Panthers Best Moment No. 20: Panthers Announce Hall of Honor Expansion

Getting Things Back on Track

We’ve taken some time off this weekend to breakdown the Panthers’ second preseason game against “Panthers North”, also known as the Buffalo Bills, but we are getting right back into our countdown of the Panthers’ 25-best moments to start the team’s 25th season.

If you missed moment 21, in which the Panthers made their Primetime debut in the mid-’90s, you can read our breakdown from Daniel Wilson here.

Let’s get down to business with moment number 20: Panthers Announce the Hall of Honor Is Expanding.

Panthers Add Three Team Legends to the Hall of Honor

The Panthers first announced the Hall of Honor during the prelude of the 1997 season, but the members are only former president and general manager Mike McCormack, Sam Mills, and PSL owners, the last of which occurred during the team’s 10th season.

Leading to the start of the season, the Panthers announced that the team would be expanding the Hall of Honor to include four legends of the franchise: Jake Delhomme, Jordan Gross, Wesley Walls, and Steve Smith.

Delhomme was for nearly a decade the signal-caller in the backfield and has a Super Bowl appearance in his first season as a starter. Delhomme was backup for Rodney Peete at the start of the 2003 season, but following an injury, Delhomme would take the reigns for seven seasons with the team, finishing as the team’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns and passing yards (before Cam Newton took over the title).

Gross was a mauler in the trenches and started all 11 seasons in the pros with the team and only missed seven our of a possible 176 games. The impact Gross left on the line was felt almost immediately following his retirement as the team has yet to find a solid replacement on the outside (here’s to hope Greg Little can be the replacement Carolina needs).

Walls was a decent tight end during his time with both the San Francisco 49ers  and the rival New Orleans Saints but came into his own during his seven-year stint with the Panthers. Walls currently sits fourth all-time in terms of receiving yards and third all-time in receiving touchdowns.

Smith was a god amongst men in Charlotte, becoming a fan favorite and one of the greatest receivers of all-time during his stint with the Panthers, which is truly impressive given he was just a kick returner but retired with the team record in receiving touchdowns, receiving yards and receptions, and in 2005 became one of 11 players to win the receiving triple crown (A player leading the league in receiving yards, touchdown and receptions for a season), joining the likes of Jerry Rice, Don Hutson and Sterling Sharpe.

Why It Ranks Here

To be honest, this ranks here because it is far too recent and the hall of honor up until this year didn’t have more than three members in it.

Additionally, the franchise doesn’t have the legacy just yet of some of the other franchises in the league, such as the Chicago Bears or the Green Bay Packers, but in time the Panthers could build up the hall with more team legends…and maybe not wait nearly 15 years before expanding it again.

That wraps this up, keep it locked here as continue the countdown of the top Panthers Moments.