CHARLOTTE — The Panthers have been blessed with a great tradition of linebackers, and one of the best will be here this weekend.
Former Panthers linebacker Jon Beason is this week's Legend of the Game, and he'll hit the Keep Pounding drum heading into the fourth quarter against the Bengals.
Beason, the team's first-round pick in 2007 from the University of Miami, ended up being a bridge between two successful eras of team history, joining a team that went 12-4 in 2008, and being a part of the transition to the Ron Rivera/Cam Newton era.
He was a two-time All-Pro selection, made three Pro Bowls, and led the league in tackles in 2008.
Panthers.com caught up with Beason this week to talk about his past with the team and what it all means now.
Q: It looks like you picked a good weekend to come back on the heels of the first win of the season.
Beason: "We used to have a thing, man. It's like when you win, the sun comes up the next day. It's just that simple, and when you lose, it doesn't, I mean, it really doesn't. It's rough. But you know, staying the course and understanding that it really is about the next play, whether you had a spectacular play or a bad play. It's about the next play. So, short memory and you've just got to be a little greedy when it comes to success in the NFL.
Q: What's it going to be like coming back to where you started your career?
Beason: "It's good to see familiar faces and familiar beat writers, too. You know, at least some things are the same. I don't like change, you know. You want to come back and have it be nostalgic, but everything's so different. But the faces that are the same, you can go back and we can tell our old stories and whatnot. I think that's everything. So I'm really looking forward to it this year, mostly because I was able to reach out to some guys and get guys back. So that was super cool."
Q: You were able to play alongside Julius Peppers; what does it mean to be back for his celebration and recognition of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Beason: "I would say that most players would pinch themselves in our era to think that you could make it to the Hall of Fame. For me, Pro Bowls weren't even on my radar. I think coming out when I did, the game wasn't as visible. I love to play football, but I wasn't sitting at home watching; I didn't have cable or the internet, and now, things are so accessible that I think these young kids may come out and say I want to be the best player ever. They make these outlandish statements.
"But we all knew Julius was special, man. As good of a player as he is, he's that kind of person He's so massive and can do whatever he wanted to, successfully, but he was just a really, really good teammate and to watch it all kind of come together and then finish his career on the way he did coming back to Carolina. I think it's really a fairy tale for all of us."
Q: What's the best play you ever saw him make?
Beason: "I mean, everybody's going to probably say the cut, get off the ground because it's a great effort, jump up and intercept the ball and then run it into the end zone at Arizona for a touchdown. That probably just cemented how athletic he is. So, I would say that's probably his best freakish play.
"But, for me, it's just, you know, when we did through our conditioning days, just extra amongst vets, not scripted after practice when everyone's running. During the season, when we knew we needed an extra push and Julius would come run gassers with me and Thomas (Davis). And I would have to kind of run on an angle just to try to beat Julius. It became a game, but he was just so big and so fast, and I was like, well, I'm supposed to be faster than Pep, but that's up for debate because he's that kind of good. So I would have to run on an angle and try to cut him off just to try to win a few gassers after practice. Some of the memories I have with him are amazing."
Q: He's talked about wanting to run his sprints with smaller guys, even though he was almost 300 pounds. Was that motivating for everyone?
Beason: "That's what you have to do; that's being great. That's the next level because it's between you and you. If you're working your hardest, being a fast guy, and having the time to make it when you can probably run faster, you should run to win. And I think that just creates competitive spirit and it shows the rest of the team that a guy is willing to run out of his, his skill level, meaning like we have small skill, medium skill, big skill. Well, Pep could run with a small skill and that's just the way you should go about it when you're trying to be great.
Q: You're part of the Panthers' rich legacy of linebacker talent. What was it like realizing you were sandwiched between guys like Dan Morgan and Luke Kuechly from a historical perspective?
Beason: "Well, first off for me, I would say that I wouldn't want it any other way. I mean, one, you get to learn from a guy, and that is so, so valuable. We're seeing a lack of that kind of tutelage in the game now, and the teams are younger, but you're lacking veteran leadership. You need a little bit of both, especially if you have a young, motivated, hungry, talented young guy on a team. And I'm not just saying rookies, but we all have our time in the sun. You know, it's sunrise, sunset. And when it's closer to sunset, which I love down here, being from Miami, I love the sunset.
"But I always think about it; it's kind of like starting over for somebody new. The next day is going to rise and to be a part of Luke's career and watch him just develop and be able to pass on the little wisdom that I could again. You still feel connected, and that's what you want. So, there's pressure there, but I think that I did well enough to be mentioned with those guys and I think that's the ultimate goal at the end."
Q: When you were drafted here and re-connected with another Miami guy in Dan Morgan, could you have imagined that he'd end up as a general manager in the NFL?
Beason: "You know what, I never did because that wasn't Dan's personality. Dan was so chill. He knew when to turn it on. He kept things simple. He didn't like the BS; he was a family man. He wasn't a big rah-rah guy in terms of how he led, and he didn't have to be because his play was so big. Even hearing the story back when he was at Miami, how he didn't have to do that either. To see him now, I never thought that that was the goal.
"I thought it was like a transition thing that he got into, and I'll give this a shot. And then the years roll by, you see the transition from the Seahawks to the Bills, and then you start to hear his name come up, and I was like, wow. Dan's going to be able to look at guys and know what it takes. And I think that's the difference. This is no shot at any general manager who didn't play. But the understanding of, especially as a Mike linebacker, the intelligence that it takes, the motor, the want-to, the hurt that you have to go through to play the position, the pressure that's put on you to get everybody lined up. His ability to evaluate talent should be second to none. And I think it will be, moving forward, and it's just going to take some time to make the team more like a bunch of Dan Morgans running around. But, it's incredible to see, and that's one change I'm extremely excited about, no doubt."
"He'll fill this roster with them eventually. So, yeah, those guys will win in the end because I think they're going to want it more. They're going to be willing to make more sacrifices to ensure it happens, and the pressure of playing in the National Football League should be high. Guys should feel it. Whether you go first overall or you're an undrafted guy, you have to go out there and lay it on the line and practice every day and every snap. It should be the same. You should feel that it's for the second, and every single moment is a blessing and an honor, really."
Q: As someone who came here and heard about the legend of Sam Mills, what does it mean to walk into the stadium and hit that Keep Pounding drum?
Beason: "You know what, especially when you go to a blue blood program, and I would consider Miami a blue blood, there's tradition everywhere, a lot of it. I had to learn once I got to Miami, and Carolina was still so new. So I basically just entrenched myself in, in the idea of being the first in a team's history to try to win a Super Bowl. That was the driving, motivating force. And I think it makes it more special if you are. It hasn't happened yet, but when it does, that team will be remembered forever. The second, the third, and the fourth will be great, but nothing like the first.
"So having the tradition Keep Pounding when that kind of surfaced and became a thing that wasn't just talked about, right? It's inside the jerseys now, and with the drum, it just puts it at the forefront. Here's what we do, and it's pretty cool. It's tough; I like it because it makes us look a little hard, not the little expansion boys. So it's good to see that as the legend and the story of the Carolina Panthers grows, you can have something like this to do every game. I think it's big time."
Q: So, what are you up to these days?
Beason: "I'm trying to keep busy; I'm doing great, man, and, my daughter Amaya, she'll be 9 in November. She's playing tennis. Just a great spirit, man. She's just amazing. I feel like I've never even yelled at her since she's been here. She's not like me from that standpoint. I was a knucklehead but I was hardheaded and it made me great when I channeled it. But she keeps me busy. Obviously, there's just a ton of stuff going on off the field in terms of entrepreneurship, the family, and the usual stuff that guys kind of get into that doesn't keep them too busy. I like to kind of be fluid so I can be there for her, and I don't take it for granted because I know a lot of guys have to go out and get up every day and go get it. So I enjoy the time with the family, no doubt about it.
"I said God knew what he was doing when he gave me a girl because I probably would have been really tough for my son about little things like looking people in the eye, having a firm handshake, holding the doors for people, yes or no, sir; even chairs for women, you see all the chairs are gone, you stand up and give yours up. The little things that I always imagined I would do with my son, and the pressure of probably trying to be an athlete. There's no pressure with her. She plays, and she's talented, she's gifted, but I don't push her to be me; I just want her to have fun and try her best and to know that every single swing of the racket is an opportunity to evaluate yourself. Did you do it right, or did you do it wrong? And that's how you have to be in life. So it's good lessons there just from having a little fun and maybe not being so competitive."
