NFL Dos and Don'ts: Carolina Panthers

As we prepare for another year of NFL football, let's take a look back at the highs and lows from 2014 for each team. Welcome to NFL Dos and Don'ts. If you missed one, you can read all our recaps right here.

As we mentioned yesterday, the NFC South was a burning can of garbage; fire-roasted, smelly, serenaded-by-Frank-Stallone garbage. If the Panthers had one thing going for them, it's that they were the brightest flame in the can. Eking out the Saints for the division by virtue of a tie, the Panthers made the playoffs because they needed an extra team to make the whole thing work; them's the rules. The 2014 Panthers were that strange friend of a friend of a friend's brother in your fantasy league who's always trying to trade you Ryan Mallet and six running backs for Aaron Rodgers.

Do

We had a pretty good preview of how the season would shake out for the Panthers in the first week of the season. Maybe they were still working out the kinks in the schedule, but as halftime came to an end, Panthers kicker Graham Gano attempted to warm up for the second half while the marching band was still on the field. Gano could have waited for the band to clear, or skipped his warmups. But no. He's got a job to do and he's going to Do it, goddammit. Whether it's a playoff appearance by default, or kicking a field goal in the middle of a very brassy version of "My Sharona," you've got to play them as they lay. An extra special Do to the saxophonist who breaks it down after Gano gets his kick off—he's got a job to do, too.

And we have an unprecedented third Do for the Panthers in part because I like to say "Fozzy Whittaker" and in part because Fozzy Whittaker makes the Arizona defense look like a bunch of movie actors, dramatically lunging all over the field as they try in vain to tackle him during their Wild Card playoff match up last season. Do make your opponent look silly whenever you can.

Don't

This one is pretty simple, and has applications outside the football arena as well. Don't be a dick. Specifically Don't be a rich dick who nickels and dimes the players he signs to non-guaranteed contracts to play a brutal full-contact sport for his own gain. The Panthers beat the Cardinals in that Wild Card game, and then went on to face Seattle in the divisional round. Obviously, they did not win that game because the Seahawks went on to beat the Patriots in a thrilling finish to the Super Bowl on a characteristically bruising Marshawn Lynch touchdown run in the final seconds.

Beaten on the road, the Panthers returned home the following day to find this message waiting for them in their own locker room:

Note inside Panthers locker room to players on the white board. pic.twitter.com/8KQPho49lr
— Steve Reed (@SteveReedAP) January 11, 2015

My god, Panthers. Can you give the team a day? Just a day. You talk these guys up and work them into such an insane lather of testosterone and spandex, can you at least give them a day to just chill out before trying to collect some petty cash for their helmets and jerseys? Can they at least have a moment to reflect on the year without feeling like the team is asking for more when it probably feels like they have nothing left to give? Christ. Just Don't be a dick, that's all we're saying.