The Carolina roots of the Panthers’ 2022 NFL draft class, apparently. run deep.
First-round pick Ikem Ekwonu is Charlotte born and bred. Heck, he even owned a Thomas Davis jersey and was in attendance for the franchise’s joyous NFC title win over the Arizona Cardinals in 2016.
Sixth-round pick Amaré Barno is a native of Blythewood, S.C.. Oh, and he received his draft call on Saturday afternoon while spending the day at nearby Lake Norman.
And fellow sixth-round pick Cade Mays is . . . well, he isn’t from either North or South Carolina nor are his whereabouts on Jan. 24, 2016 publicly known nor was he chilling at a local lake yesterday. But he was in the same Waffle House as Cam Newton one time.
IM IN WAFFLE HOUSE WITH CAM NEWTON
— Cade Mays (@cade_mays) July 5, 2016
Must be pretty sweet, as evidenced by his caps-locked tweet, to see the NFL’s reigning Most Valuable Player at Waffle House in the wee hours of the morning.
Mays, a Knoxville, Tenn. native, was selected by the Panthers with the 199th overall pick on Saturday. That made the heralded Volunteer the latest edition to Carolina’s impressive offseason overhaul of their offensive line.
Coincidentally, he’ll join the “Pancake King” in Ekwonu—so the team has themselves two hog mollies who love their breakfast foods. And Mays may even see Newton again, perhaps in the same locker room if the Panthers so choose to bring back the franchise’s all-time leading passer for the upcoming season.
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