RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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18 October 2015: Carolina Panthers center Ryan Kalil (67) as the Carolina Panthers defeat the Seattle Seahawks 27-23 in NFL action at CenturyLink Field in Seattle, WA. (Photo by Joshua Weisberg/Icon Sportswire) (Photo by Joshua Weisberg/Icon Sportswire/Corbis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#13. Ryan Kalil
Panthers stats: 148 games, 145 starts; 5X Pro Bowl, 2X All-Pro
Career stats: 155 games, 152 starts; 5X Pro Bowl, 2X All-Pro
Offensive linemen often toil in relative obscurity, but that isn’t the case with center Ryan Kalil and the Carolina Panthers.
Over his 12 years with the Panthers from 2007 through 2018 he made five Pro Bowls, was All-Pro First team twice and All-Pro Second Team once. But his impact transcended what he did on the field. Kalil was a vocal, influential presence in the Panthers locker room and helped shape the team’s culture.
He endeared himself to teammates and fans with his humor. In 2014 ESPN’s David Newton named him the “ Funniest Panther ” and shared some humorous anecdotes like Kalil appearing on NFL Network dressed in a bear costume as he was right in the middle of playing Lions, Tigers, and Bears with his daughters when his live segment began.
He also inspired his teammates and Panthers fans with his confidence and dedication. In 2012 he took out a full-page ad in the Charlotte Observer (remember when people did that?) thanking Carolina’s fans and predicting a Super Bowl victory. Per ESPN , Kalil said it was a “war cry to fans” and then dropped this absolute gem:
“We’ve said it in the past in meeting rooms and behind closed doors. This year’s different. There’s a sense of urgency, a winning attitude that I haven’t seen before. And it’s in the way we prepare. It’s in the way we approach each workday, and I think fans will see it in the way that we play.”
Now, the Panthers only went 7-9 in 2012, but the bold gesture is still remembered by old-school fans 14 years later.
Kalil was an integral part of four Panthers teams that won at least 11 games during his tenure, including the team’s historic 15-1 season in which they won the NFC and reached the Super Bowl.
Between 2011 and 2015 he was arguably the best center in the NFL. In the four healthy seasons he had during that timeframe (his 2012 campaign was limited to five games), he was All-Pro First Team twice and All-Pro Second Team once.
The only slight stain on his otherwise pristine reputation was publicly declaring that he would retire after the 2018 season, doing so, only to later sign with the New York Jets for the 2019 season. Panthers fans have long since forgiven him for this, knowing he had 8.4 million reasons to ultimately play just seven games for the Jets.
Ryan Kalil is a legend, and arguably the best offensive lineman in franchise history. If anything, No. 13 might be a little low on the list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time.
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