Here at Cat Scratch Reader we have counted down the final 100 days leading up to the Carolina Panthers season opener by for at least the past ten years. We’ve always done this by highlighting the current player on the roster whose jersey number matches the day on the countdown. This year, we decided to change that up a bit by counting down our own list of the Top 100 Panthers of all time. This does not correspond to jersey number, does not need to be somebody who wore a jersey, and will in no way be controversial.
#54. Ricky Proehl
Ricky Proehl was a semi-local product, having attended Wake Forest University just a couple hours outside of Charlotte. He had a very good junior season and followed that up with an even better senior campaign, leading him to be selected in the third round of the 1990 NFL Draft by the Phoenix (now Arizona) Cardinals. He immediately was a major factor in the Cardinals offense, getting 99 targets his rookie year despite only starting two games. The following four years saw his targets increase year over year, topping out at 110 in his final season in Arizona. His production matched the targets, averaging about 800 yards and four touchdowns per season. Following the 1994 season, the Cardinals traded Proehl to the Seattle Seahawks for a fourth round pick. Proehl’s Seattle tenure started horribly as he suffered a broken foot in their season opener in 1995. He did return, but ultimately only played eight games that year.
The following season was a healthy one for Proehl but a disappointing one, so the Seahawks released him. He signed a one year deal with the Chicago Bears and had a pretty good year, leading to a career changing contract with the then St Louis Rams. Proehl’s first year with the Rams saw him reach a career high in targets opposite Isaac Bruce. The 1999 offseason saw the Rams add Torry Holt via the Draft and Marshall Faulk via trade with the Colts, leading to the legendary Greatest Show on Turf years. Proehl went from borderline top option to fourth option in one offseason but made the most of his now limited opportunities. He posted career highs in first down percentage (the percentage of receptions that resulted in a first down) and yards per target, while also boasting career highs in catch percentage as he truly became Kurt Warner’s reliable “got to have it” target.
With a Super Bowl ring in tow and five memorable years in St Louis, Proehl signed on with a young up and coming team out of Charlotte. It was just the second year into John Fox’s tenure as head coach, and the team looked to be headed in the right direction despite being full of youth. The wide receiver room, in particular, had some promising but unseasoned players in Muhsin Muhammad and Steve Smith, and Proehl took on the grizzled veteran mentor role while maintaining his security blanket role for unheralded quarterback Jake Delhomme. Evidence of this limited but immensely important connection came in the very first game of Proehl’s Panthers tenure when Delhomme, the backup at the time who was inserted at half time, found Proehl with just 16 seconds left for a 12 yard game winning touchdown.
That game launched the Panthers first Super Bowl run, and Proehl was at the center of many important moments. He had a couple major first down receptions late in the fourth quarter of Week 2 against the Bucs that led to an eventual overtime win. Proehl also hauled in one of the most iconic passes of the Panthers short history in Super Bowl XXXVIII. Trailing the Patriots with just over a minute to go in regulation, Delhomme again found his “ole reliable” receiver in the endzone from 12 yards out, tying the game at 29. While the Panthers would end up losing the game, Proehl’s performance would cement him in Panthers lore. He spent two more seasons with the Panthers before retiring after the 2005 season.
Though his statistical impact pales in comparison to other short-tenured Panthers, his role on one of the most successful Panthers teams in franchise history is undeniable. He also returned to coach the wide receivers from 2011-2017, helping a ragtag group of busts and no-name receivers become a corps helped the team reach the Super Bowl in 2015. Hopeful future Hall of Famer Steve Smith credits Proehl for a large part of his own success due to Proehl’s mentorship helping Smith focus his infamous fiery play style. From his clutch plays on a Super Bowl bound team to his mentorship of younger receivers as a veteran player and as a coach, Proehl has no doubt earned his spot at No. 54 on our countdown of the Top 100 Panthers.
