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Minter a man of his word
By KEVIN TRAVIS, Sports Editor
CHARLOTTE -- When he speaks, you'd swear it was the truth.
Carolina Panthers' safety Mike Minter, who claims that he's never uttered a curse word in his life, and is an aspiring pastor, told some 10,000 Carolina fans at an uptown rally in Charlotte that the Panthers would come home from Super Bowl XXXVIII as "champions."
If it came from Minter, it must be gospel.
The Panthers take on the New England Patriots in Houston this Sunday. That doesn't surprise Minter in the least. The seventh-year safety out of Nebraska knew even back in training camp that the Panthers had the makings of a special team.
"I've been around championship teams before," Minter said. "I played on two of them at Nebraska; I played on them in high school, Pee Wee leagues and Midget leagues, so you kind of know that formula. You know what it looks like; you know what your teammates look like.
"That win in New Orleans (10-6 in the season finale last year), I saw in the guys' eyes that we had something special. Coming into training camp, I looked in everybody's eyes and they had that look that we were going to do something special. We already knew we had the talent; we just had to put it together."
Though Minter expected great things, did he honestly believe the Panthers would be playing for a Super Bowl?
"Oh, yeah," he said. "There was no doubt about it. If you're a local guy, and you know me, I told you from the get-go that we were going to do it."
Minter has been a big reason behind Carolina's success. The 5-10, 195-pounder, with biceps looking like they want to jump out of his shirt, finished the regular season with 83 tackles. He had three interceptions, bringing two of them back for touchdowns.
While Minter was able to cause some turnovers, the Panthers finished the regular season with a minus-five in the turnover department. Still, Carolina finished with an 11-5 regular season.
Carolina Panthers' safety Mike Minter, who claims that he's never uttered a curse word in his life, and is an aspiring pastor, told some 10,000 Carolina fans at an uptown rally in Charlotte that the Panthers would come home from Super Bowl XXXVIII as "champions."
If it came from Minter, it must be gospel.
The Panthers take on the New England Patriots in Houston this Sunday. That doesn't surprise Minter in the least. The seventh-year safety out of Nebraska knew even back in training camp that the Panthers had the makings of a special team.
"I've been around championship teams before," Minter said. "I played on two of them at Nebraska; I played on them in high school, Pee Wee leagues and Midget leagues, so you kind of know that formula. You know what it looks like; you know what your teammates look like.
"That win in New Orleans (10-6 in the season finale last year), I saw in the guys' eyes that we had something special. Coming into training camp, I looked in everybody's eyes and they had that look that we were going to do something special. We already knew we had the talent; we just had to put it together."
Though Minter expected great things, did he honestly believe the Panthers would be playing for a Super Bowl?
"Oh, yeah," he said. "There was no doubt about it. If you're a local guy, and you know me, I told you from the get-go that we were going to do it."
Minter has been a big reason behind Carolina's success. The 5-10, 195-pounder, with biceps looking like they want to jump out of his shirt, finished the regular season with 83 tackles. He had three interceptions, bringing two of them back for touchdowns.
While Minter was able to cause some turnovers, the Panthers finished the regular season with a minus-five in the turnover department. Still, Carolina finished with an 11-5 regular season.
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