The NFL’s hottest team is creating a splash locally
Rob Branham doesn’t follow the NFL too closely.
The Myrtle Beach resident is more tuned into what is happening in the world of college football. His allegiance is to the South Carolina Gamecocks.
Yet Branham admits to being one of many here in the Myrtle Beach area who have no doubt hopped on the bandwagon and been pulling for the Carolina Panthers.
“Everybody keeps talking about Cam Newton, but the defense is pretty strong. It makes his job a lot easier,” Branham said.
With the hype surrounding the Panthers locally, Branham will continue to cheer them on for the remainder of the season, despite admitting he has no lifelong allegiance.
Hitching a ride on the Panthers’ coattails was actually a topic of conversation at Branham’s place of employment recently, he added.
“They are the Carolina Panthers,” Branham said.
They remain the NFL’s lone perfect squad with a 12-0 record. And since Charlotte is roughly a three-and-a-half-hour drive from Myrtle Beach, the Panthers are as close as the area has to a home team.
“Needless to say there are a lot of new sweatshirts being sold,” Branham said.
Ryan McQueen and his staff have been selling quite a few, it appears.
The assistant store manager at Lids Locker Room in Coastal Grand Mall oversees a smaller version of a Panthers shop.
When a customer walks in to Lids, they will find a wealth of Panthers apparel just to their right.
Searching for that Cam Newton or Luke Kuechly jersey for the Panthers fan in your family? Lids has them, and they are in high demand.
McQueen said the store sold over $20,000 in Panthers merchandise over Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday.
“We literally can’t keep this stuff on the shelves,” McQueen said.
He added that Lids’ craziest days for selling Panthers gear are Sundays, just before Carolina plays.
Customers will be waiting for the doors to open at noon so they can quickly grab a jersey, sweatshirt or what not, McQueen said.
Josh Norman jerseys are currently not available, McQueen added, but if they were, chances are that Anthony Lopez would have one.
Norman is the former cornerback for the Coastal Carolina University Chanticleers who is now in his fourth season with the Panthers.
Lopez is the athletic director at the Claire Chapin Epps Family YMCA in Myrtle Beach who also attended CCU. His old college roommate was Chris Carter, a teammate of Norman’s.
By getting to know Norman, Lopez became friends with him.
Then, when Norman got called up to Charlotte, Lopez said he became a diehard Panthers fan.
“He’s awesome,” Lopez said about Norman. “He’s just relentless. Almost like the Kobe Bryant of football.”
Funny for him to mention Kobe. A native of Los Angeles, Lopez was back in his hometown on Nov. 29 to see the Lakers take on the Indiana Pacers. It was at this game that Kobe Bryant formally announced his retirement after 20 years suiting up in L.A. gold and purple.
Each attendee was given a special ticket that featured a vintage photo of Bryant, and a letter signed by the Lakers great formally announcing his retirement.
In that letter, Bryant told the fans that, “Whether you view me as a hero or a villain, please know I poured every emotion, every bit of passion and my entire self into being a Laker.”
Despite being there to witness such an emotional night for Lakers fans, Lopez’s attention wasn’t strictly on that one game. He was also keeping tabs on what was happening between the New England Patriots and the Denver Broncos.
Like the Panthers, the Patriots also entered Week 12 with a perfect record. Lopez admits he couldn’t believe it when his friend let him know that Denver handed New England its first loss of the season in overtime, thereby allowing the Panthers to stand alone as the only undefeated franchise.
Talking about the Panthers’ season thus far, Lopez can’t help but grin. He’s excited for his team and their quest for perfection.
That perfect record was threatened in October when the Panthers found themselves clinging to a 27-22 lead against the New Orleans Saints.
With 1:17 remaining, Saints backup quarterback Luke McCown tried to connect with receiver Brandin Cooks in the end zone. The pass looked good, and for a second, it appeared as though the Panthers were about to come up short.
But then Lopez and the rest of the Panthers faithful watched Norman leap into the air to intercept the pass intended for Cooks and secure Carolina’s victory.
Lopez said that pick has been the highlight of the season thus far.
“I don’t know how he (Norman) got it,” Lopez said.
He and his friends will meet up at someone’s home to catch the Panthers play on Sundays if it’s the early game. If it’s the late game, they’ll generally head out to an area sports bar for a pitcher of brew and some Carolina excitement.
These establishments, such as Lincoln Park Bar and Grill off U.S. 17 Bypass in Surfside Beach, have noticed an uptick in Panthers fans coming in to catch the games.
“It raises the level of excitement,” said Brad Sakele, co-owner of Lincoln Park, of not only Panthers fans, but all football fans who come to his restaurant.
Both Sakele and associate manager Dori Laffin, however, admit their allegiance isn’t to the “hometown squad.” As native New Yorkers, their support goes to Eli Manning and the rest of the New York Giants.
Still, neither deny the fun that football fans, regardless of their team of choice, bring to their business.
“It’s a fun, enjoyable family atmosphere,” Laffin said.
James Stokes, the general manager at King Street Grille in Murrells Inlet, said they’ll get around 15 or 20 Panthers fans into the restaurant each week for the games. That is an increase of what they saw last season.
But as many Grand Stranders know, King Street is a haven for Pittsburgh Steelers fans. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is one of the partners in the restaurant, said Stokes.
A framed jersey of the famed quarterback hangs on the wall right near King Street’s hostess stand.
“This is a Roethlisberger business,” Stokes said.
The Panthers, however, truly are a Carolinas business.
In fact, the team’s new slogan – displayed prominently on the team’s official website – is “Two States. One Team.”
On Oct. 26, 1993, NFL owners unanimously selected Carolina as the 29th NFL franchise and the first expansion team since 1976, according to information on the team’s official website.
Work to bring the Panthers to Charlotte started much early, and South Carolina was definitely a part of that process.
Choosing a stadium site was one of the first orders of business, with locations in North and South Carolina considered, according to the Panthers’ website. Charlotte was ultimately settled upon for the future home of a privately financed stadium in 1989. Plus, U.S. Senators Jesse Helms of North Carolina and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina lobbied NFL owners on the Carolinas behalf for an expansion team.
Those efforts, and so much more, ultimately led to that 1993 announcement. The city of Charlotte celebrated with fireworks.
Justin Turner grew up in Hickory, N.C., just about 90 minutes away from Charlotte. The Panthers have been his team for all of his life.
“I’ve always grown up to support your home team,” said Turner, who just moved to Myrtle Beach six months ago.
One of his fondest childhood memories was attending his first and only Panthers game thus far with his father during the 2000 season.
The seats were pretty great, right there along the 50 yard line. Turner doesn’t remembered who the Panthers played, but said he loved being there with his dad.
“(It was a) good bonding experience,” he said.
Turner is loving where the Panthers are at, but he doesn’t want to jinx it.
Instead, like so many Panthers fans along not only the Grand Strand but the Carolinas, he’s just enjoying the ride.
“They’re finally getting it together. Hopefully it’s our season,” Turner said. “Hopefully they don’t get big heads and keep doing what they’re doing.”
ESPN Staff Writer Mike Triplett contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 10, 2015 at 12:07 AM with the headline "The NFL’s hottest team is creating a splash locally."