Panthers draftee Brian Burns idolized a superhero growing up. Now he can be one.

New Carolina Panthers defensive end Brian Burns strolled confidently into the team’s media room for his first Charlotte press conference in a blue, tailored three-piece suit and an easy, earnest smile.

The smile of a guy who has thought since January that he might become a Panther on the first night of the NFL draft.

And, just as he wore in Nashville on Thursday night when he heard his name called at pick No. 16, Burns flashed a slick pair of bright red Spider-Man socks.

So maybe his inkling of where he would begin his NFL career was a....Spidey-sense.

Burns related to Spider-Man as a kid, seeing in Stan Lee’s Peter Parker a young person like himself, using his abilities to do great things.

“I just fell in love with the movies, just fell in love with the character,” he said. “In the comics, he was a kid ...That’s what wrapped me up in it, because he was a kid superhero.”

Burns’ own heroics started to draw acclaim when he was a high school football player in Florida, where in 2016 he became a four-star prospect ranked in the top 50 in the country. He became known — even back then — for making the explosive play, at the perfect time.

“One of the main things I can remember was my senior year back in high school (at American Heritage in Fort Lauderdale),” he said. “We were playing DeMatha, and it was a tight game. We were down by two, or something like that.

“It was coming down to the last (few) seconds. And they were on the goal line, and on (three consecutive plays) I got a sack, a tackle for loss and then I blocked the field goal. Then I scooped it, ran it about 40 yards back. We ended up scoring.”

Burns’ tape from Florida State tape was filled with similar plays that drew the Panthers in, head coach Ron Rivera said Thursday night shortly after the team made its selection.

“He constantly flashes,” said Rivera. “One of the points that (general manager Marty Hurney) made in terms of when I was watching him, he’s good for at least ‘one and a half,’ whether it’s one and a half sacks, one and a half caused fumbles where he’s involved in it.

“I mean when a guy has a number like that you know you’re going to get an impact at some point in the game from his skill set, his ability, and I think it’s going to translate very well into the league.”

Burns took pride in making those plays, and in hardly ever coming off the field — even when his Seminoles team struggled.

“These past two seasons at FSU were terrible, it’s not what FSU is known for,” he said. “Those were tough. So I think me fighting through that... and not giving up, not letting my teammates down — that’s me fighting through adversity.”

And as Burns stayed on the field, the big plays kept coming. He had 23 sacks, 38.5 tackles for loss and seven pass deflections in just three years at FSU.

That’s when “Spidey” Burns really began to come out. His celebrations after big sacks, deflected passes or tackles for loss were Spider-Man themed, from the famous “crouch” often featured on the cover of comic books or a wider, “web-slinging” stance.

And when he took the stage with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell on Thursday night for his biggest moment of all, he posed in a Carolina Panthers hat with his fingers curled into Spider-Man “web shooters”.

Now, Burns will get the opportunity to be a “superhero” of sorts at football’s highest level.

But first, he has to fight his way up the Panthers’ depth chart. Rivera wouldn’t commit to naming Burns a starter, because he wants to see Burns compete with veterans and develop a little bit more in Carolina’s system, where Burns will play defensive end in a four-man front, and some linebacker in a three-man.

“That’s in due time,” said Burns. “I have to get in here, get the system, get everything down, make the coaches trust me and then everything will take place after that.”

Burns is confident he can excel for the Panthers, though, because he knows how hard he’ll work. .

“I feel like my ceiling is limitless,” he said. “I feel like (I will get the) knowledge that I need from Luke (Kuechly), from (Julius Peppers), from Mario (Addison), from Bruce Irvin. From all the veterans I can get it from, from all the coaches I can get it from to be as good as I want to be.

“And putting that work in, putting that time in is going to get me there.”

NFL Draft

Rounds 4-7: Noon, Saturday (ABC, ESPN/ESPN2, NFLN)

This story was originally published April 26, 2019 at 5:46 PM.