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The bookshelves, the airway of the Internet.

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Leadership coaching, motivational materials

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are everywhere you look. But for Panther

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quarterback and All of Honor inductee Jake

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Alone, leadership came naturally.

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Always played that certain way. I always felt

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like I can get guys to play better. I can

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just make as if they make them want to

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just give it there all. Today we celebrate

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twenty five season to Panther Football with

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one of the most popular ever to pull

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on the jersey number seventeen, Jake

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Delone. Five

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seasons of Panthers Football. A

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celebration of the players, coaches, and

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other people who have contributed to the organizational

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success. No to mcmixon

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the legendary number seventeen. Jay Christopher

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Delone on the podcast now a member

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of the Panthers Hall of Honor. Rumor going around

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that you were spraying herbicide or poison

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on weeds when Tempera called you. Is

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that true, Jay? That true?

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Yes? I was spraying

1:00

property line, you know, just to make sure

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the start of the season we stay on top of it. What

1:04

did you know about why the owner prior to

1:06

getting the news? What do you know about why he wanted

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to talk to you. I didn't know. Um,

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I know I had known maybe a couple of weeks

1:13

prior, Stephen Drummond had said, Hey, are

1:15

you gonna be around at this time? Owner might

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want to call you or whatever, and

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I was like yeah, And I didn't know what. Honestly,

1:22

I really truly had no idea what it was

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entailing. Um, but I knew, you

1:26

know, he wanted to reach out. It's kind

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of like create his own I

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guess, um way of doing

1:33

things here and so, but I really didn't

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know. And then when Drummond text you, hey, to be ready for a

1:37

FaceTime call, Uh,

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this is odd, you know, like there's something

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going on. I just I just didn't know what it was. How

1:44

did feel to get the news? You know what?

1:46

It was a very emotional

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you know at chills probably sent through my body. It

1:51

didn't I'm very rarely

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speechless. I can kind of come up with something

1:56

pretty quick, and I just I kind

1:58

of was like taking it back. I was floored,

2:01

um, honored. I guess

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the you know, the emotions are the memories

2:05

that started just going through my head. It was all the good time,

2:07

you know, you just you just think of that and like I

2:10

hold this place really close

2:12

to my heart, you know what I mean. And so

2:14

it was just kind of, you

2:16

know, here I am. I'm sitting in this field,

2:19

you know, by myself, uh, and Tapper

2:22

Mr Tepper asked, he goes, well, yeah, playing golf

2:24

because I had on like a windbreaker and

2:27

a and a and a golf hat. I said,

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no, I'm spraying a field. And he could what you

2:31

know, it was just kind of and so, um

2:34

yeah it was. It was great. It was there's

2:36

no other words to describe it. All

2:38

pro quarterbacks, Jaker, are good athletes.

2:41

They can all spend the ball. What was it about

2:43

you that made your teammates want to to

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play so hard and so well with you and for you?

2:48

Look, I don't know, I've

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always had the ability. I always

2:53

thought, Um, I just I love the winning.

2:56

Winning was the most important thing to me. I could care less

2:58

how we did it, you know, but just as long

3:00

as we win and

3:02

and and you gotta have fun while you're

3:05

doing it. I mean, you know, you look, you gotta be ready to play,

3:07

but you gotta have fun and let loosen and just

3:09

win and play and don't worry about

3:12

what can happen during the course. Of a game. We'll fix

3:14

it after UM, and I just

3:16

I didn't care who got the glory. That meant

3:18

nothing to me, still doesn't mean anything

3:21

to me. I just just something about winning

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in sports, um or should

3:25

I say in anything? Uh? And that's something

3:27

that UM. I just I

3:30

like positive reinforcement. I liked enthusiasm,

3:33

and I learned that always

3:35

played that certain way. I always felt like I can

3:37

get guys to play better. I can just make

3:40

as if they make them want to just give it their

3:42

all and it it really kind

3:44

of it hit home for me. And I always tell

3:46

this story with Sam Mills and

3:50

the over three seasons, Say was diagnosed with cancer

3:52

and training camp and we knew it was termed.

3:54

Everybody knew it was terminal. Well, we

3:56

played Dallas the week before Thanksgiving. We

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got beat in that US. UM didn't

4:01

have the best the game, got beat beat up pretty good.

4:03

And I remember walking

4:05

out the weight room to head to the practice field on

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that Wednesday, weather starting to change

4:10

in Charlotte get a little colder. UM played

4:12

on that astro turf in Dallas. Body

4:14

was beat up, hurting, processing

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a game plan for whoever we're playing that week,

4:19

and I remember saying to myself, like, just

4:21

I'm I'm thinking going over with

4:23

new checks, and I'm walking and probably

4:25

feeling sorry for myself. I'll be very honest,

4:28

it's like, oh my gosh, because my body's he's

4:30

starting to break down. I've never started. And

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Sam comes run by me and he slaps me on the behind.

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All right, big Jake, let's se well, go get better this week.

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And I remember saying to myself, grow

4:40

up. I said, here's the guy dying.

4:43

He's going, he's he's taking chemo, he's

4:45

doing radiation. He's running out of the practice

4:47

field goal run his one tens before he's gonna coach

4:49

practice. And here I am feeling sired for myself

4:51

because I got sacked a few times and

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I'm processing a new game plan. And that

4:55

was just that enthusiasm that I just think it's

4:57

infectious. And I just kind of was

5:00

like it was like it just reinforced everything

5:02

I ever believed. And that's just and

5:04

I always tried to be that way with with teammates

5:07

and what and whatnot. And I just think

5:09

it kind of it gets in. It's infectious. It kind

5:11

of spread throughout. It did spread.

5:13

Jackson, You're immortalized not only with Sam, but with

5:16

some other guys you played with them then Wesley Wallace,

5:18

who you know, let's talk about them briefly if you don't mind.

5:20

What's your relationship like with Steve Smith?

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I would like to say it's it's fantastic,

5:25

you know, UM, Steve and I got along

5:27

very very well. UM. And Steve

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will be the first to tell you Steve is a an

5:32

intense individual on

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the field off the field, UM,

5:37

intense with everyone except Angie and

5:39

the kids. And you know, that's just kind

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of always been his way. And we were very

5:43

close, UM. But I knew how

5:46

close we were. UM.

5:48

After I guess our initial season together,

5:50

the Super Bowl year, I get a phone call

5:52

in Brobridge, Um, when he agreed

5:54

to this contract extension. It wasn't out yet. I

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get a phone call that night about eight thirty at

5:59

night or whatever, just hey, I want to let you know

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I got it done. That meant a lot to me. But then

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fast forward a few months later, first game

6:06

of the season, he breaks his ankle against

6:08

UM Green Bay here and

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you know, a couple of weeks after that, I think we had

6:13

to buy fairly early that season and we stayed

6:16

home that weekend. Um,

6:18

we didn't go back to Louisiana, so we were just and

6:21

him and Anne showed up at the house with a couple

6:24

of the kids, and you

6:26

could tell he just he just wanted a

6:28

friend, you know what I mean, Because here's

6:30

a guy that, you know, in

6:33

essence, he was, he was larger

6:35

than life the way he And then here

6:37

he is, prime, the

6:40

beginning of the prime of his career, and he's

6:42

hurt. And that's kind of when I knew,

6:44

Look, this is a guy that this means the

6:46

world to him. And we just we we we

6:48

stayed close. And look, we had our battles. We were

6:51

both bullheaded. Uh you know, we

6:53

had our battles. I felt I could push his buttons, he

6:55

knew how to push mine. But we never berated

6:57

each other on the field. We never, you

7:00

know, And I think that that carried over into the locker

7:02

room, carried over with the other players

7:04

on the team, you know. So, but

7:06

he's a dear friend, and he's um the

7:10

heck of a player about Jordan Gross, same

7:12

thing, you know, being picked that

7:15

year number eight overall,

7:18

come in plug him right in, Um,

7:21

and just I don't

7:23

know how to explain it just somebody that he

7:26

brought it every day and and every

7:28

everybody revers Jordan not only for his

7:31

playing, but you know, working with the Panthers

7:33

after and just the way he communicates

7:35

with people, who knows things about people, how witty

7:37

and funny he is. But just the ownership

7:39

I think that he took to watch him evolved

7:42

from the young guy with Todd Stucy,

7:44

you know, Geno James, Kevin Donnelly and Jeff

7:46

Mitchell. You know, here's just a little the

7:48

rookie, to watch him evolve and really

7:51

kind of take ownership and really kind of own that

7:53

offensive line room. Bring Ryan Khalil

7:55

along that way, Jordan steps

7:57

away, Ryan takes over. I mean, it's just kind

7:59

of a legacy type situation. UM

8:02

and they just kind of keep on. It's kind of

8:04

like it gives back. But

8:07

he was just he

8:09

never and this is my opinion, and

8:11

yeah, this could be a Homer talking, but he never

8:13

got that might be the true respector

8:16

on the league that he deserved. UM.

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And look, a lot of it was because of Steve,

8:21

a lot of it because of our running backs. I

8:23

mean we had some a lot of it because of Julius,

8:26

you know, Look, I played with Joe Thomas, fantastic

8:28

football player, but Cleveland

8:30

wasn't good forever. They only had one thing,

8:33

and one thing only was Joe Thomas. You

8:35

know, we had Jordan Gross. I'll put

8:37

Jordan Gross up with just about anybody. I just

8:39

that's just my opinion. Um, he just he

8:42

was good. He was beyond good. So

8:45

the last thing for you, Jake on the podcast, Jake

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delm Hall of Honor Honore. Um,

8:50

you had near missrs with Wesley Walls, not playing

8:52

with him, but is he a player that you understand

8:54

well and holding high regard?

8:57

Um, you know, Wes, we missed

8:59

each other in New Orleans by like a year. I

9:01

went in as a rookie and ninety seven and maybe

9:04

ninety six was his last year in New

9:06

Orleans. It's somewhere around there. So

9:09

but I knew obviously who Wesley was UM

9:12

and then in the same division. I'd

9:14

watched him catch passes all over the Saints UM

9:16

and then get here, and then he's released and he

9:19

goes to Green Bay and and up buying

9:21

a house in his neighborhood. So we've gotten

9:23

to know each other obviously, very very well. I

9:25

would have loved UM.

9:27

I was a big tight end guy. I love tight ends

9:29

from high school to college UM,

9:32

and even early on with the Saints, I used the tight

9:34

end a lot. And I'm not so sure that was

9:36

something that coach Fox truly

9:38

believed in. Just to be quite

9:40

clear, I think it was kind of defense

9:43

and and run game and more of a blocking type

9:45

tight end. But to a

9:47

prolific pass catcher like Wesley that would

9:49

have been ideal. I'll throw it on the ball.

9:51

Steve might not have liked it, becau See would have got passes. I

9:54

was given Westley some opportunities. The

9:56

voice of one of the panthers all time favorite Sons,

9:59

quarterback Jake the Jay, congratulations

10:01

and thanks for the visit. Well, thanks so much. It's an

10:03

honor. The loan

10:05

was revered by all the linemen who took

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the solemn oath to protect him, including

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our guest on the next podcast, number sixty

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nine, Jordan Gross.