Cat Scratch Reader
Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
It’s back to back wide receivers on the top 100 list. Day number 79 belonged to Mark Carrier. Number 78 goes to a more modern wide receiver, Ted Ginn Jr.
Ginn originally came into the NFL as a top 10 pick of the Miami Dolphins. Despite a standout college career as a receiver and returner, the pick wasn’t well received, and that proved to be justified. Ginn only spent three years in Miami and totaled just 1,664 yards and five touchdowns in those three years, though he did chip in an additional three return touchdowns.
His inconsistency as a wide receiver led to the Dolphins trading him away to the 49ers, who used him primarily as a returner. After a couple years of that, the Panthers decided that was a guy they could bring in to be a top three receiver for Cam Newton.
Ginn originally only spent one year in Carolina as the team’s third wide receiver behind 34 year old Steve Smith and Brandon LaFell. He chipped in a respectable 556 yards and five touchdowns before departing for Arizona.
He did nothing in Arizona, and the Panthers saw that and thought “that’s a guy we need to bring back into an expanded role at wide receiver.” He was originally slotted in as the team’s number two wide receiver, but a torn ACL suffered by Kelvin Benjamin in training camp elevated Ginn to the team’s WR1 position. He started the next two seasons for Carolina, and they would be among the best two years of his career. He topped over 700 yards in both seasons and caught a career high 10 touchdowns in 2015. He retained some return duties and maintained his effectiveness there.
Ginn was one of those players who only spent three seasons in Carolina, but it felt like he was here for a lot longer. He probably never should have been one of the team’s top options at wide receiver, but he was thrust into that role and had some memorable moments. Now to be fair, some of those moments were painful ones when he’d drop an open touchdown, but he was also on the receiving end of a number of long touchdowns off the arm of Cam Newton. In a way, he’s forever linked to Newton; only Greg Olsen had more receiving yards from the franchise’s all time best quarterback. That link...
