CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — The Panthers won’t be in Las Vegas in two weeks for Super Bowl LVII, but some players with Carolina ties will be if you need a rooting interest.
The biggest name of them all is superstar running back Christian McCaffery. The 2022 trade sent McCaffery to San Francisco in exchange for the 49ers’ second, third, and fourth-round picks in 2023 and a fifth-round pick in the upcoming 2024 draft.
CMC finished the 2023 regular season with career-highs in rushing yards (1,459), rushing yards per attempt (5.4), rushing yards per game (91.2), and total touchdowns (21). He’s a strong candidate to win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award.
On the other side of the ball is former Panthers’ interim head coach Steve Wilkes. Now the defensive coordinator for the 49ers, Wilkes’ unit led the league in interceptions (22) and allowed the fifth-fewest yards per passing attempt (6.4).
Also on the 49ers is former Panthers’ quarterback Sam Darnold, University of South Carolina alumni Deebo Samuel and Javon Kinlaw, Clemson University products Ray-Ray McCloud III and Clelin Ferrell and South Carolina State alum Javon Hargrave.
Hargrave is a Salisbury native and graduated from North Rowan High School.
No one on the Chiefs active roster has played a snap for the Panthers, however, kicker Harrison Butker was drafted by the Panthers in the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft. The Chiefs signed him less than two weeks after the Panthers put him on their practice squad that year.
Other Chiefs players with Carolina connections include tight end Noah Gray (Duke University), wide receiver Justyn Ross (Clemson), guard Joe Thuney (N.C. State), cornerback Joshua Williams (Fayetteville State University) and wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling (N.C. State 2013-14).