About 28 years before he became the Carolina Panthers’ head coach, Frank Reich was part of a rambunctious Panthers team that was doing everything for the first time.
That 1995 Panthers team — the first in Carolina history — was loaded with characters, commoners and cast-offs. Everyone was from somewhere else. Most had been told “No” by at least one NFL team.
“When that 1995 team first got together, we were kind of like the island of misfit toys,” said Dwight Stone, a special teams ace for that squad. “You know those toys that you used to have and no one wants to play with them anymore, but they’re still in pretty good condition? And then one time you pull them out and start playing with them and you remember why you got ‘em in the first place? It was the same thing here.”
