We’re counting down the days until the Panthers open up the 2025 season!
There are 76 days until the first game of the season for the Carolina Panthers. Today’s piece looks at the weirdly limited history of the number 76 jersey, which no player is currently wearing per Panthers.com.
Only three players have worn the number 76 jersey for more than a season. Those players are right tackle Norbert Davidds-Garrido, Tutan Reyes, and Greg Hardy. Nobody else, not even the mildly touted free agent aquisition Russell Okung could be described as a notable player under this number. In fact, in over thirty years of jersey assignments, the number 76 jersey has only been worn in 17 seasons.
- Davidds-Garrido was the 106th pick in the 1996 NFL Draft and quickly became the Panthers starter at right tackle. He held that spot until 1999 second round pick Chris Terry took the spot in his rookie season.
- Reyes had a slow start to his NFL career, seeing virtually no game action across three teams over four seasons, before the Panthers gave him a chance to start in 2004. He started 12 games between left and right guard, before settling in at right guard for the entire 2005 season. He was a big part of the Deshaun Foster-led running game that propelled the Panthers to the 2005 NFC Championship game.
- Hardy needs little introduction or description on this website. His career was as promising as its end was personally and professionally disappointing.
The paucity of names on this list, a list largely reserved to offensive and defensive lineman thanks to the nature of the number 76, is perhaps indicative of the Panthers long standing lack of investment in their trenches. Each era of team has been noteworthy for one or two stars surrounded by a series of journeymen who didn’t stick around very long. It’s not surprising that some jersey numbers simply aren’t associated with any or many “oh yeah, that guy!” players.