Although the Carolina Panthers had a bye in Week 13 of the NFL season, the Carolina Exes did not.
What the former Carolina Panthers had instead was win after glorious win, piled up like golden coins. Those one-time Panthers tore up the league in an extended NFL weekend that stretched from Sunday through Tuesday, placing themselves in the sort of high-profile positions that the current Carolina team can only dream about.
Should Panther fans be laughing or crying about all this? Is anger the appropriate emotion? Is happiness?
First, let's review what happened in Week 13.
There was former Panther coach Ron Rivera, barely removed from his cancer treatments, directing what was arguably the biggest NFL upset of the season as Washington beat 11-0 Pittsburgh on Monday night.
There was New England quarterback Cam Newton, accounting for three touchdowns in his team's 45-0 evisceration of the L.A. Chargers.
There was Kansas City kicker Harrison Butker, still the only kicker the Panthers have ever drafted, going 5-for-5 on field goals as the Chiefs improved to 11-1 by beating Denver.
There was N.Y. Giants cornerback James Bradberry, leaping high to knock away Russell Wilson's final Hail Mary pass and preserve an upset over Seattle.
There was defensive end Mario Addison, linebacker A.J. Klein and offensive tackle Daryl Williams, starting for Buffalo on Monday night as the Bills moved to 9-3 and a near-certain playoff spot with a win over San Francisco.
And those are just the headliners.
There are more. Thomas Davis, the 37-year-old wonder, is playing a reserve role at linebacker for Rivera in Washington. Cornerback Josh Norman has been relegated to special teams for now but is still on the team in Buffalo (where two former Panthers, head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, run things). Wide receiver Damiere Byrd is having his best season, catching passes from Newton in New England. As I've mentioned previously, these former Panthers could form the nucleus of an NFL team that would beat the current Panthers.
This year's Panthers, meanwhile, are limping along at 4-8 and have lost six of their past seven games. Their inexplicable and heartbreaking one-point loss to Minnesota on Nov. 29th stomped out the embers of their faint playoff hopes.
According to ESPN, the Panthers had a 96.8 chance of winning that afternoon when they had a first-and-goal from the Minnesota 9 with 2:10 to go and already sporting a 24-21 lead. But Carolina managed to fritter it all away thanks to some horrendous playing, coaching, field-goal kicking and clock management.
All losses sting. That one traumatized.
Some Carolina fans I hear from — or read on Twitter — are angry about all this success being enjoyed by these Panther Exes. (It's not uniform success, of course — tight end Greg Olsen, offensive linemen Andrew Norwell, Greg Van Roten and Trai Turner and several others have all been hampered by serious injuries).
Those Panther fans, at least on their worst days, would like to experience a little "misery loves company." They would like to not be reminded constantly every weekend about their favorite team's "parting of the ways" poor decisions (Butker), questionable decisions (Bradberry, Addison, Williams, firing GM Dave Gettleman after three NFC South titles) and "it was painful but had to be done" decisions (Rivera, Newton) decisions.
Spoiler alert: Many of those "We've Decided To Go In Another Direction" calls haven't turned out that well.
There's a German word called schadenfreude that means taking pleasure from other people's pain. And although the word has been around for 150 years, it's a very 2020 sort of word, too, because there has been so much pain related to COVID-19 this year.
I urge you to rise above the idea of schadenfreude, Panther fans.
If Newton gets New England (6-6) into the playoffs, applaud him. If Rivera wins the NFC East in his first year at Washington after nine in Carolina, cheer him. If the "Carolina North" crew in Buffalo pulls a couple of postseason upsets and wins the Super Bowl, toast them.
Harrison Butker
The Carolina Panthers made former Georgia Tech kicker Harrison Butker (7) the first kicker they have ever drafted in 2017, but then stuck with Graham Gano as their kicker that season. Butker has since won a Super Bowl ring in Kansas City. David T. Foster III TNS
Much like when you have a former significant other in your life who's doing well after a breakup, what's the point of wanting that person to fail? As the saying goes: Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.
You cared about that person once, right? Keep caring.
And so in January, when all these former Panthers are headed into the playoffs and the current Carolina team is headed home, find your better angels somewhere inside you. Wish the Carolina Exes well.
We've had enough misery already in 2020. We should feel good for anyone who is surviving and thriving. Even when it's hard. And yeah, I know it's hard.
