Already a Super Bowl Champion with the Baltimore Ravens, Jeff Mitchell would play five seasons with the Panthers where he started all 78 games he played at Center.  Mitchell was the anchor of a Carolina O-Line that in 2003 only allowed 23 Sacks and rush for over 2,000 Yards, and his presence was undoubtedly critical to that group.

Andrew Norwell went undrafted in the 2014 Season, but the product of Ohio State would sign with the Panthers where he landed the starting Left Guard job as a rookie.  He played four seasons for Carolina, with his best year being his last in 2017.  Although he was never chosen for the Pro Bowl, he was named a First Team All-Pro.  He signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars the following season.

Brentson Buckner played his last five seasons of his 11 years in the National Football League with the Carolina Panthers where he started at Left Defensive Tackle.  Buckner recorded 14.5 Quarterback Sacks with 168 Tackles with 25 Tackles for Loss.  His most productive time in the NFL was as a Panther.

Thomas Davis was drafted as a Safety in 2005, but the former First Rounder was also learning the role of Linebacker, which would be the position that he would stick within the NFL.  Davis would become a good Linebacker but missed the entire 2010 season due to injury and saw limited action in 2011. The Panthers never game upon him, and in his early 30s, Davis would put together three straight Pro Bowl seasons (2015-17) the first of which where he was named a First Team All-Pro.  Davis remained with the team until he signed with the Los Angeles Chargers as a Free Agent after the 2018 campaign but not before he racked up 1,111 Combined Tackles and 28.0 Quarterback Sacks.

Eric Davis was a First Team All-Pro in 1995 as a San Francisco 49er, and he would sign with the Carolina Panthers the following season where he would again go to the Pro Bowl and would help them reach the NFC Championship that year.  Davis would have 5 Interceptions that year and consistently have the exact same mark in all five of his years as a Panther.

Chris Gamble was with the Carolina Panthers for all 123 Games of his nine-season career and the Cornerback would start 117 of them.  A late 1^st Round Pick from Ohio State, the former Buckeye would pick 27 Interceptions from the air, which makes him the all-time franchise leader and he was in the top ten in picks twice over his career.

Ryan Kalil would play the first twelve of his thirteen-year career with the Carolina Panthers where he started 145 of 148 Games.  Kalil played almost entirely at Center, and the five-time Pro Bowl Selection was a significant reason for the Panthers' rushing successful rushing attack.  Kalil was also a First Team All-Pro in both 2013 and 2015.

Luke Kuechly was the team's starting Middle Linebacker since he was drafted ninth overall from Boston College and he would be named the Defensive Rookie of the Year. 

Kuechly immediately was the leader of the Panthers' defense, and in 2013 (his second year in the NFL) he was a First Team All-Pro and Pro Bowler for the first time, and he was named the Defensive Player of the Year.  Kuechly remained a dominant star for Carolina, and he has been a First Team All-Pro five of his last seven seasons.  Over the 2010s, Kuechly staked a claim as the game's top interior Linebacker, driving Offensive Coordinators crazy as Kurchly gobbled up attackers at will.  A two-time leader in Tackles, Kuchley never had a year where he had less than 100 Tackles per Season, and he sucked up 18 Interceptions over his career.

Kuechly retired after the 2019 Season, and it was arguably early, as he was still under 30, a Pro Bowl Selection and the seventh in a row.  It will be a long time before Kuechly is supplanted as the best defensive player in Panthers history, and it is even more impressive considering the relative brevity of his career.

Geoff Hangartner was drafted in the 5^th Round from Texas A&M in 2005, and he would play in various places on the O-Line for four seasons before signing with the Buffalo Bills in 2009.  The Panthers would sign him again where he would stabilize the Right Guard position for two seasons before being released after the third when he became injury prone.  Overall, he played 90 Games for Carolina.

There should be no question that Steve Smith is the greatest Wide Receiver in Carolina Panther history, and as of this writing is the best Panther period.

An All-American and Butkus Award winner in 2000, Dan Morgan was drafted 11^th Overall where the former Miami Hurricane would play 58 games in a career covered in injuries.  Morgan started all of his games, but the Middle Linebacker never competed in more than 13 games in a season and was only in 4 Games in his last two seasons (2006 & 2007).  He was a Pro Bowl Selection in 2004.

Frank Garcia was a Fourth Rounder from Washington and the Offensive Lineman would play for the Panthers for the first six seasons of his career.  Garcia was versatile as he would play Center, Left Guard and Right Guard over his Carolina stint where he played 91 games and started 84 of them.  His work in the trenches was a factor in the team reach the NFC Finals in their second year of existence.

Lamar Lathon played for the Houston Oilers for the first five seasons of his career and signed with the Panthers for their inaugural season.  The Linebacker would have the best year of his career in 1996 where he was a Pro Bowl and a Second Team All-Pro and helped the upstart Panthers reach the 1996 NFC Conference Final.  Overall, Lathon would record 23.5 Sacks for the franchise.

A 3^rd Round Pick in 2004 from South Carolina, Travelle Wharton would start 111 of his 115 games for the Carolina Panthers, the only team he would play for in the National Football League, although he was a Cincinnati Bengal for one season however due to injury could not compete.  Wharton was never a Pro Bowl Selection, but there were a couple of seasons (2005 & 2011) where he was likely in the discussion.

Julius Peppers was meant to be in a Carolina Panthers uniform.  Born in North Carolina and playing for UNC it was fitting that the 2001 Chuck Bednarik and Lombardi Award winner would be drafted by Carolina, which they did with the 2^nd overall pick.  The Defensive End would be named the Defensive Rookie of the Year, and he would build on that with five Pro Bowl selections as a Panther (2004, 2005, 2006, 2008 & 2009) and a pair of First Team All-Pro Selections (2004 & 2006).  Peppers would become the Defensive Captain in 2007, which he would follow up with a career-high 14.5 Quarterback Sacks in 2008.  He would have seven double-digit seasons in Sacks, and in 2004 he would lead the NFL in Tackles for Loss.  He would sign with the Chicago Bears and played there for four years and then another three with the Green Bay Packers.

In terms of overall talent, Cam Newton arguably was at the top of this list before he ever threw a ball on the professional level.  Newton was the Heisman Trophy winner in 2010 at Auburn where he turned every head with his freakish physical abilities and as a rookie, he was the AP Rookie of the Year going to the Pro Bowl and throwing for over 4,000 yards and rushing for 706 and 14 Touchdowns.  This was typical of what he would do for the Panthers throughout his career as a true dual-threat Quarterback who is built like a Linebacker.  Newton has rushed for over 50 Touchdowns, which is more than many Pro Bowl level Running Backs. 

Behind the depth chart to Brent Jones, Wesley Walls did not see a lot of action with the San Francisco 49ers, although he did win a Super Bowl with them (XXIV) and caught a pass in the big game.  Walls was injured through 1992 and 1993, and he would sign with the New Orleans Saints as a Free Agent, where he played well for two seasons, but it was with their division rival, the Carolina Panthers, where he would see his greatest success.

2024 Pre-Season Rank #74, 2023 Pre-Season Rank #70, 2022 Pre-Season Rank #64, 2021 Pre-Season Rank #62, 2020 Pre-Season Rank #65

Punters face a long road to Canton, but if any current one could get there, it is Hekker, who was a First Team All-Pro three years in a row from 2015 to 2017.  He was also named to the 2010s All-Decade Team.

Ryan Kalil spent the first 12 seasons in the National Football League with the Carolina Panthers where he established himself as one of the best Offensive Lineman in franchise history.  The former USC Trojan was chosen for five Pro Bowls and was named to two First Team All Pro rosters.  While Kalil was well respected in Carolina and helped them win many games he wasn’t as well-known as he should have been.  After retiring in 2018, he came back immediately, perfroming one year with the New York Jets before retiring for good.

Regular visitors of Notinhalloffame.com know that we are slowly working on the top 50 of every major team in the NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB. Once that is done, we intend to look at how each team honor their past players and executive.  As such it is news to us that the Carolina Panthers have announced that four new members will be added to their Hall of Honor for 2019.

Before we look at those new members, let’s take a look at the Hall of Honor itself, which is still in a state of development.  Prior to this announcement, only two people were honored, that of former player Sam Mills and former executive Mike McCormack who were inducted way back in 1998.  There had been no discernable talk after about new members would enter the Hall of Honor but this changed when the new owner David Tepper bought the team.  

The Class of 2019 are:

Jake Delhomme: Quarterback 2003-09.  Delhomme arrived in 2003 as a free agent and took over as the team’s starter quickly coming in during the first game of the season in relief of Rodney Peete.  This began a Cinderella season where he took the Panthers all the way to an unexpected Super Bowl XXXVIII appearance where they lost in the last play of the game to the New England Patriots.  Delhomme would remain the team’s QB through to 2009 and the 2005 Pro Bowl Selection would throw for 19,258 Yards and 120 Touchdowns as a Panther.

Jordan Gross: Offensive Tackle 2003-13.  Gross would play 167 Games in the NFL all with Carolina and he started them all.  Gross was a three-time Pro Bowl Selection who was also chosen in 2018 as a First Team All-Pro.

Steve Smith: Wide Receiver 2000-13.  Smith was drafted in the 3^rdRound in 2001 out of Utah and he would become the greatest offensive threat in Panthers history. He was a Pro Bowl Selection four times and a First Team All-Pro twice and in 2005 he would lead the NFL in Receptions (103), Receiving Yards (1,563) and Receiving Touchdowns (12).  Before he signed with the Baltimore Ravens in 2014, Smith would accrue 836 Receptions, 12,197 Yards and 67 Touchdowns as a Panther. Smith is considered to be a solid threat to enter the Pro Football Hall of Fame once eligible.

Wesley Walls: Tight End 1996-02.  Walls played six years in the NFL before joining Carolina in 1996 and it was there where he had his best years.  Walls played in Carolina for seven years and was a Pro Bowler in five of them.  With the Panthers he would accumulate 324 Receptions, 3,902 Yards with 44 TDs.

  

Going forward, what we know is that the other considered nominees for the Class of 2019 was not revealed and that there is no guarantee that there will be an inductee every year.  While it has not been finalized, the belief is that a player must have played for the organization for a minimum of three years and be retired for at least two.  Both Mills and McCormack have statues, but it will be commemorative busts for the new inductees. Their names will be added to the upper bowl inside the stadium.

We here at Notinhalloffame.com would like to congratulate and Jake Delhomme, Jordan Gross, Steve Smith and Wesley Walls for earning this honor.