Fact Friday 34 - Road to the Super Bowl: The Carolina Panthers’ Unforgettable First Championship Season

Happy Friday Panthers fans!

This week is special, without a doubt. If ever there was an article that we’ve done that you should share with friends, family, and coworkers, it’s this one. The entire city is gearing up for the Panthers to take on the Broncos on Sunday and bring an NFL championship back to the Queen City! I’m mean, I’ve even seen signs redirecting traffic where the lights have been programmed to say “DAB ON ‘EM!!” If that’s not the stamp of approval, then I don’t know what is.

But as I’ve been mentally gearing up for the game over the past couple of days, I decided to go ahead and start flipping through one of my most prized possessions when it comes to the Panthers… a book that sits on my coffee table and within arms reach all year long… a copy of “Road to the Super Bowl: The Carolina Panthers’ Unforgettable Championship Season.” Paid for by the Belk Corporation and containing a letter/forward, by none other than then-CEO John M. Belk himself, the book was meant to tell the entire story of the our boys’ first run at the Lombardi trophy. All the ups, and the downs, obstacles overcome, triumphs, heartaches, defeats, ironies, and heartfelt moments of compassion… all of it, and how it all brought the city together in a way that had never been done before. Panthers fans of old will see and reminisce over many familiar names. Ah, memory lane.

Initially, I thought I would find some cool fact in the book to share with you all, but the more I looked over it through a historic lens, the more I realized I couldn’t simply choose a piece of it. Each piece is not as meaningful without the rest. When Aristotle said “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,” he wasn’t talking about this book, but if he’d seen it, he’d say that it definitely applies.

With that said, here’s the entire work for your enjoyment! Now, its Friday. No one’s doing any work anyway. So stop what you’re doing and take a journey back to our 2003-2004! You have my permission ;-)

Until next week!

Chris.

Email me at chris@704Shop.com if you have interesting Charlotte facts you’d like to share or just to provide feedback!

“We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future.” – Frederick Douglass