No, the Panthers’ mascot isn’t a bear. A Carolina player was confused, amusing teammates
When Panthers’ quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was asked about Robby Anderson, and whether he had seen the video of Anderson calling their mascot, Sir Purr, “that bear,” he couldn’t help but smile.
“Robby be trippin’ sometimes,” Bridgewater said with a laugh. “He be in his own little world.”
A clip of Anderson asking teammates, D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel, “what’s that bear doing,” during Sunday’s game went viral on social media Wednesday. The video pans to the Panthers’ mascot Sir Purr dancing in the empty stands. Moore and Samuel looked baffled by the question.
“The panther,” Anderson clarifies.
“That’s Sir Purr, bro,” Moore replies. Anderson is confused by the name.
After asking Samuel and Moore to repeat the mascot’s name, perhaps thinking that he did not hear them correctly, Anderson replies, “Wow. You call him that? So you be like, ‘what’s up Sir Purr?’”
Then Anderson shakes his head, and turns as if he’s disappointed. The 17-second clip took off on social media Wednesday. It was shared by multiple news outlets, including ESPN.
Panthers’ return man Pharoh Cooper laughed, too, when asked about Anderson. He said some of his friends texted him the video and asked him “what’s up with Robby?”
“Robby is a little different, but that’s what makes Robby,” Cooper said.
“He’s kind of quiet. But when he says something —” Cooper says, before rethinking what he was going to say. “Robby is just Robby.”
Cooper admitted, he too, didn’t know who the Panthers’ mascot was until he saw the video.
Anderson was one of the stars of Sunday’s game, not just because of his personality, but because of his on-the-field performance, too.
He led the Panthers with six catches and 115 receiving yards Sunday. He also had a 75-yard touchdown catch from Teddy Bridgewater in the fourth quarter, which gave the Panthers a brief lead. The Panthers signed Anderson this past offseason. The fifth-year wide receiver, who played for Matt Rhule when he was head coach at Temple, spent his first four seasons with the Jets.
He is considered one of the fastest wide receivers in the league.
“He’s special, man,” Bridgewater said. “He’s one of those guys, he’s s all ball ... The way he’s carrying himself around here, it’s great ... And for him to go out there and make plays on Sunday, that was huge for this team.”
This story was originally published September 16, 2020 at 4:58 PM.
