The Carolina Panthers are one of the newest franchises in the NFL. In fact, the organization is younger than a lot of NFL fans.
Carolina was established in 1995, the same year as the Jacksonville Jaguars. That means that they still do not even have 30 years under their belt yet.
However, that does not mean that they haven't been able to create some incredible moments.
In their short history, the Panthers have already done some great things. What are their best though? What are the elite moments, the ones that top all the rest?
Let's try and figure that out. We will go through the history of the franchise and try to determine what the three greatest moments in the history of the Carolina franchise are.
3. Steve Smith's Playoff Heroics
In 2003, the Carolina Panthers went on their first-ever Super Bowl run. The franchise was still less than 10 years old, but they were already putting themselves right at the top of the NFL.
That year did not come with some heroics though, and who better to do that than Steve Smith.
The wide receivers are easily one of the best players in franchise history (right up there with Julius Peppers, Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly).
In 2003, he was still making his mark. And he did so in the playoffs.
Carolina went 11-5 in the regular season. And in the postseason, they had some serious challenges to overcome. That included their NFC divisional round battle with the St. Louis Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams).
That game went into overtime. One overtime was not enough though. It was still tied at the end of the first, so the game was forced to go into a second overtime.
The good news though, it did not take long. That first overtime lasted all of one play. On the first snap, quarterback Jake Delhomme connected with Smith across the middle about 20 yards down the field.
Smith then evaded a tackler and ran another 40-plus yards for a 69-yard touchdown. The play showed the wide receiver's incredible route running and YAC ability.
Most importantly though, it advanced the Panthers to the NFC Championship game. It was only the second time the team had ever gotten that far. And would end with them making it to their first ever Super Bowl.
2. 2015 Season
2015 was just an incredible season. Easily the best in franchise history.
The Panthers went 15-1 in the regular season. Even crazier than that, they started 14-0. That's right, they had a legitimate shot at going undefeated.
The magic did not just stop in the regular season though. Carolina beat the Seattle Seahawks in their first playoff test, then absolutely steamrolled the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game.
However, that was where the run stopped. In the Super Bowl, they met up with the Denver Broncos. And there, Peyton Manning rode off into the sunset. The legendary quarterback and his incredible defense behind him won it all, giving Manning another ring before retiring.
Still, this is a team that is still under 30 years old. And they already have a 17-2 season under their belt. That's absolutely incredible and something a lot of franchises have not even accomplished yet.
Of course, that season did not come without its accolades.
1. Cam Newton MVP
And what better accolade (outside of a Super Bowl ring) than a player winning the MVP award.
The one and only MVP award in the history of the Panthers came that year. And it was Newton, the stud quarterback.
Newton had just an insane year in 2015. He threw for 3,837 yards and a career-high 35 touchdowns (compared to 10 interceptions). Meanwhile, he ran for another 636 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Seriously think about those numbers. How impossible was it for a defense to stop him that year? Newton was literally doing everything. He was bulldozing defenders on his way to the end zone, or else he was throwing dimes to receivers for touchdowns.
Newton was completely unstoppable. And well-deserving of the MVP award.
This is something that will always be one of the top moments for the franchise. There will be other MVPs, but never another “first”. There will be Super Bowl rings and major moments. But this right here set the tone for a lot of that.
With this award, the Panthers have something that they can show off. A lot of people will say bragging about winning the Conference looks sad if you did not win the Super Bowl.
Well here is something that Carolina was undoubtedly better at than anyone in 2015, they had the MVP.
For now, no moment in the history of the franchise tops this one.
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