January 12, 2006
By Brett Borden
Panthers.com
The opening round in the friendly grudge match between Mike Minter and Muhsin Muhammad went to Muhammad's Bears. The second round, however, is the one both players prefer to win, anyway.
Minter and Muhammad, teammates for eight seasons in Carolina, finally got to take each other on for real when the Panthers played Chicago on November 20 at Soldier Field. Muhammad scored the game's only touchdown in that game, a 13-3 Bears victory. But he also had a couple of dropped passes, one of which was in the end zone.
"When he dropped that one, he was laying down there sulking a little bit," laughed Minter. "I told him, 'Get up off the ground.' He got up and said, 'All right, Mint. You got a gift right there.' We had fun with it.
"We're very close. Eight years playing together. We have a business together. We're friends off the field. It's so fun because we used to always battle in practice. We always said that if one of us left this team we would come back and burn the other guy. We got that opportunity earlier in the season."
They'll get it again on Sunday. The stakes are much
higher this time, with a berth in the NFC Championship
on the line. Minter and Muhammad talked trash to each
other in practice almost every day as teammates.
Mike Minter and Muhsin Muhammad battled daily in practice
for eight years. (AP Photo)
"It doesn't matter what people say," said
Minter. "It's all good come Sunday at 4 o'clock.
You don't need motivation for this game. We're one game
away from the NFC Championship. We're playing a team
that already has whipped us once. There's nothing that's
going to motivate us more than we already are."
Back in November, the Panthers came into Chicago riding a six-game winning streak. They left with a one-game losing streak. Minter says the Bears surprised the Panthers a little bit.
"I don't think we knew how great they are on defense the first time we played them," he said. "The speed and the confidence they were playing with, and guys just doing their job were things you can't see on film. We know what we're up against this time."
Does Minter have any advice for his offensive teammates this time around?
"They've been doing their thing for the last two weeks," said Minter. "If we can continue to run that football with DeShaun Foster, we'll be okay. (Wide receiver) Steve (Smith) is going to do his thing regardless of what happens. I think the offense will do what it has to do, and we'll do what we have to do to win this ball game."
One thing is for certain, whoever wins this time between the friends/business partners will have bragging rights throughout the offseason.