CHARLOTTE – The end of November means two things: there's football to be played and food to be eaten.
Before Washington comes to town to take on Carolina, Panthers players will be chowing down on all their favorite Thanksgiving dishes. But which side dish is the best? Which Turkey Day delicacy is most overrated? And can someone please tell us if it's called stuffing or dressing?
We decided to hit the Panthers locker room and find some answers.
RB CHRISTIAN MCCAFFREY
Most overrated dish: "Stuffing. It's very average. When you think about it, other than Thanksgiving, when do people eat stuffing? That's my point."
Favorite side dish: "You get a good sweet potato, sweet potato hash. I don't need marshmallows on top, just a good sweet potato casserole."
Turkey or ham: "It depends on how it's cooked. If you honey glaze a good ham, I like ham, but I'm never going to disrespect Thanksgiving, so I'm always going to eat turkey."
Dressing or stuffing: Stuffing.
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "We used to just play in the backyard all the time. Just playing with my brothers."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "Online, just Cyber Monday."
Is it pecan or pecan? Pee-can.
QB KYLE ALLEN
Most overrated dish: "Cranberry sauce. People are too hype about it."
Favorite side dish: "Mac and cheese. Everybody's is different, everybody has their own special recipe, but you can't go wrong with mac and cheese."
Turkey or ham: "Turkey. Ham's beat."
Dressing or stuffing: Stuffing.
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "All the high school kids in our area, we put together a little tournament. One of the high school coaches died from cancer, so their school put together a tournament for him and called it the Turkey Bowl. It was a charity thing."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "Cyber Monday. I'm not doing that noise."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
DT GERALD MCCOY
Most overrated dish: "Turkey. I ain't never liked turkey. It's got to be made perfect to have the right tenderness and juice. It's just dry, I don't like turkey."
Favorite side dish: "Macaroni. My wife makes excellent greens. Dressing, too."
Turkey or ham: "Ham, but my wife makes whole chickens instead of turkey or ham."
Dressing or stuffing: "Dressing. Certain cultures call it stuffing, certain cultures call it dressing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "We needed Texas to lose on Thanksgiving one year and they lost. Then we went up to OSU and won, and that was a great day."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No, Cyber Monday. There's no point in going Black Friday shopping. I'm not going out there in the crowd."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
WR CURTIS SAMUEL
Most overrated dish: "Turkey. Ain't it the turkey, right? No matter if it's good or not, I'm not a big fan of turkey."
Favorite side dish: Yams
Turkey or ham: Ham
Dressing or stuffing: "Stuffing, absolutely."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "I don't know, but every Thanksgiving is lit at my house."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "Absolutely not. Nope, not at all."
Is it pecan or pecan? Pee-can.
WR JARIUS WRIGHT
Most overrated dish: Dressing.
Favorite side dish: "Mac and cheese. That's my favorite food, so of course I'm going to say it now."
Turkey or ham: Ham.
Dressing or stuffing: "I really say either or, but it's dressing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: Watching Randy Moss against the Cowboys in 1998.
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No I don't, but my parents do."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
OT TAYLOR MOTON
Most overrated dish: Turkey.
Favorite side dish: Dressing.
Turkey or ham: "Ham guy, for sure."
Dressing or stuffing: "It is called dressing, for sure. That's what we've always called it, so I'm rolling with it. I don't know what stuffing is."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "I'm from Michigan, so we grew up watching the Lions every year."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No, I don't like the crowds like that. It's kind of dangerous. Cyber Monday for me."
Is it pecan or pecan? Pee-can.
S TRE BOSTON
Most overrated dish: Stuffing.
Favorite side dish: Mashed potatoes and gravy.
Turkey or ham: Ham.
Dressing or stuffing: "It's really supposed to be dressing, but you know who calls it stuffing and you know who calls it dressing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "Well, I'm undefeated on Thanksgiving, so we've got 2015 and then 2017, I played the Cowboys in Cowboys Stadium and won, so I would say those would be my two."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No, man. You ain't supposed to go Black Friday shopping when you're black. I go Cyber Monday, it makes me feel better."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
CB JAMES BRADBERRY
Most overrated dish: "Mac and cheese. I don't really eat cheese like that. It's too much cheese."
Favorite side dish: "Got to be the yams."
Turkey or ham: "Turkey. See, I don't really fool with ham like that. I've never been a big ham person. I don't know where they get their turkey from, but my turkey's always good."
Dressing or stuffing: "I call it dressing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "Had to be little league, my team won the Turkey Bowl. I was like nine or 10."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "I used to. I haven't been able to since I've been in the league. On Friday I'm already tired after practice, so I don't feel like going out shopping with everybody."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
DE EFE OBADA
Most overrated dish: "I think collard greens. Collard greens are overrated."
Favorite side dish: "I like yams. Yams are really good. Mac and cheese depending on who makes it. You just want to have a combination of everything."
Turkey or ham: "I don't eat pork, but it depends how you make the turkey. If you put it in the oven or all that stuff, I think it's overrated because it gets too dry. My first experience with Thanksgiving though I had a deep-fried turkey Kyle Love made and oh, man, it was delicious."
Dressing or stuffing: "We have stuffing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "Just eating, having that food comatose. As soon as you eat you want to go straight to sleep."
Is it pecan or pecan? "I've heard to guys say it so much, but I think it's puh-cahn."
OL DENNIS DALEY
Most overrated dish: "One thing I never ate was cranberry sauce. I see everybody get it, but I never tried it."
Favorite side dish: "The best side is definitely mac and cheese. It's got to be brown and crispy on top. You've got to bake it."
Turkey or ham: "I'm gonna go with both. My reason is, I also like fried turkey. Regular turkey is alright."
Dressing or stuffing: "I call it stuffing."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "My senior year playing Clemson. That was one of my best games."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "Growing up I used to, but now it's just whatever, because now Black Friday starts at five o'clock on Thanksgiving."
Is it pecan or pecan? Pee-can.
LS J.J. JANSEN
Most overrated dish: "Turkey, because the side items are the best."
Favorite side dish: Stuffing.
Turkey or ham: "Well, I've already gone on record saying I don't like turkey. That being said, turkey at Thanksgiving, because where are we? America."
Dressing or stuffing: "Stuffing, obviously, because we're human."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "That game in 2015 we won, that was a good memory."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No, no Cyber Monday either. They want you to shop on those days. It's like Amazon's trying to get in our heads."
Is it pecan or pecan? Puh-cahn.
TE IAN THOMAS
Most overrated dish: "I don't really mess with turkey like that, it's too dry for me."
Favorite side dish: "Yams. I like the sweet with the marshmallows on top."
Turkey or ham: Ham.
Dressing or stuffing: "Stuffing. First time I heard dressing was last year at Greg's (Olsen) house. I was like, 'Dressing?' It caught me off guard."
Best Thanksgiving football memory: "When I was a kid I busted my lip on Thanksgiving. It was crazy, blood everywhere. We didn't have a grass backyard, so we played in the street with all the neighborhood kids."
Do you go Black Friday shopping: "No, I've never been, but I'll do Cyber Monday if I see something I like."
Is it pecan or pecan? Pee-can.
