0:03

As the Carolina Panthers original director of

0:05

Communications, Charlie Dayton was in charge

0:08

of the media when an entirely new method

0:10

of communicating was invented, the

0:12

Internet. It's like when automobiles

0:15

came in. You know, their horses. You don't

0:17

go back to horses. You're not going to go back

0:19

to what it was even ten but

0:22

certainly not twenty feathers. Today

0:24

we celebrate twenty five seasons of Panther football

0:27

with one of the great relationship builders who

0:29

has ever worked here, Charlie Dayton.

0:33

Five seasons of Panthers Football.

0:36

A celebration of the players, coaches,

0:38

and other people who have contributed to the

0:40

organizational success. Now to

0:43

mcmixon from

0:46

the Charlie Dayton press Box at Bank of America

0:48

Stadium, Charlotte N. C our

0:50

guest is the incomparable

0:53

Charlie Dayton, the team's inaugural

0:55

director of Communications, a legendary figure.

0:57

Charlie, welcome. What is it like being

1:00

the Charlie Daton press box and being

1:02

Charlie Dayton. Well, Mack,

1:04

I probably wouldn't think about it except for you

1:06

bring it up. So Hey,

1:09

I'm honored, I really am.

1:11

You know, to have the chance to be with

1:13

the team that was just getting started

1:15

with a wonderful experience. A

1:19

lot of times you can go through your career and never had the opportunity,

1:22

and it just so well happened

1:24

that I did have the opportunity, and

1:27

you know, worked here for twenty

1:29

three, twenty four years and it was

1:31

it was great. And now you see all the

1:33

wonderful things going on and it's just,

1:36

uh, it's good to see it continuing

1:38

at such a great love. It

1:41

was hard to get you up here on the elevator

1:43

because so many people wanted to greet you so

1:46

warmly and hugs and embraces you.

1:48

You mean a lot to so many people. We want to

1:50

mainly talk about the Panthers with you, Charlie and some

1:52

of the early days, but your career has touched Firman,

1:55

Wake Forest, Tampa Bay, the Washington

1:57

Redskins, the Carolina Panthers. Of course. Did

2:00

you know as a youngster that your

2:02

your twig was bent in a pr direction?

2:06

Very early, very early, Mick,

2:09

I was probably I was ten years old.

2:12

I remember seeing Sporting News about a Dodger

2:14

yearbook, and so I sent

2:16

off and I was a Dodger fan

2:18

for whatever reason, grew up in North Carolina

2:21

and I sent off in the UH

2:24

to get this Dodger yearbook, and I looked

2:26

up who did it, who produced

2:28

it, and there was their PR guy named Red

2:31

and I'm gone Blank's last name.

2:33

But from time

2:36

I was ten years old, that's why I wanted

2:38

to do. And and then someone you know as

2:40

well, I went to I grew up in Raleigh,

2:42

went to NC State and I

2:44

would go to baseball games and

2:46

I'd be the bat boy for NC State

2:48

when Roman Gabriel was playing baseball

2:50

there, and UH, I got

2:53

a legendary guy, Frank Wheedon was

2:56

the sports information director at

2:58

UH NC State. UH

3:01

walked up to him and asked him what he did and

3:03

got to know him, and he was always

3:06

gracious to me. And growing up

3:08

in Riley, I didn't want to go to States. I went to

3:10

wake Forest where Skeeter

3:12

Francis another you know,

3:15

just well known, well respected

3:18

person. He was had been the s

3:20

I D at wake Forest who was working in the A c

3:22

C office. Still lived in Winston Salem,

3:25

and I got close to Skeeter and

3:27

UH and just one thing led to another.

3:29

But to answer your question, for

3:32

forever, I knew what I wanted to do. What

3:35

attracted you about this job when Mr Richardson

3:37

first got the team, well, the

3:39

the opera one being from North Carolina,

3:41

you know, and my wife was from South Carolina,

3:44

so you know, it was just perfect.

3:46

You know. I'd grown up as a

3:48

youngster in North Carolina, like some many,

3:50

being a Redskin fan. I had

3:52

a chance to work with the Washington Redskins

3:55

and Coach Gibbs, you know, when he was

3:57

there. That was a marvelous experience,

4:00

and he had just retired. They the

4:03

first time. You know, he went back later and

4:06

he had retired and they they got

4:08

the team down here and it worked out. I

4:10

had an opportunity to come here, which was you

4:12

know, I got the best of both worlds. I got

4:14

to work with the team that I had grown up pulling

4:17

forward in the Redskins, and as adult,

4:19

got to work with the Caroline Panthers as

4:22

they were getting underway. Charlie

4:24

Dayton, former director of communications for the Panthers,

4:26

with us on the podcast. Charlie, what were

4:28

those early days like with the excitement

4:31

of the energy of an NFL team being new?

4:33

It was it was great. I mean, just

4:36

the fact that you know, the fact

4:38

that they got the franchise is a

4:40

remarkable story because they

4:43

were such a underdog to get

4:45

the team when the bid first started

4:47

in Mr Richardson, Mark Richardson,

4:49

Max Mullerman, UH

4:52

Dick big Pen. You know, the

4:55

crew that they had together did

4:57

a remarkable job of bringing

5:00

them from the back of the pack to the front

5:02

of the pack to get a franchise. So people

5:05

kind of doubted it was ever gonna happen up

5:08

till the very end. And they, you know, when

5:10

started Baltimore and UH St Louis

5:12

were the front runters and

5:15

uh, but they just they kept

5:17

plugging along and kept doing the right things

5:19

and in a way, the

5:22

other UH applicants

5:25

would make mistakes and just by

5:27

being steady, they ended up getting a franchise.

5:30

So UH coming here at that

5:32

time and you were sandwiched between

5:34

Washington Atlanta and

5:38

so people had always been either redskin fans

5:40

a lesser degree Falcon fans, but

5:42

now they had something to hold on too. They

5:44

could be Panther fans. And I

5:47

know, when you know, we play the Redskins,

5:49

you know you'll still see some carry

5:51

over that, but you know, the seeing

5:54

the generation of Panther

5:56

fans who when we moved here. You

5:59

know, my it is a perfect example. He was

6:01

in ninth grade and seeing them he's

6:03

now forty years old and seeing that

6:05

whole generation Panther fans grow, It's

6:07

probably been the most rewarding part of everything.

6:10

You covered an

6:13

era that will touch on in a second, but teams

6:16

that covered the Panthers under your

6:18

purview. Uh, you had big

6:20

newspapers, you had small you had national

6:23

media and local Charlie. What shaped your

6:25

philosophy and how did you try to treat the

6:27

different media to make everybody feel kind of special

6:29

and important when they came to cover us.

6:32

Well, I just you

6:34

know, and I don't know if the philosophy still holds

6:36

because I'm I just never

6:38

felt like it had to be a contentious business

6:41

between the uh, the

6:43

team and the media. And

6:46

sometimes you your goals are different

6:48

in their objectives are not the team's

6:50

objectives. So it's

6:52

inevitable that you're gonna run into situations

6:55

that are difficult to handle.

6:57

But I just tried to make it where

6:59

it was contentious, and uh,

7:02

that was my philosophy, whether it was the

7:04

Lexington Dispatcher, the Raley News

7:06

Inmbserver, Charlotte

7:08

Observer Rocky o'harreld,

7:11

and uh, you know, the newspaper business has

7:13

changed so much now, uh

7:16

from what it was when we started. We probably

7:18

had fifteen different papers,

7:20

you know, covering us. Then you didn't

7:22

have the websites that you do, you

7:24

didn't have social media, but it

7:29

was it was great because you're the

7:31

sports landscape. The Carolinas had

7:33

always been a uh,

7:36

collegiate atmosphere. Collegiate,

7:39

the college has ruled and and

7:41

there's a place for both. And to see

7:44

the Panthers come, it

7:46

just it changed. It changed a

7:48

lot in twenty five year

7:50

later. Twenty five years later, you know,

7:52

the colleges are still flourishing, the panthers

7:54

are flourishing, and it's great to

7:56

see that. You know, there's room for both. And

7:59

at that time there was kind of feeling had

8:01

to be either or and that hasn't

8:03

proven to be the case. The voice

8:05

of media relations legend,

8:08

Charlie Daton with us on the on the podcast.

8:10

So, Charlie, during your career and entirely

8:13

new method of communicating

8:16

was born, the Internet, social

8:18

media, websites, dot coms.

8:21

How did that change your job on a daily

8:23

basis? Changed everything? It

8:25

was a complete game changer. Social

8:27

media. I'd say the internet.

8:30

Uh, I remember the first time

8:33

we used the internet was probably

8:35

like and before that

8:37

you had to subscribe

8:39

to clipping services to get

8:42

the copies of the newspapers from around

8:44

the Carolinas. And for the first

8:46

time, we're able to access the newspapers

8:48

on a website and uh,

8:51

you know, print out the stories ourselves, and

8:53

you were able to follow things as they happened

8:55

for the first time, you know what, whatever

8:58

an event was happening, you could

9:00

trace it, you know, uh

9:02

in time on the Internet and you'd

9:04

never been able to do that before. You'd have to call.

9:07

But there was a news cycle and that that

9:09

was started to bring the

9:11

on the twenty four news cycle, twenty four

9:13

hour news cycle. And then when

9:15

uh, I'd say, when Twitter came,

9:18

you know, that was the next thing that really

9:21

just it made it seven

9:23

and and I will be perfectly honest,

9:25

the job that Stephen Drummond has now

9:28

is much more difficult than the job that I

9:30

had for you know, twenty years, because

9:33

social media, the different

9:36

websites, uh, the

9:39

fact that so many people from so many

9:41

directions have voices. Now you

9:44

know, I'm not saying it's better

9:46

or worse. It's just different, and it's

9:48

it's made the job for Stephen

9:50

and Ryan and uh Preston and Will

9:53

it's it's much more difficult for them.

9:55

It seems like the wild wild West out there

9:57

at times. Any player can disseminate it for

10:00

Nation, any fan can become a reporter

10:02

and a news disseminating organization. Do you think

10:04

that Panther fans are better

10:07

or worse served by

10:09

the current landscape? Well, I can speak as

10:11

a fan now, so I uh

10:14

not as a member

10:16

of the PR department. I enjoy

10:19

it. I mean I watched, uh,

10:21

you know, I followed the practices

10:23

with the bills recently, uh,

10:26

you know, almost completion to completion

10:29

or interception, and you know, I enjoyed

10:31

keeping up with that, and I

10:35

check Twitter, you know, several

10:37

times a day just to make sure nothing's

10:39

happened. They do. I think they're do a

10:41

wonderful job here on social media with

10:43

the Panthers, and you know, I get

10:45

the alerts and you know, so it's

10:48

one of those things make it's Uh,

10:50

it's like when automobiles

10:52

came and you know, there were horses. You

10:55

don't go back to horses. You're not going to go

10:57

back to what it was, you know, even

11:00

in but certainly not twenty five years

11:02

ago. Once that dog comes in by the

11:04

fire, he don't want to go back out to where it's called.

11:06

I buy the woodshed. There's there's no doubt.

11:08

Um. Charlie Dayton, the great pr man

11:10

for the Panthers here media Relations, Directory Communications

11:13

and an icon in the industry, Charlie win Uh.

11:15

The the phone, of course,

11:18

you know, cell phone. You you did this probably

11:20

probably not trying to date you, but prior to the cell

11:22

phone, when it was all landline based and reporters

11:24

had to put their phones in those cradles and

11:27

the telecopy exactly send

11:29

their stories back. So but you were tethered

11:32

to a cell phone for a lot of your career

11:34

and you were like a physician on call

11:36

twenty four seven, three

11:39

sixty five. Was it ever difficult

11:41

for you to maintain the work life balanced

11:43

then that you might have been desirous of. Uh,

11:47

yes it was, and you know, uh,

11:50

every job is hard. But I think people,

11:53

because there's clamor with sports, people

11:56

see it as a glamorous

11:58

job. I have a great appreciation

12:01

for the coaches, the

12:04

front office who go

12:06

into this and once you go into training

12:09

camp, it's like going into a tunnel

12:11

and you're you're not gonna come out for six

12:13

months. You go in that tunnel, you really don't

12:15

know what's going to be on the other side when you come out

12:17

of that tunnel and hopefully January February,

12:21

and so, uh

12:23

yeah, it can't especially with cell

12:26

phones, texting, uh,

12:29

Twitter, everything that's part of the you know,

12:31

constant Instagram. Just you go down the

12:33

list, you know, somebody's always

12:35

putting something out there that you

12:38

almost have to react to, and uh

12:41

yeah, it's hard to have that balance. And

12:43

uh, I was

12:46

lucky. I was married to a woman

12:48

that I met when I was at firm

12:50

and just getting started, that's all she knew.

12:53

But uh and I'm not saying it's

12:55

everybody works hard, but the seven

12:57

days a week seven

13:00

nature of the game or of sports,

13:03

particularly football, I

13:05

don't know if people understand

13:08

just how that is. It's a constant

13:11

business. Two more questions will

13:13

wrap up with Charlie Dayton, former Panthers

13:15

director of Communications. Charlie, you can speak

13:17

as a Panther fan. Now we know that you are one,

13:20

but how about when you when you worked

13:22

here, were you able to celebrate wins

13:24

and and not have the losses hurt you too badly.

13:27

John Madden told me in that

13:31

you're always going to remember the losses more than

13:33

the winds, and he

13:35

was so true. You know, they're just it's

13:38

it's you know, uh for

13:40

every win, I think I remember three

13:42

losses that stung. And I don't know

13:44

why that's true, but but it's

13:46

true. And uh So,

13:49

to answer your question, I think unless

13:51

you win the super Bowl, you're

13:54

happy, but you're more relieved

13:56

because and this is more true in

13:58

a good season, because it's

14:01

great as the game's havecome bigger, and

14:03

then now you're late in the season,

14:06

if you win, you are you're gonna get home

14:08

field. At first, you're gonna try and get in the playoffs.

14:10

Then you're playing for home field. Then you're playing

14:12

for you know, maybe home field throughout the

14:15

playoffs and in the pressure, the stakes

14:17

just get bigger and bigger. And

14:21

and I've seen the difference as a fan. I

14:23

celebrate. I celebrate the victories.

14:26

When I worked here, it was a relief

14:29

to have the victory and because whatever

14:32

happened, you know that was gonna set up

14:34

the next week and you had a completely

14:37

new set of concerns to deal

14:39

with that week. Um, I don't

14:41

have those concerns anymore. I just celebrate

14:44

the winds. You've left all the concerns

14:46

to us here, left them behind and taking

14:48

them down to hillton Neat Island.

14:50

Uh. So, lastly for you, Charlie,

14:52

UH, knowing you a little

14:54

bit part of your rigid interpersonal

14:57

lattice is the gift if you ability.

15:00

You told me one time that you you'd rather organize

15:03

the team picture and not be in it. So

15:05

I will task you with setting your humility

15:08

aside for a moment and respond to

15:10

the following question of what during

15:12

your career here are you most proud

15:16

The thing I'm most proud of, uh

15:18

are the people that started

15:21

as interns, you know, with

15:23

our department and went on to

15:26

you know, some success in

15:28

this business and have gone to have

15:30

great family lives. And uh,

15:33

I want to start naming people because

15:35

they're I'm afraid i'd leave somebody else. But

15:37

the reward of seeing them now be forty

15:40

years old and in the midst

15:43

of their life and having achieved

15:45

success and doing something they want to

15:47

do, and knowing

15:49

them when they you know, Kit walked in the office

15:51

that first day to apply for an internship.

15:54

That's uh to me by

15:57

the thing that it's most rewarded. You're

15:59

very your prints are all over it, Charlie, and your

16:02

legacy is secure. Appreciate you

16:04

and thanks for being on the podcast. Thank you

16:06

for having me minute. Charlie

16:09

Dayton was in on the ground floor of the Panthers

16:11

of course, but Mark Richardson helped

16:13

construct the ground floor. And we'll talk

16:16

with the team's former president next time

16:18

on the podcast.