Why Carolina Panthers’ Brian Burns says he threw the punch, and why he’s sorry for it
Carolina Panthers edge rusher Brian Burns got thrown out of the game Sunday, which was unusual.
“I’ve never been ejected from a game, especially for doing something like that,” Burns said following the Panthers’ 21-18 loss to Tampa Bay. “But emotions got the best of me.”
What was also unusual is that Burns got disqualified after one of the NFL’s most pedestrian plays — an extra point. There was a dispute between the two teams’ lines after the kick, which turned into a squabble, which turned into Burns being pushed, he said, which turned into Burns taking a swing at Tampa Bay offensive lineman Cody Mauch and hitting him in the helmet.
“Once I punched him I knew what was going to happen after that,” said Burns, who apologized to his team and his family in the ejection’s aftermath. “I’ve got to control my actions. That thing that happened early — and the course of events that happened afterward — kind of made my reaction what it was.”
That “thing that happened early,” Burns said in a group interview by his locker, was when a Tampa Bay offensive lineman whom the Panthers edge rusher wouldn’t identify said “something he shouldn’t have said.”
Burns was coy about what this statement was, however, twice refusing to say as to whether the Tampa Bay lineman’s second-quarter comment was racially tinged. But the player’s comment — which Burns clarified wasn’t made by Mauch, but by another lineman entirely — angered Burns. He said his anger level was “pretty much on 10” for the rest of the game.
The Panthers thus had to play the final 20 of the game’s 60 minutes without Burns. Still, the defense forced eight punts and, other than a 75-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans, mostly avoided giving up the big play.
Burns, meanwhile, had to watch the fourth quarter from the locker room, because players who have been DQ-ed can’t be on the field.
It was right after Evans’ third-quarter touchdown when Burns got thrown out.
“Some events happened,” Burns said. “We got scored on. The game wasn’t going my way. Initially, it wasn’t even my fight. I just got pushed and I turned around and reacted. I take full accountability for my actions. I can’t do that.”
Interim head coach Chris Tabor, who replaced fired coach Frank Reich Monday, said of Burns’ ejection: “ The officials told me that he hit someone in there, and he knows better than that. I’ve got a lot of confidence in him, and that’s an unfortunate thing. So we’ll address it and move on.”
Burns has made the Pro Bowl each of the past two years for Carolina, when he has had a combined 21.5 sacks. In his fifth-year option of his original rookie contract and making approximately $16 million this season, Burns again leads the team with six sacks this year. Burns is in the market for a contract extension, but the two sides were far apart in the preseason, according to sources. His contract runs out after this season, but Carolina can place the franchise tag on him to avoid him leaving in unrestricted free agency.
In only five NFL seasons, Burns has already played for three head coaches for the Panthers. Burns began as a rookie and first-round draft choice in 2019 under Ron Rivera, and since has played for Matt Rhule and then Reich, along with a trio of interim head coaches as well.
Burns has been the subject of trade talks each of the past two seasons, but in both cases, the Panthers have decided to keep the player widely considered to be their best.
