Jeremy Chinn’s jersey homage, Brian Burns’ sack race and my Panthers-Jets prediction
The cleverest ideas are often the simplest ones, and Jeremy Chinn’s jersey homage to a Carolina sports legend each week qualifies as one of those.
Chinn, the second-year Panther safety, has started a tradition this year of wearing a living sports legend’s jersey during his walk from his car to the locker room for home games at Bank of America Stadium. He’s photographed in the jersey, he and the legend both eventually sign it and then the jersey is auctioned off for charity.
Brilliant, right? I’ve never much cared what any professional player wears before any game, and that includes Cam Newton and his eye-popping outfits. It seemed immaterial, no matter how good a job the tailor did.
But I can get behind this “Honoring Carolina Legends” campaign, as Chinn calls it. Chinn’s video clues as to what jersey is upcoming, followed by the social media photographs and, eventually, the auction. So far Chinn has worn a Muggsy Bogues and a Julius Peppers jersey for Carolina’s two home preseason games, and his video clues Friday revealed that he is scheduled to wear a Steph Curry jersey for the regular-season opener Sunday.
“We just kind of wanted to embrace the whole area from North and South Carolina,” Chinn said in our interview, “because they’ve embraced me so much. This can show that type of appreciation, and then they can get signed and auctioned off. I don’t have my own personal foundation or charity or anything like that yet, so we figured the athletes that we’re wearing the jerseys of can use the proceeds for their own foundations.”
Chinn said the original idea stemmed from Tony Bonagura, a certified contract advisor for Exclusive Sports Group, a company that is run by Buddy Baker and represents Chinn. “Then we just started throwing ideas on top of that one, and this is what we came up with,” Chinn said.
So go ahead and make your guesses regarding jerseys for the seven other home games the Panthers will have after this one, remembering that the legend must be living (so the jersey can be autographed) and that at least 1-2 legends will come from South Carolina. There are enough greats to choose from that Chinn could conceivably carry on this tradition for numerous seasons, especially if he’ll consent to wear a fire suit every now and then and dip into some NASCAR history.
As for the football field, Chinn played a hybrid linebacker/safety role last season and had a startlingly good year, finishing second in the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting. He once scored two touchdowns in an extraordinary 10-second span against Minnesota, both on fumble returns. But Chinn has switched to predominantly the safety position in 2021. Although already one of the Panthers’ most talented athletes, he could make a big leap this season.
“He’s not out there just flying around,” Panthers cornerback Donte Jackson said of Chinn. “He’s seeing things. … He’s been honed in on his football IQ, and not just being a super athlete, like he already is.”
The sack race
Monitoring the friendly sack competition between Panther defensive ends Brian Burns and Haason Reddick this season should be fun, starting with their attempts to chase down rookie Jets quarterback Zach Wilson on Sunday. Both Burns and Reddick have confirmed that the loser of the competition has to buy the winner a golf cart, with Burns further stipulating that his must be decked out to look like something Spider-Man would drive, as befits his nickname.
When asked how he would divide it if the two somehow combined for 30 sacks, Burns laughed and first said 15 apiece. Then, though, Burns couldn’t help himself and said with a laugh: “In a dream world, I’d have 20 and he’ll have the remainder.”
▪ The Panthers and Jets don’t have a lot of history, but Carolina’s first-ever win came against the Jets in 1995. Sam Mills’ interception of a shovel pass and 36-yard return for a TD was the key play as Carolina won, 26-15, in Clemson, S.C., to break a five-game losing skid to open its first season.
▪ Panthers head coach Matt Rhule noted this week that he used to have three NFL-related posters on his wall as a kid: Walter Payton, Randall Cunningham and the New York Sack Exchange, which featured the Jets’ front four led by Mark Gastineau from the early 1980s.
Prediction time
In case you missed it, I picked the Panthers to go 8-9 on the season. In this space each week, though, I will predict the individual game scores.
The first half of the Panthers’ schedule looks way better than the second half, and getting out of the gate at 1-0 is important. Against a New York Jets team that finished 2-14 last year and has lots of moving parts, starting with a rookie quarterback, the Panthers should prevail unless they implode.
My pick for Week 1: Carolina 23, N.Y. Jets 17.
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
