Sports Legends of the Carolinas

Thomas Davis is one of the most popular players in Carolina Panthers history, as well as one of the toughest. 

The Panthers’ all-time leading tackler, Davis is also the only player in NFL history to successfully come back from three ACL surgeries on the very same knee. Not only that, he played in Super Bowl 50 following the 2015 season after breaking his arm only two weeks before.

Now age 40, Davis was the Panthers’ first-round draft choice in 2005 and played the next 14 years for the Panthers as a heat-seeking linebacker who was also a community servant off the field. for much of that time, he was paired with Luke Kuechly to form perhaps the NFL's best linebacker tandem. But what he believes is his highest individual honor came in 2014, when he was named the NFL’s Walter Payton Man of the Year for his community service.

Remarkably, Davis had his best seasons in the NFL late in his career, with all three of his Pro Bowl appearances coming after his three ACL surgeries. He played elsewhere in 2019 and 2020 before returning to Charlotte, where he and his family have long kept their permanent home. Davis signed a one-day contract in March 2021 so he could retire as a Panther and now owns and operates a sports bar and lounge called TEN58 in uptown Charlotte.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Not too many former college football players can point to a Heisman Trophy sitting in their TV room and persuade you to pick it up to feel its weight, but former South Carolina running back George Rogers can.

As we anticipate Saturday night’s season opener between South Carolina and North Carolina in Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, one of the greatest Gamecock athletes of all time is the star of this week’s “Sports Legends of the Carolinas.”

Rogers had 27 games in which he rushed for more than 100 yards for USC. In 1980, he won that Heisman Trophy (which turns out to be surprisingly heavy) after an extraordinary senior season.

Following his college career at USC, Rogers became the first overall pick of the 1981 NFL draft by the New Orleans Saints and immediately led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie. He played for seven seasons in the NFL, for New Orleans and Washington, and was a two-time Pro Bowler who once scored 18 touchdowns in a single season. In his final NFL season, in 1987, Rogers won a Super Bowl ring with Washington.

Now 64 years old, Rogers and his wife, Brenda, live about 20 minutes from Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C. A 13-foot statue of Rogers stands near the stadium.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Erin Matson was arguably the best field hockey player in NCAA history. While at UNC, she led the Tar Heels to four national championships, and three times she was named the national player of the year.

Then came a startling twist -- at age 22, only one month after graduation, Matson was named the head coach of the very UNC team she had been starring for, replacing Karen Shelton. 

Shelton won 10 NCAA titles at UNC, so Matson (now age 23) begins her coaching career with big shoes to fill. Think of it like this: What if Mia Hamm had finished her college career at UNC and then had immediately started coaching the Tar Heels' women’s soccer team? That’s what has happened here, just in a different sport. In this interview, Matson talks about coaching players who some cases are literally older than she is, as well as her upbringing in Pennsylvania and the part of coaching she just hasn't mastered yet.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Bobby Richardson, this week’s star of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” was a notable New York Yankee who never really left his South Carolina hometown.

Born and raised in Sumter, S.C., about 110 miles southeast of Charlotte, Richardson still lives there today, with his wife Betsy, in a house he built in 1960. He turns 88 years old in August but still has a remarkable memory, especially for the time he spent wearing the Yankees’ famous pinstripes.

Richardson played for the Yankees for his entire major league career from 1955-1966, competing in seven World Series and winning three of them with teammates like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra. He was a seven-time All-Star, then retired at age 31. Richardson remains the only World Series MVP in a losing cause, winning the award in 1960 despite Pittsburgh winning the World Series that year.

After retirement, Richardson would become a college baseball coach for three different teams -- including the University of South Carolina -- as well as a well-known Christian speaker who evangelized alongside Billy Graham and spoke at a dozen of his former Yankee teammates' funerals. We spoke in the family room of his home in Sumter, surrounded by mementos of his career.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Bill Polian made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015, honored as one of the NFL’s most extraordinary general managers.

The subject of this week’s “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” interview, Polian was a team-builder with a gift for pinpoint player evaluation and crisp contract negotiation. He revitalized the fortunes of three different NFL teams — Buffalo, Carolina and Indianapolis. He pushed the Panthers to the NFC championship game in their second year of existence, in 1996, and won a Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Polian was named the NFL’s Executive of the Year by The Sporting News a record six times.

Now 80 and still keeping his hand in the NFL with several media gigs, Polian has lived in the Lake Norman area just north of Charlotte for decades. He still closely follows the Panthers. A longtime mentor to new Carolina head coach Frank Reich, Polian employed Reich as a QB in Buffalo, immediately saw his coaching potential and eventually got Reich his first coaching job as a low-level assistant in Indianapolis.

In our interview, Polian spoke about Reich, current and past Panthers teams and the pros and cons of the Panthers starting 5-foot-10 rookie quarterback Bryce Young.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Chris Paul has done nearly everything there is to do on a basketball court. He grew up in Winston-Salem, starred at Wake Forest, was drafted No. 4 overall in the 2005 NBA draft and then went on to become a 12-time NBA all-star and a two-time Olympic gold medalist for Team USA.

Paul has only one major hole in his basketball résumé -- an NBA championship. After being traded to Golden State in the summer of 2023, the 38-year-old point guard hopes to rectify that in the company of fellow stars like Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Paul recently published a bestselling book called "Sixty-One: Life lessons from Papa, on and off the court” to honor his grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, who was murdered in Winston-Salem in 2002. The book is named for a specific game that Paul played in 2002. Then a high school senior in Winston-Salem, Paul scored exactly 61 points in his first high school game after the murder -- one for each year of his grandfather’s life.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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As a once-in-a-generation quarterback at Appalachian State in Boone, N.C., Armanti Edwards led the Mountaineers to FCS national championships in 2006 and 2007 as well as an extraordinary road win over then-No. 5 Michigan, often called the biggest upset in college football history.

Lightly recruited out of Greenwood, S.C., Edwards would become the first two-time Walter Payton winner as the FCS National Player of the Year. He was also a four-time All-American and led App State to a 42-7 record as a starter. Edwards then became a third-round NFL draft pick by the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers employed Edwards from 2010 to 2013, trying to switch him from a star quarterback to wide receiver and punt returner with little success.

That was a period where Edwards said he experienced “the darkest time in my football career.” In our "Sports Legends" interview he also discussed in detail for the first time the circumstances of his release from the Panthers in 2013. Edwards would then have a strong career as a wideout in the Canadian Football League, where he once played on a team that won the CFL’s equivalent of the Super Bowl. He now lives in Charlotte with his wife and two children.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. McClatchy's director of audio is Davin Coburn. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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This week on Sports Legends of the Carolinas, Alex Zietlow interviews Coach Mike Krzyzewski, or Coach K. Mike Krzyzewski served as an astonishing basketball coach for 47 years and has impacted the game and this state forever. In his 42 years coaching the Blue Devils, he led the team to 5 national titles, 13 Final Fours and 1,202 wins — the most all-time. As if that was not enough, Coach K was Team USA’s head basketball coach in three straight Olympic Games, earning gold medals every time, and he has a remarkable story attached to each and every one of his accomplishments.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. McClatchy's director of audio is Davin Coburn. Our interns on this production are Christina Silvestri and Zoe Williams. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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Debbie Antonelli, a 1986 NC State graduate, has been a major influence in the women’s college basketball circles for 35 years and has served as an analyst for ESPN in numerous capacities. Her announcing career also includes calling games for CBS, Fox Sports Net, Big Ten Network, NBATV and Westwood One, as well as WNBA games. The Cary, N.C. native became the first woman in nearly 22 years to call an NCAA men’s basketball tournament game in 2017 and now regularly broadcasts "March Madness" games for both men and women. Antonelli was a four-year letterwinner with the Wolfpack under the guidance of legendary head coach Kay Yow, helping NC State to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including two Sweet 16 berths.

In addition to her ACC Network women’s basketball duties, Antonelli also serves as an analyst on men’s college basketball telecasts and sometimes calls both women's and men's games in the same day. She now lives in Mount Pleasant, S.C, with her husband Frank. They are the parents of three boys. 

Her charity work includes an annual free-throw marathon where Antonelli makes 100 free throws every hour for 24 straight hours in her driveway. By doing that and soliciting contributions for each free throw made, the 58-year-old Antonelli has raised close to a million dollars for the Special Olympics. In this conversation, Antonelli talks about motherhood, the start of her broadcasting career in Kentucky, and the evolution of women's basketball.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. McClatchy's director of audio is Davin Coburn. Our interns on this production are Christina Silvestri and Zoe Williams. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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In 1994, Jeff Gordon won his first race in NASCAR’s signature series, taking the checkered flag at the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway at age 22.

Gordon would win 92 more times after that, becoming racing royalty and a NASCAR hall of famer. Now he’s our latest subject of “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” the multimedia project in which we interview sports stars about their journeys to iconic status and their struggles along the way.

Somehow, Gordon is 51 years old. He’s been a household name in NASCAR for the past three decades. After a six-year stint in the TV broadcast booth, he now works as vice chairman at Hendrick Motorsports, the place where he launched his own career in the sport. He and his family live in Charlotte.

In his racing prime, Gordon turned into such a crossover star that he became the first NASCAR driver to ever host “Saturday Night Live.” In this interview, which we conducted in his office at Hendrick Motorsports, he talked about his favorite character from that SNL appearance, as well as teaching his daughter how to drive, his early days as a breakdancer (yes, seriously) and his rivalry with Dale Earnhardt Sr.

Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. McClatchy's director of audio is Davin Coburn. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.

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