Cat Scratch Reader
We’re counting down the days until the Panthers open up the 2025 season!
In this series, we’ll be counting down until opening kickoff by running through the Panthers roster by jersey number. Today’s piece looks at the current and historical players to have ever donned No. 89 for the Carolina Panthers, with apologies for this mornings scheduling snafu.
No player has worn the number 89 for the Carolina Panthers since 2013 (during the regular season or playoffs). Literally no one. And with good reason. 89 will forever be a number that was last worn over a decade ago. That’s because the number belonged to one of the greatest Panthers ever: Steve Smith Sr. Smith (5’9”, 185 lbs) was drafted by the Panthers in the third round of the 2001 NFL Draft out of the University of Utah. Thought by most to mainly be a dynamic returner, Smith took the first ball he touched in his NFL career to the house on a kickoff against the Minnesota Vikings.
From there, Smith continued to make plays in the return game and eventually on offense as well, pairing with Muhsin Muhammad to power the Panthers passing attack to the Super Bowl in 2003. Smith’s Panthers career ended in 2013 after a Hall of Fame worthy tenure, including winning the receiving triple crown in 2005. Smith was released following the 2013 season, after which he played for three years with the Baltimore Ravens. While that stint was not up to Agent 89’s standards, he was able to exact his revenge in the “Blood and Guts” game against the Panthers in 2014.
Smith was a fan favorite because of his intensity, diminutive stature, and trash talk on the field. From saying the other team could put his mother out there to guard him and he’d “beat her like a drum, too” to telling Aqib Talib to “ice up, son” after torching the Patriots, Smith will forever be remembered as one of the most entertaining and beloved players in franchise history. 89, bottom line.
The number 89 is synonymous with one of the greatest Panthers players ever, but before then it was synonymous with one of their darkest moments in team history. By now we’re all aware of the horrendous murder of his girlfriend and attempted murder of his unborn son Carruth committed. Luckily the son, Chancellor Lee Adams, survived and graduated from high school in 2021. The very first Panther to don the 89 was Walter Rasby back in 1995. The tight end from Washington, NC did not produce much in his three years in Carolina, but had a relatively successful 11 year career in the NFL.
