SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Wide receiver Steve Smith moved into his dorm room at Wofford College late Friday morning in preparation for the start of training camp, but earlier in the morning he helped his wife with some moving-related activities back in Charlotte.
Smith is in the process of selling his home, but he's not in the process of making any moves related to the Panthers.
"My family is first. That's all that counts. Being here in Carolina, this is my family, too," said Smith, whose future with the Panthers was in question much of the offseason. "We looked at my future here, and at the end of the day, the decision was made because of my wife and my children. This is where we want to be, and that's why I'm here. I'm here to play football."
Smith and most of his teammates arrived at Wofford on Friday to be in place for the first practice Saturday, another tangible sign that the NFL's work stoppage is a thing of the past. For Smith, it also served as an outlet to put last season and the offseason even more into the rear-view mirror – a trying time on and off the field.
Smith spent much of the offseason dealing with health concerns for his wife. That came on the heels of a season in which the Panthers won just two games and Smith caught 46 passes for 554 yards and two touchdowns. Outside of his 2004 season that lasted just one game because of a broken leg, the 2010 numbers were Smith's lowest since he became a starter in 2002.
"Last year was frustrating for everyone, and I'd say that 95 percent of the time I didn't handle it very well," he said. "I don't think I was the lone wolf but because I express it a different way, I self-inflicted the label of 'disgruntled.'
"But I think we have (put last year behind us). Getting a new regime in here says that, getting some new players and spending money."
Smith, 32, said questions about whether he's lost a step are "valid because I am getting older," but he said training camp provides an opportunity to get the kinks out. Smith couldn't practice at the beginning of camp last season because of a broken arm, but he's expected to practice Saturday along with a couple of other key veterans who were absent at the opening of last year's camp.
!Right tackle Jeff Otah, who had knee surgery early in camp and never saw the field in 2010, and fourth-year running back Jonathan Stewart are good to go.
"It's real nice. I get to practice for the first time on the first day," Stewart said. "It should be interesting."
One player who won't practice Saturday but is overjoyed to be in camp is Greg Hardy. The second-year defensive end suffered significant abrasions to the left side of his body last week in a motorcycle accident just outside of his native Memphis, Tenn., on his way to Charlotte.
Hardy said it could be anywhere from a few days up to two weeks before he can practice, but he's not complaining.
"I'm just thankful," he said. "An 18-wheeler jumped in the lane and slowed down. I started slowing down, but it was wet and I slid. I was way behind it but I slid, and my front tire slipped after that and flew off.
"If I wasn't so far back and slowing down, I probably would have been dead, but I was far enough back where just my head hit the truck."
Hardy was wearing a helmet, something he'll have to wait awhile to do again.
In the meantime, he can work on getting acquainted with his new teammates and coaches. Once the Panthers are 90 players strong at practice when the League year officially begins on Aug. 4, easily one-third of the players will be new to the team.
"It's like hitting the reset button," said returning running back Tyrell Sutton, armed with meatballs and a 12-pack of Yoo-hoo as he entered his home for the next two-plus weeks. "There are a lot of opportunities for guys like myself to show the new coaches what they're about.
"Now we've got to just make sure we're right in the players that we're getting, and then everybody collectively just has to come together."
