SPARTANBURG, S.C. _ Carolina Panthers left guard Andrew Norwell was born in 1991, a year after the Reds' "Nasty Boys" trio of relievers brought a World Series title to Norwell's Cincinnati hometown.
Different sport, different era _ but Norwell is making nasty cool again.
When Panthers tackle Daryl Williams used the adjective to describe Norwell this week, Williams meant it as a term of endearment for the 6-6, 325-pound lineman with long hair and permanent snarl.
"He just goes hard, man," Williams said, laughing. "He's definitely like an inspiration, just watching him. He's very physical and tough and nasty. I'm glad he's my teammate."
Norwell is beginning his fourth season as the Panthers' starter at left guard, and was the team's highest-rated lineman last season by Pro Football Focus.
Despite his consistency _ Norwell was the Panthers' only offensive lineman to start all 16 games in 2016 at his original position _ Norwell might be the least known among the five guys up front.
He's not real vocal in the locker room, happy to let Pro Bowlers Ryan Kalil and Trai Turner handle most of the media interviews for the line.
Norwell saves his voice for practices and games. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton nicknamed the undrafted free agent from Ohio State "All-yell Norwell" early in his career because of the screaming Norwell does to get himself and his teammates revved up.
Norwell was in full "All-yell Norwell" mode last week for an Oklahoma drill that defensive end Charles Johnson wanted no part of _ payback for the would-be matchup between defensive end Julius Peppers and tight end Greg Olsen earlier in camp that Olsen jokingly backed out of.
Norwell approved of Williams' "nasty" description of him, though did so without cracking a smile.
"I love it. That's what I'm about," he said. "Every play I do my best _ four to six seconds of relentless effort every play."
Norwell said he developed his lunch-pail work ethic and a bit of a mean streak from his two older brothers.
Adam Norwell played basketball at Northern Kentucky from 1997 to 2001, and Chris Norwell was a defensive lineman at Illinois who signed with the Patriots as an undrafted free agent in 2008.
The older brothers showed Norwell some tough love in the Cincinnati suburbs, like the time Andrew needed to drop a few pounds to make the weight limit for his pee-wee league.
Norwell, the youngest of seven siblings, jogged through the neighborhood while his brothers followed him _ perhaps a little too closely _ in a Jeep.
"I was trying to run away from them," he said. "(They were) trying to make me run to lose weight when I was a little kid."
He made the weight.
