SPARTANBURG, S.C. _ By the time the Carolina Panthers faced the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, Kelvin Benjamin had been running on his surgically repaired ACL for more than a month.
The rehab was going well, and though the 2015 season for him was lost, he'd be ready to go by training camp.
But standing on the sideline at Levi's Stadium, Benjamin did not want to wait until Spartanburg.
"The whole time I was thinking like dang I wish I could run one route or go catch one pass," Benjamin said Friday. "But that wasn't reality."
This week Benjamin is showing what could have been _ and what could be _ at training camp, where he's already reclaimed a No. 1 receiver role that was never in doubt.
And he's back catching passes from his buddy and quarterback Cam Newton.
"I was like a kid in the candy store," Benjamin said of his first night of practice.
Benjamin is back at Wofford College, where his 2015 season came to an end. On the next-to-last day of camp in Spartanburg, Benjamin tore the ACL in his left knee and was done for the season.
The potential injury that kept general manager Dave Gettleman up at night had been realized. And after Gettleman decided not to sign veteran receivers who were either near the end of their career or halfway to the Hall of Fame, the Panthers figured it out with what they had left and became the No. 1 scoring offense in the league.
