Why Panthers wide receiver Robby Anderson thinks Carolina’s offense can be explosive
It’s not uncommon in a player’s introductory press conference to see them wearing a new jersey with their last name on the back, or at least have it presented to them. Or maybe they’ll wear a nice shirt and tie.
Neither was the case for Robby Anderson on Friday. The situation is unique with questions and answers moving from behind a podium to behind a computer screen, but the new Carolina wide receiver elected to do something different. He wore his teammate, Christian McCaffrey’s, jersey and a Panthers hat.
It’s rare to see a professional athlete wearing a teammate’s jersey period, let alone in his first interaction with the media, but that shows how much Anderson thinks of his new team.
“I spoke to Christian as soon as it was out there that I signed, he hit me up. I’m excited to go be on the field with him, and have that talent around me.” Anderson said. “(McCaffrey’s) the best running back in the NFL and then with Teddy (Bridgewater), who has that veteran presence and knows how to spread the wealth. I think it’s going to be great, we’re all going to complement each other in a great way.”`
Anderson, 26, is up there with Bridgewater in terms of the biggest offseason acquisitions the team has made. The wide receiver signed a two-year, $20 million deal to come to Carolina despite interest from multiple teams, including the Jets, who he spent the last four years with after they signed him as an undrafted free agent out of Temple in 2016.
While there had been rumors of New York offering Anderson a four-year, $40 million deal, the wide receiver and his agent, Tory Dandy, spoke out on Twitter denying that amount was offered. Dandy calling it, “False!!”
“I’m not going to get into what the offer was. I’m kind of passed that. I’m focused on this chapter, but I addressed that and I stand on what I said, you know my agent addressed it, too,” Anderson said Friday. “... I’m thankful for my time in New York. The growth and the opportunity that they did give me, but just thankful to be where I am now.”
Where he is now is certainly not short in familiarity. He’s joined a team that not only includes his former college head coach at Temple in Matt Rhule, but also former college teammates quarterback P.J. Walker and wide receiver Keith Kirkwood. On top of that, Anderson has a relationship with his new quarterback; he and Bridgewater spent an offseason together in 2018 with the Jets before Bridgewater was traded to New Orleans just prior to the start of the regular season.
The pair was able to form a bond, despite not even playing a full season together, and for Anderson, the Bridgewater signing was “icing on the cake” for coming to Carolina.
“We had a strong connection, you know, Teddy helped me grow as a man,” Anderson said. “There were things that I was kind of going through at the time, you know, with still adjusting to the NFL, and things that I wasn’t too immune to, things that he kind of helped me see things from an older perspective even though we are the same age.
“It’s easy for me to talk to him because we come from the same culture and similar backgrounds and things. It’s easy for me to talk football with him, he understands the game, he understands how to get a receiver rhythm and things like that and we already have like we have a natural friendship and natural chemistry on the field.”
Anderson has had 750-plus receiving yards each of the last three years, but has never put together a 1,000-yard season. He will be joining a Panthers offense that, in addition to McCaffrey, includes wide receivers DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel, both of whom Anderson praised in his press conference, calling Moore a “great receiver” and “underrated.”
Outside of the pieces he’s joining, Anderson said part of the reason he wanted to be on the Panthers was that he had always liked the team’s colors (it clearly took him no time to put on a jersey) and he even had a poll on his Instagram asking if he should wear No. 11, as he did with the Jets, or No. 14. He also expressed his excitement to play in one of the NFL’s best divisions with plenty of top receivers — Julio Jones, Michael Thomas, Mike Evans — and the warmer climate that Carolina brings.
He won’t get to experience the climate of Charlotte just yet. The offseason training program will begin virtually Monday as opposed to in person, due to the NFL’s restrictions related to the spread of COVID-19. But when the time does come for the team to get together, Anderson feels like this isn’t a team starting from scratch — something he has experienced before.
“Typically when a (new) head coach comes into your team, it has hit rock bottom. I don’t feel like the team was left in bad hands,”Anderson said. “It’s a very good roster, it’s a good team, its players that know how to play football and that want to win ... it’s already a solid foundation.”
