Panthers’ Brian Burns puts Bucs’ Tom Brady ‘in the web,’ shrugs off trade rumors
Brian Burns was smiling from ear to ear in the locker room on Sunday.
The Carolina Panthers’ pass rusher had just helped his team close out a 21-3 blowout win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. With his helmet scuffed and the decal on it damaged, Burns kept a “trophy” of his triumph hanging in his locker.
Instead of taking part in a ceremonial jersey swap following the game, Burns decided to simply hang onto his own gear from the game. After sacking Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in the second quarter, that jersey gained significant sentimental value for Burns.
Burns nearly swapped the jersey with a Buccaneers player who he trains with in the offseason. But instead, the Pro Bowl defensive end decided he wanted to frame it and put it on his mantle at home.
“I was going to (swap) and I realized I probably shouldn’t do that,” Burns said. “I put the G.O.A.T. in the web.”
Burns, a Spider-Man fanatic, has given himself the nickname, ‘”Spider-Burns,” and taking down Brady like he was Doctor Octopus was an accomplishment worth celebrating. Burns said he planned to celebrate by watching “Rush Hour 2” and drinking Hennessy.
One thing Burns didn’t plan to do was read all of the recent reports that have linked him to the trade market. Burns said that while some may dwell on trade rumors, he doesn’t because of the advice he has received from veteran teammates through the years.
“Maybe for the Average Joe,” Burns said. “I don’t think I’m the Average Joe, so like I’ve been here long enough and talked to enough vets to learn, ‘Just control what you can control.’ If you can’t control it, don’t worry about it. If I make a list of anything that’s bothering me, and I can control it, I circle it. I can’t, I cross it off.”
According to a league source, the Panthers have turned down multiple trade offers for Burns, including a package containing two first-round picks. Burns said he heard about the initial report from ESPN.
“It means a lot,” Burns said. “It means they’re bought in. To me, I’m part of the future, and I definitely appreciate that, but at the end of the day, we got this (expletive) dub. That’s what matters now.”
While the Panthers might have bought into Burns, the 24-year-old pass rusher knows he’s still got a lot of room for growth. Carolina might view him as a foundational piece, but Burns is still growing in the fourth year of his career.
“There’s still things in my game that I’m not happy with,” Burns said. “But, for the most part, I find myself in a groove and that’s kind of where I like to be at.”
The Panthers’ win against the Buccaneers moved them to 2-0 in the NFC South division to start the season.
While their 2-5 record isn’t pretty, the Panthers could still salvage this campaign by staying strong against the NFC South. Even without fotmer coach Matt Rhule, running back Christian McCaffrey and wide receiver Robbie Anderson, the Panthers got the job done against the Buccaneers.
Burns and the defense were a large part of the reason the Panthers were able to shut down Tampa Bay in major bounce-back win. The group held the Buccaneers’ running game to just 46 rushing yards and Brady to just one scoring drive.
“We were just hitting on cylinders,” Burns said. “That’s how it be sometimes.”
This story was originally published October 23, 2022 at 6:03 PM.
