‘This is surreal’: New Panthers quarterback Bryce Young arrives in Charlotte
It was almost as if Friday’s arrival of Bryce Young — the Panthers’ new quarterback and first overall selection — brought a bit of sunshine back to Charlotte following a rainy Thursday night at Bank of America Stadium.
Dressed in a light blue suit and a Panthers hat, Young strolled through a red carpet-like atmosphere as he arrived at the North Gate of the stadium. Hundreds of fans surrounded Young as he made his way to the entrance of the stadium and pounded a drum to draw a “Keep Pounding” chant from the Carolina faithful in attendance.
From there, team owner David Tepper and his wife, Nicole, took Young and his parents, Julie and Craig, on their first official tour of the Panthers’ facility. Eventually, Young met with the Charlotte media.
“This is surreal for me,” Young said. “This is an opportunity that I don’t take lightly, I don’t take for granted. And this is a huge blessing. ... I couldn’t be more ecstatic to be a Carolina Panther, and I’m ready to get to work.”
Young, who stands 5-foot-10 and 204 pounds, has often dealt with size critique due to his lack of a prototypical frame. Some analysts have labeled him as a size outlier. But those criticisms didn’t seem to bother the Panthers.
Craig Young, who coached Bryce as a child, said the size narratives are “lazy.” Bryce Young, though, took the high road when asked about the advantages of his short stature.
“I only know one way how to play the quarterback position,” the former University of Alabama quarterback said. “I’ve been this size, relative to everyone around me, so I don’t really look at it as an advantage or disadvantage. I think I would have to know another perspective to know that. For me, I try my best to focus on myself and be the best version of myself, day in and day out. ... I know that size is something everybody wants to talk about, but I’ve never thought about it.”
Young will now enter a quarterback room with a trio of longtime NFL signal-callers leading the charge.
Head coach Frank Reich, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and veteran passer Andy Dalton all played more than a decade in the league. Dalton, who is currently No. 1 on the quarterback depth chart, has thrown for 38,150 yards and 244 touchdowns.
Bryce acknowledged that he is looking forward to learning from the group.
“Being a young guy in this league, I’ve never taken a snap, and I’m going to be around so many people who have had so much success and been around so many great quarterbacks,” Young said. “From them and from other people they’ve been around — it’s such a wealth of knowledge. And I’m going to try to be a sponge and soak it all in.”
Following his son’s time at the podium, Craig Young explained why Bryce was constantly focused on playing the toughest competition.
“I always felt like we should be more focused on this production,” Craig said. “And I think that’s why, as a family, we wanted to be in an organization where people believed in him for who he was. And, throughout, I always knew that size was going to be a factor or something that they would consider. But that’s why we always played at the most elite competition. Mater Dei High School (Santa Ana, California) — best team in the nation in high school — (and) Alabama football. And then from there, because we always wanted to make sure that the results at the highest level spoke for themselves. And I felt like sometimes there wasn’t enough attention focused on that going way back to when he first started playing football.”
Those experiences have conditioned Bryce Young, the 2021 Heisman trophy winner, for the limelight. However, the rookie quarterback is more immediately focused on earning the respect of his peers than his place on the depth chart.
“I’m super grateful for what’s happened in my past and for being selected where I was, but I know that doesn’t entitle me to anything,” Young said. “It’s on me to prove myself — to show up every day and work and earn the respect of the people around me. And that’s something that I’m looking forward to starting to do.”
