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.
#47. Will Witherspoon
Among the litany of great Panthers linebackers in their relatively short existence, Will Witherspoon was often overlooked. The Panthers selected Witherspoon in the third round of the 2002 NFL Draft. That particular draft had a handful of major Panthers players who helped the team reach the Super Bowl the following season including Julius Peppers and Deshaun Foster in the first two rounds. Witherspoon was originally a middle linebacker and backed up 2001 first round pick and current Panthers GM Dan Morgan. Morgan suffered some injuries in the 2002 season, allowing Witherspoon to rack up 15 appearances and eight starts in the middle of the defense. Witherspoon showed so much promise that he was moved to the weak side linebacker position the following year so he and Morgan could be on the field together.
That decision paid off both personally and for the team itself as Witherspoon and Morgan were monsters in the second level of the Panthers defense that helped take them to the Super Bowl. Witherspoon’s third season was arguably his best. He logged 103 tackles, three sacks, four interceptions, and 14 passes defended. With Dan Morgan battling injury after injury year after year, Witherspoon was a consistent force on the defense for his entire four year stint with the Panthers. Unfortunately for the Panthers, that meant Witherspoon became a highly coveted free agent after his rookie contract expired.
Witherspoon ultimately signed a massive six year, $33 million contract with the St Louis Rams (the equivalent of about $16 million per year in today’s NFL). The Panthers could not match that offer, so Witherspoon played middle linebacker for the Rams until the middle of the 2009 season when he was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for a wide receiver and a fifth round pick. After spending three seasons with the Tennessee Titans, he followed coach Jeff Fisher to St Louis for a second tenure with the Rams. That ended up being his final season in the NFL. While his time in Charlotte was relatively short, his production and impact during one of the best stretches of Panthers football ever earned him this spot on our countdown of the Top 100 Panthers.
