Curtis Samuel explains his odd choice to take a knee on late kickoff return

[Castavar]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/nfl-blog/article177935551.html

Quote

With the Panthers sending their “hands team” out for a possible onsides kick, Samuel was on his own aligned deep without much in the way of blocking. So he was told to get what he could, and then get down to protect himself......

“When I was told to get as much yards as you can and then get down, I thought get down as in get down. But he really meant take less contact as you can and try to get down,” Samuel explained Monday.

“Basically saying, ‘Just don’t go down like that. Take a little bit of contact.’ But I’ll learn from it. Next time I get an opportunity I’ll try to put the offense in the best situation they can be in.”

How does "get as many yards as you can and get down" = take a knee? Yeah, obviously now after the win it seems insignificant, but that dumb decision was huge in the comeback for the Lions. We had to punt from our own endzone and gave the Lions a very short field to score a TD in a short amount of time to cut the lead to 3. You could say it was a miscommunication between him and the special teams coach, but you have to have some common sense. Maybe it was just his creative way for protesting. Still, we won the game and this will be a learning experience for the rook. Blunders on special teams seems to be a recurring theme throughout our history. Gotta clean it up.

[Bartin]

Well at least he reduced his chances of fumbling to 0%

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

i'm pretty sure rivera told him to take a knee but threatened him afterwards not to tell anyone.

"if you tell any journalist or media personality that I told you to take a knee, I'll cut your playing time in half rookie. I know I can make dumbass decisions during the game as sometimes the lights are too big for me, but I need you to take the fall here. I mean I decided to attempt a 55 yard FG up 3 possessions but decided to punt down 3 possessions against the Saints. As you can see, I've made some pretty questionable decisions so far, and if people find out I told you to take a knee, I'll probably end up fired. Thanks Curtis" - Rivera. 

[LinvilleGorge]

That's on the coaching staff. When you're explaining something to a rookie who missed the entire offseason, you need to be VERY specific in terms of what you're asking him to do. The kid's head is likely still spinning right now.

Something like, "If this ball doesn't go into the endzone, get what you can here, but protect the football at all costs. We don't need to fight for a few extra yards here, we need to make sure we keep possession of this football. Go get 'em kid!"

[Castavar]

6 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

That's on the coaching staff. When you're explaining something to a rookie who missed the entire offseason, you need to be VERY specific in terms of what you're asking him to do. The kid's head is likely still spinning right now.

Something like, "If this ball doesn't go into the endzone, get what you can here, but protect the football at all costs. We don't need to fight for a few extra yards here, we need to make sure we keep possession of this football. Go get 'em kid!"

That sounds like a movie quote lol

Still, I don't see how "get as many yards as you can and get down" can be any more clearer tbh However, it is possible those weren't the exact words from our coaches and CS is just trying to not call anybody out about it.

[csx]

Clearly he screwed up.

[LinvilleGorge]

8 minutes ago, Castavar said:

That sounds like a movie quote lol

Still, I don't see how "get as many yards as you can and get down" can be any more clearer tbh However, it is possible those weren't the exact words from our coaches and CS is just trying to not call anybody out about it.

Put yourself in the mind of a 21 year old kid in the NFL just trying not to fug up. He was likely told that as he was trotting onto the field. No time to ask for clarification. Wait... what? Get as much as I can and get down? What does that mean? Oh poo... ball's in the air... it's a short one... okay get what I can and get down... Runs ten yards and takes a knee. 

[Toolbox]

A rookie making mistakes... lol

[E CaT PanTHer 2]

8 minutes ago, Toolbox said:

A rookie making mistakes... lol

remember in 2012 when kyle williams fumbled the kickoff in overtime of the nfc championship game against the giants? 

biggest rookie mistake probably ever

[Castavar]

15 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Put yourself in the mind of a 21 year old kid in the NFL just trying not to fug up. He was likely told that as he was trotting onto the field. No time to ask for clarification. Wait... what? Get as much as I can and get down? What does that mean? Oh poo... ball's in the air... it's a short one... okay get what I can and get down... Runs ten yards and takes a knee. 

Good point.

[Daddy_Uncle]

god get over it. Seriously. Can we enjoy a win please and quit criticizing everything. i mean mothers flappy taters its annoying

[Eazy-E]

If he somehow gets rocked and turns it over everyone would be screaming asking why he didn’t just get down or get out of bounds. 

Not going to get mad at a rookie about this.

[Davidson Deac II]

It was a baffling move, but it seems like more of a misunderstanding now..  Coach probably assumed he knew what the coach meant.  Samuel, being a rookie, took it a little to literally.  Alls well that ends well I guess.  

[Castavar]

Just now, Daddy_Uncle said:

god get over it. Seriously. Can we enjoy a win please and quit criticizing everything. i mean mothers flappy taters its annoying

You know you can still win and still learn from your mistakes right? I know it's a foreign concept to the Huddle.