It’s safe to say former Carolina Panthers tight end and current NFL on FOX analyst Greg Olsen was a little caught off guard by his former teammate and now new (or old) Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s return to the franchise. Hot off the red-eye for Los Angeles, Olsen joined the guys over at the Mac Attack on Friday to explain why he was so shocked.
“I have to be honest, I did not see this coming. It just seemed too good to be true.” Olsen also talked about just how palpable the excitement is right now in the Charlotte area. “You can’t really describe it, unless you live in Charlotte, what this means to the fanbase and to the organization. It’s a day that no one thought ever might be possible even in a going-away party, you know like a retirement, let alone him being in uniform, under center.”
Olsen believes that Cam’s return also means the return of one of the biggest sports presences in the cities history. “You could argue that he’s the most significant athlete to ever play in Charlotte. Those handful of years when we were at our best, him along with a lot of other guys, put the Panthers on the national landscape.” That is something that Newton will be hoping to do once again potentially beginning on Sunday, as he looks to put this team into the playoffs and potentially set up a magical run in this storybook reunion. Olsen definitely likes the group that he will be working with trying to get the job done. “I think offensively skill-wise, he’s got a lot of guys to throw the ball to and they’ve got a really good offensive mind in Joe Brady putting the package together. The key is, they’ve got a top ten defense on the other side that’s young, athletic and fast. It’s not a bad situation that he is walking into.”
Newton’s first game back with the Panthers will be this Sunday at 4:05 PM against the Arizona Cardinals, the team made his rookie debut against back in 2011, over on WBT and Chris McClain, Brett Jensen and Nick Carboni will have you covered starting at 2:00 PM on Sports Radio FNZ with the Countdown to Kickoff powered by DeWalt.
