So why was former Panther Steve Smith working at Charlotte Taco Bell this week?

So what was former Panthers star Steve Smith doing passing out Chalupas at a Charlotte-based Taco Bell this week?

Smith -- now working for the NFL Network’s “Game Day Morning” pregame show -- picked up a few hours. He offered advice to staffers.

And he had a good time.

“The drive-through at rush hour is really just like a two-minute drill,” Smith told USA Today. “You’re going to make some mistakes. You’re going to mis-hear the order, or mis-hear the play, and you’ve just go to shake it off, man. You’ve got to get to the next customers or get to next play.”

Smith, a recently retired 16-year NFL veteran, used to work at Taco Bell during his high school and junior college years in California. The 5-time Pro Bowler went back to work at a local branch this week, working behind the counter and probably surprising a few fans at the drive-through.

Smith told USA Today that he had a similar experience when he was working at Taco Bell as a youth. Once, boxer Sugar Ray Leonard pulled up, sitting in the passenger seat.

“I remember it like it was yesterday: Sugar Ray Leonard came to the drive-through,” Smith said. “I was in awe, because.....when he pulled up, it was like, ‘Hey, that’s Sugar Ray Leonard!”

This story was originally published September 7, 2017 at 10:16 AM with the headline "So why was former Panther Steve Smith working at Charlotte Taco Bell this week?."