This is a long process, and it can make things that much more difficult if everyone's new, if everyone's coming in and there really isn't any sort of expertise or knowledge of you know, here he is. This is an NFL owner, has only been in one or two years as a you know, full fledged owner, you know, a college head coach that's only spent you know, a couple of years with the Giants
as an assistant. You know, Marty Hernie knows how this works, and especially in a year with you know, a pandemic, with all the things that we're going on. You know, I thought that his words about that in the last couple of days we're really telling of how much he actually, I mean, I think those are sincere. He really did value um the experience and the ex artist that that
Marty Herney had this year to help this group. But now I think, you know, he still wanted to bring in and to develop you know, kind of a scouting in general manager and operations system department. That really kind of reflected the way that both he and Matt and in this whole kind of group kind of wanted to see going forward. Yeah, I agree, I thought the the things he said about Marty Herney were very sincere and
Coach Rule as well. You know, I talked to him and he spoke to the media, and he said he's learned a lot from him and really has I think, really a lot of regard for for Marty and their time together and helping him get settled, and he said
he's taught him a lot. And so I think it's you know, I think everyone is gonna part ways, um with good memories and good experiences and certainly, you know, wish the best to Marty, and I think it's it sounds to me like he and Coach Rule will keep in contact and that's a good relationship that they can leave on. But um, it just seemed as as Dave Tepper said, it was said, we learned a lot, you know, Matt Rule and I learned a lot. But it was a time to graduate. And it's very hard to get
first round draft picks right. It is very difficult. And you look at these drafts that that um, Marty Hernie has been in charge of. There's been a lot of really really good first round draft picks that were exactly right, you know, exactly it. But I think, you know, we were talking about before. There's there's more to this job, and there's especially more to this job now. I think maybe you know, maybe than ten years ago or fifteen
years ago, than the NFL Draft, than seven picks. There's there's so much more in terms of running an organization and running a part of an organization, running departments, running all these things that that take more than just scouts, scouting reports and picking some players in April UM. And I think that's part of of what this decision is.
It's really kind of building a foundation and building an entire top to bottom organizational group that really kind of reflects you know, and and a letics and day and all that stuff kind of gets thrown around. I think it's tools. It's those are just more tools. There's more tools that need to be in the toolbox and need to be integrated. UM in a more specific way, I think is what it is. It's not just I think people were asking, all right, what what what what analytic number?
Like is there like a number that says like this player is really good? And then old panther stats guy over here is like, please come on, there's not there not there was one number everyone would use it. Yeah, it's it's it's just more tools, and it doesn't mean that there's an answer. It just means that there's more at your disposal. Yea more holistic approach, considering a lot
more things as you make any decision. But you mentioned the draft and and those first round picks that he's brought in here and has gotten, right, I thought it would be a good time to talk about this past draft, um, because it kind of matches up we're talking about what Marty Hernie does so well with UM that game in green Bay, you know, I was looking at that D line and you had to aggress Monto's Derek Brown, braveon Roy and then Brian Burns out there for almost the
entire game with a very young, thin D line and they had five stacks on Aaron Rodgers after UM. You know, green Bay had only given up fourteen on the season, and that's you know, that's not the whole picture. There's certainly things that that these young guys can improve on, and this defense can improve on as a whole. But then you know, you look back and there's there's Jeremy Chin out there as well, and Matt Rule talked about that and Marty trading up for him, and he's in
contention to be the defensive rookie of the year. I think this defense, UM, especially those guys that were drafted, really you know, Matt Rule said, he said they're going to be called on early. I wish that wasn't the case. This was in April when he said this. I wish
that wasn't the case. But that's the way things are right now, and every single one of them has been and you know, braveon Roy out there, six rounder looks good, and I just I think this young defense is really coming on, and I think those draft picks, those seven guys are a part of it. UM. But I've been I've been impressed with the growth that these young guys
have shown over the last three or four games. Again, still far from perfect, still a lot of work to do, but I think it is heartening, Will and I wanted to know what you think, to see the improvement, to see them starting to settle in UM and be able to make big plays. Back in I think it was November we were talking about, you know, what are we looking for here? I think it was, you know, after the Panthers were maybe officially eliminated from the playoffs, right,
So what are we playing for? What do we what do we look to see in the next four games? And you know, I was like, you want to win, you want to play well, you want to set a tone for next year. And I think you know, the winds haven't necessarily come and there's a there isn't Well we can talk about later. There's an upside there close to picking third in the draft. I mean, there's an upside to that. But there are specific areas of play
that you are seeing momentum being built. You know, this defense, it went from giving up third down conversions what of the time for most of the season, it's down to thirty percent. It was the last couple of weeks over the last three or four weeks, yeah, four weeks I think,
and you know, going into the Green Bay game. So their third down numbers over the last three weeks going into the Green Bay game, where like you said, around the quality of opponent was not quite to the level as some of the other teams that they had played, the Chiefs, the Buccaneer, So you go, okay, well, but then they were going up against the second best third down offense and the potential NFL m v P UM in this game, and they after those first few what
was it they started out after that? Yeah, it was, and I think I think it was the total. The last numbers were five for twelve. I'm just we're saying random stats right now. It's great, great well researched here on the Happy Half Hour podcast presented My worst Jackens. But that is that's improvement. And I think that also gives those guys confidence and being able to get to UM get to the quarterback as well, which is something that they struggled with early on this year. I think
we're starting to see consistent improvements in those areas. And one thing I will shout out shout out to that group is they did it the five sacks on six blitzes, which was the best like sacked to blitz ratio in the NFL last week. And that speaks to a what Phil Snow has always said, you have to be able to get home with four. You've got to be able to get home with four and I have to send six or seven. And it means that against Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams in this you know vaunted pass, Dante
Jackson played really well. Those guys back there you know there are result Douglass. Those guys had a lot of pressure on them and they were able to hold it down until Brian Burns and f A and Derek Brown could get there. And I think that's it takes all of that. You know, it's not just the pass rush. If you if you give up something on the back end, you can be a half second away every time. But someone's open and they get the pass off. So good for them too. You know, they came up, they made hits,
they were physical. Um, they had really good coverage against a really really really good passing offense. Okay, so now what do we do you know this next week? How do you continue to carry that on? I think that's that's the challenge and that's the uh, the thing we want to see. Yeah. I was talking to Matt Rule earlier this week and I asked him about this defense. I said, are you seeing the things that that I'm seeing, Um, you know, the consistent improvement, guys starting to get comfortable
and he said yeah. He said, I think some of our young players are playing the best that they ever have And I think that's great. Um, but you're right in terms of it's got to carry over. I think it has been building, but you want to see them finish out the season strong. And I think that was where Um, when you talk to Matt Rule earlier in the season, if it you know, if it was penalties in one game, it was third downs in another game.
And I'm not just talking defense, but you know, with a young team and with implement in this new way of playing and not having those preseason games or O t A s, you know, they'd have a good showing in one category and then it'd be something else situationally, and it feels like they're starting to move toward well, certainly not perfect, um, more consistency. And he said this a lot they when you've lost this many what is it, eight nine in a row, you know, four and four
and ten. Now we haven't lost well the Lions. Sorry, hey, that was that was a shutout in the NFL. Sorry, sorry about that. Mean, but when when you've lost like this, it is really hard to kind of keep bringing it,
to keep coming. And that's the thing that while there have been mistakes, there have been penalties, there have been um miss assignments or that there have been things like that, but there hasn't been hasn't been a lack of effort, I think on defense and and especially when you see those guys show up in Lambeau in they're flying around and they're hitting people hard, and they're you know, they're really engaged with us, which is exactly what you need.
Like you just you have to stay engaged. You have to stay really amped to to do this job at the highest level. Well, one of those guys that is doing this job at the highest level for a rookie is Jeremy Chin. Um, he's gonna be I mean they're not playing against each other, of course, but you know, he and Chase Young the two front runners for a
defensive Rookie of the Year. They know that they're playing against each other this week in this game, and you've got to think that it's it's on their minds and they're still both trying to make their last push. Where do you think it stands right now? I know it's hard for us to say because because we're on you know, we're Panthers employees. But but just objectively, Panther stats guy, what do you think I was a little worried this week, not because of chin but because Chase Young made the
Pro Bowl over Brian Burns. And I think to me that shows kind of you know, it's obviously there's some different elements that go into this. There's Pro Bowls more of a popularity contest. You know, the voters for defensive Player, the Rookie of the Year are a little bit more engaged with the sport, you know, a little bit more informed. Um. But yeah, the fact that like Burns had such better stats and they're playing the same position, it's like these
are directly comparable. Um. And but I feel like people are they know about Chase Young, he's kind of been very flashy this year, you know, and us someone people knew about in college. You know, he came out, you know, he was a you know, no one knew about Chin. It's taken it's taken the second half of the season for Chinn to really get on people's right. Really the Minnesota game for kind of a national audience, you know, with the two touchdowns, so it's kind of been it's
kind of been late. And the fact that Washington is winning there, you know, they if they go to the playoffs, you know, that could be a deciding factor if they're similar enough. Because the problem is those two. They play different positions, so you can't compare tackles to tackles. You can't compare you know, interception. It's just a little bit different. Well,
we'll see what happens. I mean, regardless they're both having great seasons, um, and and whether you know one of them takes it away over the other, I mean they should both still just be incredibly proud and it's exciting to see both of their careers UM developed at this next level for both of them. But I know they both wanted of course you you wanted UM, all right, But let's talk about this game as a whole here on the Happy Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins.
But quickly Mr Jenkins told me his plumbers in a c text secretly where Panthers jerseys under their uniforms. When you're plumbing or air conditioning is acting up, called Morris Jenkins or visit Morris Jenkins dot com. So, um, Panthers facing the Washington football team, facing Ron Rivera, facing Thomas Davis. Well, you know I wasn't here for that era. I was a fan UM during that time and have have great
respect certainly for both of them. UM, But I know you have been here for for quite a while, and I just was wondering what kind of personal stories, um, do you have about either one of those guys or what does this mean you know that that they're facing them right now. I think that Thomas Davis will always continue to kind of be this, um, this kind of
bedrock of what Panther football really was. Uh. He's someone that you know, I over the course of all of these last several years, of all of these big time names and faces leaving the organization at different points, that one really hurt. That one hit really hard, UM, and you know this one, this one is gonna be it was it was. I was glad we didn't have to face the Chargers last year when he was playing for them.
But this this one's gonna be tough. I'm not sure how much he hasn't played in every game this year, um, but just seeing him on the field talking to our guys, it's gonna mean a lot. You know, Thomas was someone that you know, he was he was he was mature when he was young. He was the old man in the locker room when he was like twenty two, and he kind of always carried himself that way and you just you know, you immediately he's the guy right there.
He kind of always had that to him and when he walked in the room, very mature beyond his years, right, But I mean that that was what Thomas was for. I mean, two thousand five to two thousand and eighteen, that's a long time to be the face of you know, there's there were a lot of faces, but I think Thomas really represented that for me. And of course, you know, Ron Rivera, he ingratiated himself in this community. You know,
like he was out everywhere. He was, um, he was someone that for all of the tough times when you know he had to uh not battle, but you know he had to go at it with reporters at different times. You know, like his last press conference, long time gritty
sports reporters had tears in their eyes, you know. And I think that that speaks to that speaks to all of it, um of kind of the impact and the relationships that that someone can have in a community and everything he's been through and and just his fight and hearing people around the office who have checked in with him, it's it's great to hear that that he's doing well.
It's just been quite a year for him. But I will say, as I said, I was not here with the organization UM to work with either of those guys. But two things stand out to me. Number One, I've never heard anyone here say a bad word about Ron Rivera, people that have worked with him for for years and years, And I just think that's that that right there is it?
You know, that's the mark of who he is. And um, I just think that's incredible, what a what a great person to have led the Panthers for as long as he did and now to lead the Washington football team and happy for their success that they're having this season. And then with Thomas Davis, UM I I got to talk to him once. It was during the schedule release show, did the digital show, and he came on this show. We had people from from different teams and he came
on and did the Panthers schedule release show. I just thought that was the coolest, you know, and just couldn't have been nicer and more gracious. But then also I can't remember, I want to say, maybe it was KK that was on at the time. We paired up different players. Um we had um Christian McCaffrey and Tyron Matthew to talk about the Chiefs game, and then I want to say it was Thomas Davison and KK, but I can't quite remember off the top of my head with us
being so long ago. But you know, he was also just like, oh, I got this one circled, like don't you don't you worry, Like this one's gonna be fun. Can't wait for you guys to come up here. But I just thought that was a mark of just a very classy guy. And you could tell how excited that um that KK was to talk to him, and the other guys that were on with me, you know, Jake and people that knew him well were excited to talk
to him. Um, don't know, good memories. It'll be nice to get to see all of the interactions and see, you know, old friends get to to say hello. He is a guy that I think very few people in any organization can really say this, but he's someone that he spans generations of of a team, of an organization, of a fan base, of of all of it. You know, he's he's like the pre Twitter guy, you know, like he's he's you know you talked to like you think about the Hall of honor guys like he's Jake's class.
I mean he came in two years after Jake was here. I he played with Jake for like four years, and then he's playing with Cam and then he's playing in almost you know this kind of like after that. It was he just spans all of these iterations of what this franchise has been. Um, and I think, I think that's really cool. That's that's a great point. I hadn't thought about it that way. But you're absolutely right, all right, Is it is it that time of the week for
Will's stat at the week? I think it's that time? All right? What do you got for us? The time picks instead of the week? So last week we talked about Robby Anderson d J. Moore. Both of them became one thousand yard receivers in the same game at Green Bay, just the second time in franchise history that we had a pair of wide receivers that both had a thousand receiving yards in the same season. It's really really special
for those guys. This week, Mike Davis is thirteen scrimmage yards away from one thousand scrimmage yards, so rushing and receiving. But you know that might seem okay, but we've only ever had three guys with a thousand scrimmage yards in this season once before. Yes, it's only ever been to except for two thousand nine. We're in Jonson Stewart, Dangel Williamson,
Steve Smith all had a thousand. So this could be a really like a really special year from that standpoint in terms of Robby Anderson, DJ Moore, Mike Davis, the trio of one thousand yard players one K club. That's great and that's great for Mike Davis too, and what, um, what a what's the right word? I was gonna say,
just like what a surprise? Surprise doesn't feel like the right word, because yeah, just what a gift that he's been to the Panthers in the absence of Christian McCaffrey, which is something you know, Christian McCaffrey's never had to deal with injury before, and we didn't know a lot about Mike Davis. And I remember at training camp, um, you know, the he had people standing on the table for him saying like this is gonna be He was one of those training camp guys that they were like, oh,
we're really impressed. And as you know, sometimes those those guys pan out or sometimes they just end up having a good training camp. And I just think it's it's all due to his hard work and the way that he plays, and um, but I just think it's that's great. I hope I think he will get there, of course, but um, I hope he gets recognized for that because he's just been, um, a great player for this team all year long when they needed it most. All Right,
something to keep an eye on for next week. If the Panthers get a third down stop in the third quarter during a home game, so that'll be the game against the Saints, last game of the season, one lucky fan will win a smart home smoke and carbon monoxide detector the Morris Jenkins protect and Check sweepsticks. If the Panthers get a fourth down stop in the fourth quarter, that same fan will also be going home with a
fifteen hundred dollar gift card. And as we've been saying, those third down stops are are happening, So make sure you go to UH contest dot Panthers dot com for more details on how you can enter. All Right, we'ren take a quick break and we're coming right back with our Weird Question of the Week Holiday edition. Hi, this is Dewey Jenkins. After my four years in the Navy, Renee and I moved to Charlotte, even though neither of
us were from here. I was from the Mountains of Virginia and she was from Florida, but we agreed that Charlotte was where we wanted to build our future together. I was a full time student at U n c C by day and ran a janitorial business that night, and a few years later I a little air conditioning company. And that's how I'm met you, and I'm really glad I did. Alright. Back here on the Happy Half Hour podcast, it's time as always for the Weird Question of the Week,
and we were like, look, we gotta do it. We gotta go holiday style. You have a question for us, So, best and worst Christmas presents you've received over your lifetime, something that really stands out. Now, this is gonna sound weird. I'm not a big gift person like we typically do. My husband I experiences well before when we could have experiences. Um, you know, I'm not a big like little gifts person. I don't you know, care about getting them. You know
that kind of thing. Um, we'll typically do something maybe a trip or a weekend away or something like that, and that's what we'll give to each other. Um. So I'm sure I'm missing some stuff, but I was racking my brain. I'll start. How about we all start with best. That sound good? Okay? So one year when I was a kid, I want to say, it's like I was maybe five or six, and this is not I don't know if this qualifies as best. I'm sure I've gotten something way cooler, but it just stands out to me.
So I, um, I had just one for whatever reason, I had won a contest and received a new bike. Like it was just like you enter your name and you get a bike, and I was like, this is awesome. It came like two days before Christmas. But then my parents had already gotten me a bike. Um, you know, like with the little tassels and the handlebar. It was like my first because I wanted to learn how to ride a bike. And they were like, you know, they
put it out there on Christmas Day. They were like we know that you just want a bike, but we you were so excited and we had this for you. And I was like, this is great. I've got two bikes. Um. I would go after school to where my dad worked. I was like, we'll put one there, and you know when there, And then we went to my grandmother's house a little bit later that day and my mom comes up to me and she's like, when you see your aunt,
she's gonna give you something like just act surprised. And my cousin had out grown her bike, so then they roll this other bike up. I got three bikes in one. It was also I wrote every single one of them. I was. It was like I was on crips, like I just like, which one do I want to take out today? Um. So that's the thing that stands out to me, Matt, what's yours? Um? The thing that first comes to mind is I guess it was two thousand five. L s U was playing Georgia in the SEC Championship
in l s U got cream. D J. Shockley was a quarterback for Georgia. They're very good. Uh so, yeah, they beat us really badly and it was like a couple of weeks before Christmas. And when I was a kid, I would get like I would cry when ls you would lose. It would like ruin my weekend, like I would get really invested. And my dad felt so bad for me that he went and got my present early and it was um an L s U helmet like a game warn helmets, and he gave that to me.
And so that's the one that I still have it on my bookshelf at home. So that would probably be the gift that I've kept the longest, and I think about the most. I suppose did it smell sweaty when you got it? Yeah? You know it's authentic right there, So let me make sure it's game more all right? Um? Okay, so my mine can't compare to that, but it's in a similar vein. So this is more because of the age that I was that I thought it was the
coolest thing ever. So I think this was two, so I was six and obviously is kind of the heyday of the Dallas Cowboys, um pre Carolina Panthers. So I got the I can't remember who made it, but you know, like the full uniform, the helmet, the shoulder pads like the plastic helmets, the plastic helmet, the plastic shoulder pads like the knee pads, the thigh pads in the pants, the whole Dallas Cowboy number eight uniform. That is pretty sweet.
And yeah, I worred around all day on Christmas. I think at one point I got in trouble because I went outside and had all of the pads and helmet on and decide it to run into a tree to see how it would because I didn't have anyone to hit, so I kept running. My My mom binally like saw me out the widow and came and like screamed to get me. But yeah, I had the whole thing, just like running around because I was like an only child,
so I didn't have people to play with. So here I am in my Troy Aigman uniform just running into things. We have pictures of these. I was to say, it's it's because all your neighbors thought you were crazy just running into tree. Yeah that tree kid? Again, do not still have that? I don't have that one. I will say that hasn't lasted the test. That's funny that both of yours were football related. Alright, worst, um, I guess i'll since we're going around in a circle, I will
go first. Again. This is not this is why I said my little caveat which is I don't think this is probably the worst president I've ever gotten, but again this is like memorable. So my now husband we started dating in college and I so I grew this just when we had to have like a like a conversation
about how we're gonna handle Christmas gifts for now. And so I grew up in a house I don't know about you guys where my mom was like, if you don't like something, please tell me, because I would hate for you to keep it and pretend that you like it. Let's put that like, let's get you something that you love, um, rather than like spend that money towards something that you're never going to use or that you didn't want. You know.
So just like honesty was always the best policy, Like that's how you showed um, like love in the family around Christmas was just like being honest so that everyone knew that you were really happy with the thing that
they put their hard earned money into kind of thing. Um. So, my um boyfriend at the time now husband got me this perfume and it was just like it smelled, I mean it was I think it was like very expensive and he had gone to the trouble of going to to get it and um, I think he really liked it, and you know, went to the counter and spent spent a good amount of money on it, and I was like, this is really It was like one of those you know, expensive like a Gucci or a wi Is it like
it's something and I was like, this is really expensive. He spent a lot of money on this, and I just couldn't. I did not like the smell. I was like, I I'm gonna have to do I say something, do I not like, you know, And so I tried to wear it a couple of times and I just was like, oh no, I can't do like I can't. This is a big bottle of perfume, Like I can't, you know.
And so that was just the time where we had to have the conversation of like I have to tell you I don't like this, Like I don't know how you're gonna take it. We're just starting to date. But if you yeah, I I know you like it, but I'm not gonna be wearing this. So it's either gonna go, you know, back behind the medicine cabinet or you know, you're gonna ask me about it. And so that was just I just remember that being like I did not know how it was going to go. Um, and it
was fine. I mean, it was all fine. But now he just knows. Now we have learned to check with each other in terms of things. But I don't think he grew up in a house old where you were just like honesty was the best policy, you know. It was um that was just like not. It was just very different. And so we had to, you know, figure those things out, like you gotta figure out where you go for the holidays. You had to figure out how you're going to handle when someone gets you something that
you don't like. So that's the one I remember. I don't know if I have a worst gift that at least I have had plenty of boring gifts, but um, nothing that that sticks out or anything like that. Will you go first? Maybe I'll think of something, but I don't know. Yeah, so mine isn't like bad bad, It's more kind of funny. So you know, obviously, Uh, in the last ten years have been living around the country, and so it would just come home um for Christmas for like two days to see my parents and um
in some family. So we would do like opening gifts like in the evening after dinner, and um, I think one year. So I came back and like some of the guests had left. It was just kind of like immediate family, and so I'm going to like change out of like my more dress, your clothes that we wore for lunch. So I go back into like the room that had and I guess I realized I had left the previous year's gift, which was, um, like pajama pants are kind of like lounge pants in the room in
Charleston the entire year. I'm like, oh, well, you know, perfect time to wear them and you'll come back out it's nice and cozy. So I put on the pants, come back out. What is the first gift? They give me the exact same pair of lounge pants because they forgot that they did it the year before. Because it's always it's every year. It was always just kind of like the thing to give and kind of the family and extended family was like warm socks and pajama pants.
I don't know why I was. I mean, I was just like, well, look, I guess I'm wearing them, and everyone just thought it was hilarious. I'm like, yeah, I can bet what I'm getting next year, did you did you take them back with you? There's still just like every year, there's just an extra pair of there's just an extra tire down there. Yeah. I think I think I kept one out of like the six years that I've gotten pajama pants still, And I bet I know
what you're getting this year. All Right, this was a blast, Thank you guys, and uh, happy holidays everybody. We'll see you next week.