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Bryce Young
Last season, Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers pushed the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles to the brink, coming oneXavier Legette dropped touchdown pass away from victory. Young may have come away with a moral victory after nearly leading the comeback, but his family made sure to let him know the Eagles were the true victors that day.
During a panel at Fanatics Fest with Eli Manning on June 20, Young recounted the story of the Philadelphia game and how some members of his family were rooting for the Eagles.
Bryce Young’s Family Still Love the Eagles
Young’s roots are in the Philadelphia area, where he was born in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.Some of his family’s NFL allegiances also remainedin Philadelphia, with the Eagles. Arye Pulli transcribed Young’s Fanatics Fest story in the June 21 article“Bryce Young and Eli Manning recall their wild encounters with Eagles fans” for Inside the Iggles.
“I have family from Philly,” Young said. “Right after [we lost], I went to the friends and family section, and the game had ended maybe 50 minutes before. I come out, hug my parents, and everyone else was like, ‘You guys almost beat us. Don’t ever do that again. We got y’all. We killed y’all.’ And I’m like, ‘Dude, I just got done playing like 50 minutes ago… please don’t do this.’”
Being a former Heisman trophy winner and number one draft pick only bought so much cache with Young’s family when it came to his team opposing the Eagles. However, there is reason for optimism for the Panthers moving forward.
Panthers Hoping to Use End-of-Season Momentum in 2025
The Panthers ended last year’s regular season on a hopeful note, coming into this year after a rocky start last season. In his last three games of the 2024 season, Young finished with seven touchdowns, zero interceptions, and a quarterback rating over 100 in each game. Young, for the first time in his professional career, had begun to look confident and relaxed for an extended period.
NFL website writer Nick Shook wrote in his article “Panthers’ Dave Canales credits Bryce Young for QB’s 2024 turnaround: ‘It was really cool'” about how Panthers head coach Dave Canales observed this shift in Young’s confidence, as he discussed during an interview withSiriusXM NFL Radio in January.
“He was having fun, connecting with his teammates, working the sideline, all that,” Canales said. “And it was just like I could see this shift in him. And then he just took steps every week.
Panthers running back Chubba Hubbard is also coming off a career year. Hubbard put up career highs in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and receptions. Hubbard is confident in his Panthers teammates, and he has big aspirations for the upcoming season.
Hubbard told Scott Fowler of the Charlotte Observer that the Panthers have championship potential in an article titled“‘Sick and tired’ of same old Panthers, this team thinks it can make the playoffs.”
“If the goal isn’t to make the playoffs and win a Super Bowl,” Hubbard said, “you’re selling yourself short. So that’s always been the goal. That’s the goal this year. And I think we’re the closest we’ve ever been.”
For the first time in several years, the Panthers have a sense of confidence and optimism heading into the season, and they hope this confidence will propel them to the playoffs and beyond.