INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. \u2014 Two months before the 2026 NFL season kicks off, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen Coker made his way to White Barn Marketplace, an Indian Trail-based furniture store, where he was greeted by plenty of Panthers fan and signed plenty of souvenirs.<\/p>\n
The visit to Union County comes after Coker\u2019s marketing agency reached out to White Barn Marketplace owner Barry Curlee about bringing passion to Panthers fans in the area.<\/p>\n
Coker said meeting Curlee\u2019s family was a blessing \u201cand for them to invite me out here \u2014 everyone\u2019s so kind and nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe partnership just made sense,\u201d Coker added. \u201cIt shows how excited everyone else is to watch Carolina football this year. I\u2019m a small piece of it, but to see everyone come out and support and just be so excited to stand out in the heat and wait, it\u2019s a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the time Coker left the building, Barry and Carrie Curlee counted all the fans that were in attendance: 300, including fans who traveled from all over the state to greet the undrafted wide receiver.<\/p>\n
That amazed the Curlees knowing they now have an everlasting friendship with Coker, who signed a three-year, $35 million dollar contract with the Panthers.<\/p>\n
When Jalen first reached out to White Barn Marketplace, Barry thought it would be fun to get to know him.<\/p>\n
As the Curlees and Coker spent more time together and got to know each other on a more personal level, it became clear that the partnership was about much more than football.<\/p>\n
\u201cJalen\u2019s character is second to none,\u201d Barry Curlee said. \u201cHe\u2019s humble, genuine, hardworking, and he carries himself the right way both on and off the field. Having a talented NFL player represent your brand is exciting, but what really closed the deal for us was Jalen the person. His values align with ours at White Barn. We believe in treating people the right way, building relationships, and being involved in the community, and that\u2019s exactly who Jalen is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kaitlynn Carson, a Panthers fan, brought her Jalen Coker jersey for Coker to sign. It made her feel appreciated and more pumped for the next football season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool because my brother and my dad are really big football fans,\u201d Carson said. \u201cThey are always cheering them on. When they go to the game, so it\u2019s just like a really cool experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cole Torrez, another Panthers fan, had Coker sign a Panthers-customized football.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s great to meet a player that I can identify with and get to see on the field and know that he\u2019s part of the team that everyone\u2019s cheering for,\u201d Torrez said. \u201cIt\u2019s really nice to have that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the end of the day, Coker\u2019s partnership made sense because it wasn\u2019t just about an athlete endorsing White Barn Marketplace, but partnering with someone the Curlees genuinely believe in as a person.<\/p>\n
Coker had no regrets bringing the joy that he did on Friday afternoon and looks forward to bringing more joy in his fourth year with the Carolina Panthers.<\/p>\n
The Panthers kick off the 2026 season at home on Sept. 13 against the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe biggest thing I\u2019ve learned (at White Barn Marketplace) is the value of family, connection and community,\u201d Coker said. \u201cThose are the biggest things that I grew up being raised on. And then to be here and to feel like I\u2019m already part of the family (and) we\u2019re having a good time. It\u2019s not a transactional relationship by any means. It\u2019s all family-based and community-based and that\u2019s what I resonated with a lot. Anything that I can do to put a smile on someone\u2019s face, that\u2019s my favorite part.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. \u2014 Two months before the 2026 NFL season kicks off, Carolina Panthers wide receiver Jalen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":945111,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[81197,235,260,2567,3456,125091,71398,7,3545,6,236,58872,125090],"class_list":["post-945110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-carolina-panthers","tag-autograph-signing","tag-carolina","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-carolinapanthers","tag-community","tag-family-values","tag-fan-engagement","tag-football","tag-jalen-coker","tag-nfl","tag-panthers","tag-union-county","tag-white-barn-marketplace"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116917150897443995","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=945110"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/945110\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/945111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=945110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=945110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=945110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}