What Robbie Anderson said about his ‘retirement’ tweet and if he wants to be in Carolina
Carolina Panthers wide receiver Robbie Anderson said he was thinking out loud and wasn’t really serious when he tweeted last week that he was thinking about retirement.
Anderson said he was going through some personal things, and when asked in his first press conference this offseason where he stood on those retirement thoughts, he said: “I’m here, ain’t I?”
He repeated the same phrase two more times to different questions.
Anderson’s tweet, “Ain’t gone lie. Thinking about Retirement,” came as a surprise a lot of people Saturday.
He deleted the post shortly after he tweeted it, but not before multiple people grabbed screenshots of it.
“At first, it was kind of a surprise, and I just took it in,” quarterback Sam Darnold said. “I was surprised at first and waited till mandatory minicamp and he was here.
“There’s a lot of ways to look at that.”
Darnold added that he had not talked to Anderson about his tweet yet.
Panthers coach Matt Rhule declined to talk about Anderson’s tweet, adding that players can tweet whatever they want.
An early retirement would have had major financial implications for Anderson and the Panthers. Anderson, 29, signed a two-year, $29.5 million extension with Carolina last offseason after a career year in 2020.
If he were to retire, he’d owe the Panthers a little more than $19.4 million from the bonus money he received with last year’s extension and this year’s contract restructure.
Anderson participated in the second phase of offseason workouts in May, but was was absent for all of OTAs for the second consecutive year, instead opting to work out from home.
He showed up to minicamp Monday and practiced on Tuesday in a limited capacity, but he did not practice Wednesday.
Rhule said Anderson didn’t practice because he told trainers he didn’t feel like he could go.
It’s been an interesting offseason for Anderson, who has made headlines multiple times since the conclusion of the 2021 season. In April, after reports surfaced that the Panthers were interested in Baker Mayfield, Anderson commented under an Instagram post, “Noooo.”
When asked why he felt that way, Anderson said he was just trying to defend his current quarterback. He added that he’s had no prior incidents with Mayfield.
“I don’t know buddy,” Anderson said of Mayfield.
Anderson is coming off the worst statistical season of his five-year career in 2021. He finished with 53 catches for 519 yards and five touchdowns in 2021. He also had seven drops.
Rhule hired new offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo in February to fix what was one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season. McAdoo said Wednesday that he anticipates a bigger role for Anderson and said in this offense, “Robbie will have a ton of production.”
Meanwhile, Anderson is hoping for the same.
He changed his number from No. 11 to No. 3 this offseason — and the spelling of his first name from “Robby” to “Robbie” — in hopes of starting fresh. No. 3 was the number he wore in high school.
“It represents new beginnings,” Anderson said. “That’s how I feel in a lot of aspects in my life. A lot of growth, elevation. And you know, it’s saucy.”
Anderson didn’t get to answer a question about why he changed the spelling of his first name. He was only on the podium for four minutes, before leaving for a team meeting.
This story was originally published June 15, 2022 at 3:55 PM.
