With Drake Maye and Luke Kuechly, Charlotte could loom large Super Bowl week

Some Carolina Panthers will be in the spotlight leading up to Super Bowl LX.

The whole Charlotte area will be, too.

On the latest podcast episode of Processing Blue, Charlotte Observer writers Alex Zietlow and Scott Fowler break down all the ways in which the Panthers — and their surrounding region — will be represented on the largest stage in American sport.

The two start by discussing the game itself. Drake Maye, the Huntersville native, Myers Park High School graduate and former UNC star, will start for the New England Patriots at quarterback in the Super Bowl. Maye will be dueling with Seahawks QB Sam Darnold, who also spent some time in Charlotte as the Panthers’ QB1 (and also QB2) before the team moved on.

They then venture onto the NFL Honors ceremony next Thursday, Feb. 5. That night is when we’ll find out if legendary Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly will be inducted into the 2026 Pro Football Hall of Fame — as well as if Austin Corbett will win Walter Payton Man of the Year, and if wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan will be named the AP’s Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Fowler and Zietlow also provide their Super Bowl picks and wonder aloud if the Maye family should be considered Charlotte royalty and how they rank compared to the Charlotte area’s other famous sports families like the Currys, the Earnhardts, the Seagers and the Joneses.

Listen to the latest podcast episode at the embed in this story, or download it on Spotify, Apple Music or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also check out the show on YouTube.

This story was originally published January 28, 2026 at 6:00 AM.

Alex Zietlow

The Charlotte Observer

Alex Zietlow writes about the Carolina Panthers and the ways in which sports intersect with life for The Charlotte Observer, where he has been a reporter since August 2022. Zietlow’s work has been honored by the Pro Football Writers Association, the N.C. and S.C. Press Associations, as well as the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) group. He’s earned six APSE Top 10 distinctions for his coverage on a variety of topics, from billion-dollar stadium renovations to the small moments of triumph that helped a Panthers kicker defy the steepest odds in sports. Zietlow previously wrote for The Herald in Rock Hill (S.C.) from 2019-22. Support my work with a digital subscription

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

704-358-5136

Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription