As the final minutes of a disappointing 21-18 loss ticked down this past Sunday, Carolina Panthers receiver Robby Anderson uncharacteristically allowed his emotions to boil over onto the sideline. Unfortunately, the little eye in the sky of the Fox broadcast caught the brief outburst and ran it back for all to see.
But, even looking back on it three days later, he still doesn’t believe his moment of frustration is a big deal at all. Hey, Tom Brady does it!
“I don’t really see nothing wrong with that,” Anderson said when asked about it on Wednesday. “Tom Brady does that, he’s one of the greatest. Players get mad, coaches yell at players. It’s nothing I’m ashamed of. It’s nothing like I’ll look back in five years and feel like that affected my legacy. I think that that’s a good thing, so the world can see I actually care.”
Anderson has, thus far, not been featured nor has produced at the level he and the team were likely expecting. A mixture of unbalanced chemistry and differing perspectives on play calling has, in large part, limited the sixth-year wideout to just 179 yards and one touchdown on 12 receptions.
This slow start, of course, comes following the completion of a two-year, $29.5 million extension between the two sides this offseason. Anderson, though, wants to prove that his new deal doesn’t mean there’s a new focus.
“A lot of times, people who get extensions and get money, they just step back and collect their check,” he said. “That’s not the case with me. I’m here to be great. And my mindset is still like I got a lot to prove and I wanna win.”
Robby and the rest of a struggling Panthers offense will look to get back on track this Sunday, when they host the Minnesota Vikings. And hopefully for them, by the time they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16, they’ll be good enough to force Brady into one of those patented sideline tirades while getting the better of their NFC South foes.