After the Carolina Panthers benched Bryce Young two games into the 2024 NFL season, plenty of Monday-morning quarterbacks criticized the team’s decision, and some offered support to the former Alabama All-American publicly on social media, including NBA star LeBron James.
But at least one of the supporters, top-selling rapper/singer Rod Wave, asked Young to call him, and on Wednesday, the quarterback said he had and it had helped.
“I’m not going to say like the specifics,” Young answered when asked about the interaction, “but he was just cool. Like, he had just hit me when I got benched and everything, just being supportive, like just sending support, so I was definitely grateful for that. Super cool, so yeah, definitely appreciate it.”
Young said had known Rod Wave’s songs but not the rapper.
“I didn’t know him before that, and he just reached out,” Young said. “So, yeah, and I’ve been tapped into it for a while. Like, I’m definitely a big fan of his music and everything. Been like that for a while. So, yeah, I was definitely grateful for that.”
The first player picked in the 2023 NFL Draft, Young started 16 games as a rookie for Carolina. But after two games this season, the Panthers pulled Young in favor of veteran Andy Dalton.
Dalton started five games before he sustained a thumb injury in a traffic accident on Oct. 22.
That put Young back into the starting lineup. He’s stayed there for the past five games and will be under center against when Carolina plays the Philadelphia Eagles at noon CST Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
After each of Young’s first three games in his second stint as the No. 1 QB, Panthers coach Dave Canales said he and the coaching staff would evaluate Young and Dalton during the week to decide the starter for the next game.
After Young’s performance in a 30-27 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Nov. 24, Canales immediately announced Young as the starter for the next game, and after a 26-23 overtime loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, the question of who would start against the Eagles never came up.
In the first 18 starts of his career, Young completed 59.35 percent of his passes, averaged 173.4 passing yards per game, threw for 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions, had a 70.9 passing-efficiency rating and got sacked 68 times.
In his past five starts, Young completed 60.36 percent of his passes, averaged 216.4 passing yards per game, threw for six touchdowns and three interceptions, had an 83.5 passing-efficiency rating and got sacked seven times.
In his first stint as a starter, the Panthers posted a 2-16 record. Since Young rejoined the lineup on Oct. 27, Carolina has a 2-3 mark.
Apparently, Young is not the only former Alabama quarterback in the NFL who is a Rod Wave fan, as illustrated by the mic’d up moments of Tua Tagovailoa shared by the Miami Dolphins after a 34-15 victory over the New England Patriots on Nov. 24.
Rod Wave will make a stop with the Last Lap Tour on Tuesday night at Legacy Arena in Birmingham.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at@AMarkG1.