CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Carolina Panthers drafted cornerback Jaycee Horn No. 8 overall in April, they got two Horns for the price of one.
Joe Horn is Jaycee’s father, and a former NFL great himself. Playing mostly for New Orleans in a 12-year career, Joe Horn made four Pro Bowls and orchestrated one of the most iconic touchdown celebrations of all time — a celebration that actually had a connection to a young Jaycee.
Now Joe Horn has moved to Charlotte, too, living about 10 minutes away from his son and keeping a very close eye on Jaycee’s progress.
“I just figured the first year or two that I wanted to see it,” Horn told The Charlotte Observer in a phone interview. “It’s like I said on draft day, I took the training wheels off of the bike. But I’m going to run beside the bike in case Jaycee leans over to the right or the left, so I can grab it. I’m going to jog 2-3 blocks with him, until I know he can balance the bike and push the brakes.”
As for the younger Horn’s progress so far, the bike seems to be pointed straight and true. He should be a Day 1 starter at cornerback. General manager Scott Fitterer has had the most interesting quote of the preseason so far regarding Horn, a 21-year-old rookie and former South Carolina Gamecock who Fitterer said isn’t acting like a rookie at all.
Said Fitterer of Horn, who he chose with his first-ever No. 1 pick as Carolina’s GM over Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields: “He’s got that alpha mentality. ... He’s right in the middle of everything. He’s vocal. He’s tough. A lot of guys can be vocal and not back it up. Jaycee’s a guy who backs it up. He’s the real deal when it comes to that. That’s the attitude and toughness that we want our team to be identified with. We want more guys like him.”
Some alpha evidence: Jaycee Horn got into a sort-of-playful-but-not-really shouting match with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters during the teams’ joint practices this week in Spartanburg, S.C. It went on for much longer than you’d expect. That followed a brief fracas Horn had in the joint practices the week before against Indianapolis. Horn is undoubtedly fiery, although Horn said he also knows when to quit chirping.
Said Horn: “I’m physical and competitive and confident, but I know when enough is enough. ... I won’t let the receiver get in my head and get me to do that (draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty). I’m a smart player.”
Jaycee the v-e-t-e-r-a-n
Joe Horn, now 49, traveled to watch both sets of the Panthers’ joint practices in August, both in Indianapolis and Spartanburg. His son’s verbal jousting with Peters, a three-time Pro Bowler and one of the league’s most well-known cornerbacks, didn’t surprise him.
“Jaycee is loyal to the Carolina Panthers, Mr. Tepper (Dave Tepper, the Panthers owner) and the organization,” Joe Horn said. “He knows what keeps his bills paid. I don’t think he gives a damn as to how many Super Bowls, how many playoffs, a team has. If that team comes to play against or practice against the Panthers and comes in with any type of disrespect, they’re going to hear it from Jaycee, whether he takes a fine or whether he has to lay down his life. That’s how he is. ... I’m saying that as a father. I’m not speaking for Jaycee. I’m just telling you what I raised.”
As for Peters, Joe Horn added, slowly spelling out two words for emphasis: “When I saw Peters yapping, I was saying to myself, I don’t think Pete knows. That dude over there that’s got r-o-o-k-i-e on his resume? I don’t think he knows that he’s a v-e-t-e-r-a-n in his heart. But if Pete don’t, he’s gonna learn. Real quick.”
Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow tends to agree. “Jaycee does not act like a rookie,” Snow said. “He’s not intimidated by anybody. And I think (that stems from) his dad — who he was and what he did.”
Joe Horn’s hidden flip phone
Like teammate Christian McCaffrey, Jaycee Horn grew up in an NFL household headlined by a standout wide receiver. Originally from Fayetteville, N.C., where he starred at Douglas Byrd High, Joe Horn never played a down of Division I college football because of grade problems. His stops included a junior college, the CFL and a job at a furniture factory. But Horn eventually clawed his way into the NFL, had four 1,200-yard receiving seasons and scored 58 touchdowns.
The most famous of those TDs came in 2003, when Horn grabbed a cell phone hidden in the Saints’ goal post padding after scoring in a prime-time game against the New York Giants. He then opened the phone — it was an old-school flip phone — and mimed dialing a number and talking to Jaycee and his other children. Horn’s nickname of “Hollywood” was solidified that night.
“It was a Sunday night football game,” Horn said, “and I knew my wife wasn’t going to allow the kids to come to the game because they had school Monday morning. So as I was running out the door in my suit to get in the car, Jaycee was running after me, and his brother and sister were crying. I said, ‘I gotta go. I gotta go. But I’ll call you!’ ”
Horn had instructed teammate Michael Lewis to hide the cell phone in the pregame, and Lewis had happened to pick the correct end zone. Horn ended up getting penalized 15 yards for the stunt and was fined $30,000, but it has lived on for years in video games and memes. Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas even re-enacted it after scoring in 2018. Horn said the $30,000 fine was some of the best money he ever spent, and that he wouldn’t have minded if the fine had been far more.
“They could have fined me a million dollars,” Horn said. “It wasn’t about the money. It was about the promise I made to Jaycee that I was going to call him.”
A Joe Horn lesson: Chew, or be chewed
Joe Horn is a member of the Saints’ Hall of Fame. But he has even bigger plans for Jaycee, the former Gamecock who was the first defensive player picked in this year’s NFL draft after the first seven picks were offensive players. The family’s ultimate goal: A berth for Jaycee in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“Without a doubt, that’s the blueprint,” Joe Horn said, “and everything that comes with that. Now I can only promise the Panthers organization and fans one thing. I can’t promise a Super Bowl because we don’t know what our future holds. But I have Navy SEAL friends, and I can promise you are getting a Navy SEAL type of athlete and player.”
Not everything has been roses for Joe Horn since his retirement from football. In December 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health-care fraud in a scheme in which more than a dozen former NFL players were accused of submitting fraudulent insurance claims to the NFL Player Health Reimbursement Account. The case, taking place in Kentucky, is ongoing. Along with several other former NFL players who have entered guilty pleas, Horn is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
For now, though, both Horns are in Charlotte, with the father making sure the son remembers the lessons from the past.
“I taught Jaycee growing up that you’re either gonna get chewed up and spit out,” Joe Horn said, “or you are gonna be the one chewing it up and spitting it out. Which one are you going to be? And he chose. He’s a lion.”
