Players and coaches from the Carolina Panthers hosted a youth football team from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s Police Activity League (PAL) during training camp on Tuesday. The event brought together NFL professionals and children from the PAL program for a joint practice, offering the young athletes an opportunity to interact with their role models.
Dom Capers, who has spent decades in football, observed the event with optimism. “These kids don’t know what they’re in for,” Capers said as he watched both teams take to the field.
The PAL program, run in association with CMPD officers serving as coaches, is designed to provide community engagement and preventative support through youth sports. On Tuesday, members of the under-11 PAL Panthers participated in stretching exercises and a team run alongside Carolina Panthers players at practice.
“It means it means the world to our guys, man,” said PAL coach Tae Brown. “It’s all about the kids, for them to actually have fun, to be around guys that they look up to, to be around coaches and individuals, man, that’s just, like I said, that’s a blessing for these kids to get that opportunity.”
Carolina Panthers players engaged actively with the children throughout practice. Offensive lineman Robert Hunt joined huddles while running back Chuba Hubbard offered advice on technique. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero analyzed plays from the sidelines: “I’d go 0 here,” he commented during a red zone sequence.
The young athletes responded by executing plays with enthusiasm. A defensive blitz led by the PAL team resulted in a sack and celebration among their defense. Later in practice, receiver Chase Murray ran his favorite play—Wing T 19—for a touchdown and celebrated with quarterback Bryce Young and other Panthers players.
“Oh, they couldn’t catch me,” Murray said after scoring.
Despite challenging weather earlier in the day and a demanding training schedule for Carolina’s players, both teams remained on the field longer than planned so that every child could participate fully.
“Early in camp, Dave (Canales) challenged guys to like, remember—you talk about your whys, like why do you play the game,” shared offensive coordinator Brad Idzik. “And you dig back to those years, your formative years of the first time you played football, and like it’s all dreamy and like yeah I would love to play in the NFL someday
“(So), really cool see those kids out there and it’s just like genuine passion, you know, just playing the game because they’re having fun with their friends, and then getting to juice them up and and get right in the mix of it, Ickey getting in right guard there when we’re missing a body, you know, that was pretty special.”
Cornerback Jaycee Horn reflected on how events like this help professional athletes reconnect with their original motivation for playing football: “I mean it just takes you back to the days when you was doing it and when it was just all about football,” Horn said. “Sometimes when you get to this level, you get so much different stuff thrown at you… but those guys out there… they’re just running around tackling, playing fast.
“So to be able to see them do that… helps you appreciate where you are.”
