Panthers' Silence Proves To Be Winning Formula
The Tampa Tribune, published 10 November 2003

There was nothing finer than to be in Carolina on Sunday. Carolina's locker room, that is, after the Panthers stunned the Bucs 27-24. ``If talking won a game, they would have won before we stepped on the field,'' Panthers defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said. ``We're all grown men, who you trying to scare? It's not going to work. When you step on the field you have 60 minutes, you let your talking be done then. We've done it not once, but twice.''

The Panthers (7-2) swept the Bucs (4-5) this season and all but clinched the NFC South title. ``When they put on that red and I put on my blue, it's like the Bloods and the Crips,'' Jenkins said. ``It's a huge dislike. I can't stand them. They talk too much. They want to flash and showboat, `I'm a superstar.' Now all that talking doesn't matter because we won.''

The win was especially gratifying for the Panthers, after Bucs defensive end Simeon Rice's ``guarantee'' of a Tampa Bay victory earlier in the week. ``It makes it real special when you have guys guaranteeing wins,'' Panthers defensive tackle Brentson Buckner said. ``Games are not played in the newspapers. I guess if you guarantee enough and you win one, all of a sudden you're a genius.''

Added Panthers defensive end Michael Rucker: ``When you make statements like that, you seem desperate. You have to get yourself up.''

The Panthers-Bucs rivalry has quickly evolved into one of the NFL's most intense. But all week, the Panthers remained silent. ``This is the middle of the season. We have bigger fish to fry,'' Buckner said. ``We don't want to get into a war of words. We're men. I know when I get dressed on Sunday, I'm putting my pants on one leg at a time [just like them] unless they have a machine that allows them to jump in their pants. It's like my boy Lee Flowers says, `They have a bunch of Supermen, we have a bunch of super friends. And super friends always outnumber those superstars.''

If the Panthers weren't motivated by Rice's comments, they got pumped after Bucs offensive tackle Kenyatta Walker committed three personal fouls - two for grabbing the face mask and one for unsportsmanlike conduct. Just give Jenkins a minute and he'll explain. ``He's doing all that talking before, talking about how Pepp [Julius Peppers] is sorry, Ruck [Rucker] is sorry,'' Jenkins said. ``Last time I checked both of their contracts weigh a lot more than his does, so he can't say nothing because obviously if he were doing that good, he'd be doing Right Guard commercials like [Warren] Sapp is, but he ain't. He's sitting at home, he's crying. If you're going to work with grown men, you're going have to step up and do something. At least know where you can be credible as a man.''

Despite the dislike between the teams, Panthers strong safety Mike Minter isn't counting out the Bucs. ``It's hard to drive a stake through a heart of a champion,'' said Minter, who gave Carolina a 7-0 lead with a 29- yard interception return. ``Those guys told me they'll be back. They said we'll meet you back here, so you know what that means.''

It means the Bucs can only play at Ericsson Stadium again this year if they are alive in the NFC playoffs. That's a guarantee.