0:03

One of the original Carolina Panther

0:05

employees, the first Little David Monroe care

0:08

so much about his team that occasionally

0:11

it can be problematic for me. Well, there's

0:13

there are some teams that are really disliked,

0:16

but what are those in South? I

0:18

love the Panthers. I bleed black

0:21

and blue. Today we continue to look

0:23

back at a quarter century of Panther football

0:25

with intern turned Director of

0:27

Alumni Affairs David Monroe.

0:31

Five Seasons of Panthers Football

0:34

a celebration of the players, coaches,

0:36

and other people who have contributed to the

0:38

organizational success. No to

0:41

mc nixon, there are not that

0:43

many in the fraternity those who have been

0:46

Panthers since day one, or

0:48

even before day one. Our friend David

0:50

Monroe is one of those.

0:53

He has been a fixture around

0:55

here ever since. What de

0:57

Monroe around in there?

1:01

Oh, I gotta see you before day one October

1:05

started as an intern? How did it start for

1:07

for you? And what was the shape of your internship?

1:11

So I started out as an intern in the communications

1:14

department, helping out Charlie

1:16

Dayton. A couple of afternoons a week and

1:19

a couple of afternoons a week became three

1:21

afternoons a week, then four, then

1:23

five, then right before we kicked

1:25

off the season, got a full time

1:27

opportunity in the community relations department. What

1:30

was it like back then when the Panthers

1:32

were just coming into being. It was a lot

1:34

of fun seeing the organization built

1:37

up from the beginning. UH. Our

1:39

business offices were in the Carolina Building

1:42

Uptown Football was located

1:44

there as well until they moved to the Winthrop Colisseum

1:46

and rock Kill and it was just great

1:49

to see it all come together. UM.

1:51

You know. One of my favorite memories as

1:54

the expansion Draft UH

1:56

in February nine, getting those first

1:58

players UM from other teams

2:02

and then from there signing our

2:04

first free agents, Sam Mills

2:06

being a part of that group, and then leading up

2:08

to the first NFL Draft in April

2:10

of nine, selecting Carry Collins. UH

2:13

first minicamp. We had a post draft

2:15

mini camp practice in Ferman. I remember going

2:17

down there. Just a lot of great memories

2:20

seeing it all come together building

2:22

up to that first season. How were you influenced

2:25

by Charlie Dayton H.

2:28

Charlie was just a true

2:30

professional, UM wealth

2:32

of knowledge. Just to see how

2:34

he handled situations,

2:37

UM, how he dealt with people, UM

2:39

attention to detail UM

2:42

really showed me how

2:44

to do the job, how to sustain a

2:46

long NFL career. So credit

2:49

to you, David Monroe, that you've

2:51

sort of, I guess, or maybe reinvented

2:53

yourself or at least have had to hit a little bit of

2:55

a reset button. You've had to adapt here

2:58

with the Panthers. How have your job responsible ability

3:00

has changed since your intern days. That's

3:03

been one of the most fun aspects

3:05

of being with this organization as long as I

3:07

have, is that I've gotten to experience a number

3:10

of different things UM. When I'm work

3:12

in the Community Relations department from ninety

3:14

five through UH handled

3:16

our charitable donation request, coordinated

3:19

player appearances in the community, and worked

3:21

on a lot of different community programs

3:23

UM. In we

3:26

launched Panthers dot com and that

3:28

kind of played into my my strengths. I majored

3:30

in journalism UM in college,

3:32

so they were looking for someone who could right

3:35

create content, so

3:38

launched Panthers dot com. In at

3:40

that time, it's just the staff of Warren.

3:43

There was no video on the web.

3:45

It was just all all copy at that time.

3:47

And just to see how digital media

3:50

has exploded and really just changed

3:52

over the years. UM is just

3:54

amazing. But I managed Panthers dot Com

3:57

for nineteen years UM, and

3:59

then when Charlie retired UH

4:01

in July two thousand seventeen, I became

4:04

a historical and alumni affairs manager

4:06

UM and in some ways things have come

4:08

full circle for me. Many of the

4:10

players that I worked with as a community relations

4:12

assistant in nineteen I'm

4:15

now working with again in the alumni

4:18

capacity. So it's a

4:20

lot of fun UM as historical affairs

4:22

manager kind of the de facto team historian

4:25

have an archive room for we collecting memorabilia.

4:28

Hopefully one day we'll have a

4:30

museum or some sort of displayed where we can

4:32

showcase that and then just re

4:34

engage in the alumni, getting them back involved

4:37

with the team. UM. You know, whether they've been out

4:39

of the game for twenty years or

4:41

one year. UM, it's just great to let

4:43

these guys know that they're a part of the

4:45

Panther's family and will always be a part of the

4:47

Panther's family. The Great David Monroe

4:50

with us on the podcast de Monroe. What has

4:52

it been like for you and what emotions has

4:54

it brought up for you to be right there

4:56

on the front lines of this

4:58

new Hall of Honor class that's been inducted.

5:01

That's been real exciting. Um. Just

5:03

I remember when Mike McCormick was

5:06

first inducted in, and

5:08

then Sam Mills in and

5:11

then to go uh so many years

5:13

without having a Hall of Honor class. Um

5:16

it's really and I've always wondered about if

5:19

when are we gonna do this again, who would those

5:21

people be? And those are kind of discussions

5:23

that, um, you know, we would talk about,

5:26

you know, throughout the years about well when the Panthers

5:28

do this, who do you think should go in? Just all kinds of

5:31

kind of water cooler conversation through the years.

5:33

And now we're actually doing it and to be

5:36

a part of it, um is is

5:38

real exciting. Um just

5:41

from the discussions of

5:43

of the individuals who are in

5:45

to the planning of the weekend, just

5:48

a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to

5:50

it. We don't do this often on the

5:52

podcast, but we're gonna do it right now. We're gonna put

5:54

a bookmark here, I'm gonna stop talking

5:56

with David, just talk about him

5:58

for just a second and then I'll have a question after

6:00

that. It is widely known in

6:03

the building that no one cares

6:06

about the Panthers people. It's great. People

6:08

can say, oh man, I'm a PS I've been here since

6:10

day one, but no one bleeds this blue

6:13

and black and silver. Like our guest

6:15

on the podcast right now, that is not something

6:17

that I think. That's something that I know that

6:19

is an accepted fact, a law of Panther

6:21

physics. Now, has

6:24

this ever been a problem for you, David?

6:26

Well, there's there's some teams

6:29

that are really dislike but

6:31

what are those n

6:33

SC South Um,

6:38

I you're right, I love the Panthers.

6:41

Um. I bleed black and blue.

6:43

Um. When anybody asked me how

6:46

many games are the Panthers going to win this season?

6:49

I don't give them a number. I

6:52

tell them We're going to win the super Bowl. That

6:55

is got to be my

6:58

approach, our approached every year, because

7:01

if the super Bowl is not our goal, why

7:03

aren't we doing this. We're

7:05

not playing this game to go nine

7:08

and seven and make the playoffs or six

7:11

and ten and hope we get a good draft pick. We're

7:13

playing to go the super Bowl. Nest

7:15

attitude you gotta have if you can't

7:17

be excited and enthusiastic about

7:20

about your team. How can you expect your fans

7:23

to share that same enthusiasm and excitement

7:26

well said. When Charlie was here on the podcast,

7:28

Charlie Dayton said that he had to learn

7:31

over time that you

7:33

gotta try to celebrate the wins because

7:35

you're gonna mourn the losses are

7:38

our panther. Losses still painful for

7:40

you personally and professionally, they

7:42

are uh and in some ways a

7:44

loss sticks with you longer than a'll

7:46

win. Um And

7:50

I think what you realize over time is just how

7:53

um difficult it is to

7:55

get to the playoffs, how difficult it is

7:58

to get to the super Bowl. So it

8:00

makes it makes wins

8:02

that more more precious um

8:05

and and you learn to enjoy them just a

8:07

little bit more and just realize

8:09

how special it is to be a

8:12

part of this. David, you said

8:14

two words a little bit ago in your job

8:16

description that were very meaningful

8:19

and impactful, and we can't let those go

8:21

unfollowed up upon, and those words were

8:24

alumni affairs. That's

8:26

clutch for an organization that's

8:29

now developed the history You and I right now are trying

8:31

to celebrate twenty five years of Panther

8:33

Football. So what's that been like for you

8:35

to interface not only with the Hall of Honor, not

8:37

only with the high curating guys,

8:40

but maybe with others that that haven't

8:42

felt has welcomed in the past by having

8:44

been a Panther. Yeah. I think

8:46

what you find is guys want

8:50

to be connected. They want to uh,

8:54

they want they want the team to reach out to them. They

8:56

want to feel like they meant

8:59

something to your team's history. And

9:03

you know a lot of these guys UM

9:06

have stayed in the area. UM.

9:08

You know, one of the things that we UM

9:11

did recently as we sent some gift boxes

9:13

out in some of our alumni and

9:16

some of the thank you notes that we got back from guys

9:18

were just very special. They

9:21

were something they weren't expecting,

9:23

but to get a gift box with some Panther

9:25

swag and a note from Mr Tepper there

9:27

like, Wow, this organization cares, they

9:30

care about what I did for the team,

9:33

and you play an important role in in helping

9:35

those good feelings multiply. A

9:37

couple more questions for de Monroe, then we'll let

9:39

him get back to work. Who

9:42

are some of your favorite Panthers UM?

9:46

Sam Mills Um,

9:49

Jake Delom, Brad

9:51

Hoover. UM,

9:53

those would probably be the

9:56

rank him on the rank him on the top. It's

9:58

a pretty good choice, right there. Any

10:00

any maybe lesser known

10:03

that that you developed a relationship with

10:06

or an affinity for Matt Elliott

10:08

uh offensive lineman from from the early

10:11

years. Uh was a

10:13

really good guy, big fan of Moussin Mohammed.

10:15

Obviously people know who he is. UM.

10:20

You know, we have more than seven

10:22

guys who've been on the active roster

10:24

for the Panthers and now on

10:27

the twenty five seasons, so it's

10:30

hard to narrow it down. I'm

10:32

assuming that they're like your children in a way,

10:34

and it's hard to separate because you love and respect

10:37

all of them, if not most,

10:39

most all of them. So as

10:42

we wrap up with you, David Monroe, look into

10:44

your crystal ball, if you will, and

10:47

what's next? What do you want to accomplish

10:49

next in this this next season or two?

10:52

UM. From a historical

10:55

affairs perspective, would love to spend

10:57

more time and what I call the archive room,

11:00

just going through memorabilia, identifying

11:03

UM items that we have, collecting

11:05

more items. UM. You know, I

11:08

had the opportunity to visit some other team museums

11:10

in the last couple of years since taking on this role,

11:12

and UM, you know, would

11:14

like to be able to share

11:16

our history with future generations

11:18

of Panther fans, uh, so they know what

11:21

we're all about. From alumni

11:23

Ferris perspective, would love to continue UM

11:26

getting players involved, trying

11:28

to reach out to players who UM

11:31

we haven't been able to make contact with UM

11:34

and then hopefully the Hall of Honor continues

11:36

to grow in the years to come. The

11:38

voice you just heard belongs to David Monroe.

11:41

As far as we know, he's never sacked the

11:43

quarterback, made a tackle, or scored a touchdown,

11:45

but he's as much a part of the history of

11:47

this franchise as any of those who

11:50

have. And David, thanks for your contributions

11:52

to the Panthers, Thanks for making this a special

11:54

place to work, and thanks for being with us on the

11:56

podcast. Thank you, Mick. I appreciate you having

11:58

me and appreciate all you do for them. Today,

12:03

we continue to look back at a quarter century

12:05

of Panther football with intern

12:08

turned Director of Alumni Affairs

12:10

David Munroe. WO