Panthers Football Card of the Week
The card of the week features a Panthers legend.
As someone that loves old school defensive football, I’ve always been drawn to linebacker play.
If you enjoy old school linebacker play, then watch the 1996 Carolina Panthers.
They started four excellent linebackers. On the outside, you had Kevin Greene and Lamar Lathon.
In the middle, you had Carlton Bailey and the man that is the inspiration for the card of the week, Sam Mills.
1996 Skybox Impact “Inspirations” Sam Mills, #191
The inaugural “Panthers Football Card of the Week” was tied to my first training camp memory and the 2010 season.
There has been enough bad news in Panthers land over the last week so let’s remember some good times and the man that is the definition of “Keep Pounding.”
If you’re a Panthers fan, you know all about what Mills means to the franchise. It’s cliche to say it, but he played football the way it should be played.
Mills was a major factor in the team winning their first ever game as a franchise with his interception return for a touchdown against the Jets.
This card was from the 1996 season and that was a pretty good year for the Carolina Panthers. They went 12-4, winning the NFC West, won their first ever playoff game at home against the defending Super Bowl Champion Dallas Cowboys before falling to the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.
Mills was superb that year. He had 122 tackles (90 solo), 5.5 sacks, 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown.
In the playoffs, he had the game clinching interception against the Cowboys and his interception against the Packers set up their first offensive touchdown in the NFC Championship game.
He was selected to the Pro Bowl and was a first-team All Pro. He did all that in his age 37 season.
The other reason I wanted to highlight Mills is because a new book on his life and playing career was released this week. Paul Domowtich, a longtime Philadelphia sportswriter and author, wrote a book entitled Just Give Me a Chance to Fail: The Life of NFL Linebacker Sam Mills.
Domowitch covered Mills when he was with the Philadelphia Stars in the USFL.
I just received my copy of the book and will provide a review once I’m done reading it. Here are excerpts from the book on Domowitch’s Tush Push SubStack:
Mills’ story has plenty of valuable life lessons. The man kept chasing his dream and succeeded. He didn’t enter the NFL until he was 27 years old because everyone thought he was too small. It was quite fitting that the card makers decided to include Mills in their Inspirations subset.
Mills kept pounding through it all and that legacy will continue to live on.