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.
“When I found out I had cancer, there were two things I could do: quit or Keep Pounding. I’m a fighter. I kept pounding. You’re fighters, too. Keep Pounding! On offense. On defense. On special teams. On every. Single. Play. Keep pounding!”
On January 2, 2004, Sam Mills unknowingly created the mantra for the Carolina Panthers franchise. He was a cancer riddled linebackers coach, uncharacteristically speaking to the whole team the day before a home playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys. But let’s back up first and get some perspective.
Sam Mills was “the little guy who plays big” long before Steve Smith donned the black and blue. After going undrafted out of Montclair State following the 1981 NFL Draft, Mills signed on with the USFL’s Philadelphia Stars. Standing all of 5’9” and 230 pounds, played three years in the USFL before getting the chance at the NFL with the New Orleans Saints in 1986. He won one of the starting inside linebacker jobs in his first year with the team and wouldn’t relinquish that role for the next nine seasons, becoming a mainstay in the infamous Dome Patrol defense. During his Saints tenure, he earned four Pro Bowls and two Second Team All-Pro selections.
In 1995, the expansion Carolina Panthers jumped at the chance to sign the Field Mouse after he was released by New Orleans. In Charlotte, Mills really shined. His first year with the Panthers, he made 110 tackles, five interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), 4.5 sacks, five forced fumbles, and four fumbles recovered. Mills was so good, he finished tied for third in the Defensive Player of the Year voting that year. He continued his dominance in 1996, earning another Pro Bowl nod, his first First Team All-Pro selection, and again finishing in the top five for DPOY. 1997 became his final NFL season, retiring after a solid but unremarkable statistical year that saw a huge drop in splash plays. His ties to Carolina, however, would stay strong as he joined the coaching staff as a defensive assistant for the 1998 season. He continued coaching the defense, particularly the linebackers, for the Panthers until a few months before his death in April of 2005.
During the 2003 season, Mills was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. Regardless, he kept coaching, kept showing up every day. He didn’t miss a single game, scheduling his chemotherapy and radiation treatments around team activities. To make sure he could still be present for the team, Mills moved from the sideline to the coaches box on game days, still managing to attend one or two practices each week. The Panthers finished the season 11-5, drawing inspiration from Mills. From player accounts, Mills would still run sprints before practice despite the grueling treatment. He was never one to complain and never one to make grand speeches. So when he spoke up on that January day, the less than 100 people present listened intently. The Panthers went on to pummel the Cowboys 29-10. Then they beat the Rams on the road 29-23 in double overtime in a game they weren’t supposed to be competitive in. Then they beat the Eagles on the road 14-3 in a dominant performance by the defense. No matter the expectations, no matter the odds, no matter the opponent, Mills and his Panthers kept pounding.
Mills lost his battle with cancer in 2005, earning a posthumous enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2022. While his time with the Panthers was brief, he achieved elite highs both personally and with the team. He starred in the franchise’s first NFC Championship Game and coached in the team’s first Super Bowl appearance. The undersized linebacker out of some no-name college in New Jersey changed the game for so many. So while the rival Saints can also lay claim to the beloved man, his dedication to the game of football and the Carolina Panthers specifically more than earned him this spot in our countdown.