PAT YASINSKAS, Charlotte Observer, August 7, 2007
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- If you saw the scene in the Wofford College parking lot Tuesday afternoon, you saw a family.
The grandfather was saying goodbye to the kids and daughter-in-law. Then, he turned to his son. The two hugged and whispered something only they could hear.
Then, the car started and Mike Minter and his family drove up the hill. John Fox turned and walked through a door.
"This isn't about goodbye," Fox, coach of the Carolina Panthers, had said a few minutes earlier in a much more public venue. "This is about thank you."
There were a lot of "thank you's" during the franchise's most emotionally charged day since the funeral for former linebacker and assistant coach Sam Mills.
In a crowded Wofford auditorium, Minter officially said his 10-year career was over.
"At the end of the day, there wasn't anything left," he said. "But I can walk away knowing I left it on the field, everything."
Panthers owner Jerry Richardson cried during the news conference and, later, challenged defensive end Julius Peppers to step into Minter's leadership role.
Fox laughed and cried. So did Minter. And, despite the fact a scorching practice was only an hour away, Peppers, John Kasay, Jake Delhomme, Kris Jenkins, Mike Rucker, Jason Baker, Mike Wahle, Ken Lucas, defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac and equipment manager Jackie Miles lined the walls to witness Minter's final act as a teammate.
To a man, they all said they were there to pay tribute to a man who had performed many great acts on and off the field.
"Football hasn't defined Mike Minter," Delhomme said. "You've got to put that out there first. He's much more than just a football player."
That's probably why the video tribute the team played at the start of the news conference opened with the question, "What does it mean to be a Carolina Panther?"
The video turned to an interview with Minter and he was talking, but the question already had been answered during the past 10 years
"I think you're seeing a lot of the problems the commissioner is trying to deal with right now in this league," Trgovac said. "If more players that came into this league lived their lives and played on the field like Mike Minter did, then this league would be a lot better off."
Minter, who is the franchise leader with 953 tackles and 141 games started, planned to play one last season after taking a pay cut in the offseason. But, shortly into his 11th training camp, he began realizing his creaky knees were a much bigger issue than he thought.
As the players returned to Spartanburg on Sunday night after a day off, Minter informed his teammates of his decision.
"He and I sit beside each other in our unofficial unassigned seats," said Kasay, the last original Panther. "I knew when you play this long, you have these discussions with yourself, and I asked how he was. He said, `You're fixing to find out.' "
That's when Minter stood up and addressed a team that drafted him in 1997 and a defense he'd captained the past five seasons.
"One of the things that I thought was so special was you got a chance to look at somebody who was really trying to come to grips with that decision," Kasay said.
"A lot of people like to do that in private. He was willing to show himself, the struggle that he was having, knowing that, mentally, he can do this, but your body won't let you take that step that you've always been able to take."
Minter, who plans to stay in Charlotte and be involved in his businesses and the ministry, said he made his decision after conferring with team chaplain Mike Bunkley and a few other trusted friends.
The consensus was, his knees were going to prevent Minter from being the player he once was.
Minter didn't leave the Sunday night meeting or the news conference without a few words for his former teammates.
In the team meeting, he challenged Peppers, Jordan Gross and Steve Smith to take on bigger leadership roles.
That might have prompted Richardson's public message to Peppers.
As Minter wrapped up his speech, he looked out at his teammates scattered in the crowd and delivered his final message as captain.
"All I can say to you guys is, let's go win a Super Bowl," Minter said.