Steve Smith: "I asked for a release."

[mcsmoak]

So he says his basis for leaving is because we weren’t winning.  Yikes, I wonder how it felt to watch the 2015 season unfold while going 5-11 in baltimore.

[CPantherKing]

3 hours ago, Smithers said:

Pretty sure Gettleman made some comment insinuating he would be evaluating all position to include Smith.  That’s what set Smitty off and prob led to him asking for a trade/release. 

You are correct.

You have to go back to the Gross retirement and the multiple meetings Gross had with Gettleman before he made the decision to retire. Gross was there for his teammates. Wharton and Smith were always part of Gross taking less for one last SB push. Gettleman did not commit to keeping them all on - just Gross for a lower paying contract. This got back to Smith. Then Gettleman opened his mouth at the scouting combine with his view that Smith HAD a great career, was not part of the start of Gettleman's process, and would not be in Carolina forever. Smith felt disrespected for having to hear about Gettleman's thoughts from players who were at the front of Gettleman's process. The Gross retirement sealed Smith wanting to leave and asking to be released. They were always a package deal, and I think Gettleman completely missed that dynamic.

Would have been nice to have Smith, Wharton and Gross for that SB push, but Gettleman had a knack for messing things up as a GM. He was either very manipulative and destructive, or he was incompetent and clumsy. This eventually sealed his fate as a short lived GM who tore down a team and failed while riding on the success that was left at his feet.

[KillerKat]

3 hours ago, NanuqoftheNorth said:

If Steve Smith were a better teammate he would have been with the Panthers until he retired.  He wasn't, so he wasn't.

pretty much this. If he was indeed getting jealous of Cam and giving him heat, he had to go.

[NanuqoftheNorth]

Just now, KillerKat said:

pretty much this. If he was indeed getting jealous of Cam and giving him heat, he had to go.

I appreciate Steve's exceptional talents as much as any fan, but his inability to play second fiddle to Cam was ultimately his undoing.  Especially sad, knowing the Panthers (and Steve) would have likely been Super Bowl champions, if not for his unrestrained ego.

[MasterAwesome]

3 hours ago, NJPanthers12 said:

Gettleman has become beyond underrated. Only GM responsible for 3 straight playoff appearances. Just look at the giants foundation and it should be obvious how good he was. Daniel Jones, Saquon, Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Xavier McKinney.

i love the hate he got for letting Norman walk and drafting bradberry. Norman never replicated his 2015 season and Bradberry had been the better player from that point. He was a bust of a contract for Washington.

Thomas Davis called out gettleman for not extending his contract. Hurney gave him 2 more years and his production dropped considerably. Greg Olsen called out gettleman for not extending his contract. Hurney swooped in and saved the day. Olsen never surpassed 600 yards or 4 touchdowns again.

it was widely spoke about that the release of Steve smith was the best thing for cams development. He went on to win a MVP and win a nfc championship.

i find it comical how much hate gettleman gets from panthers fans when the baseline for almost two decades had been journalist marty meatball Hurney.

Personally I find it comical how you have to modify your criteria for Gettleman’s success from his Panthers tenure to his Giants tenure. With the Panthers, he was responsible for 3 straight playoff appearances!! Wow sounds pretty compelling. How many playoff appearances with the Giants? Oh…he went a combined 19-46 with zero playoff appearances? Oh wait but umm…oh that’s right he built that Giants foundation for the next GM to come in and succeed!! You realize that’s exactly what some people argue that Hurney did for Gettleman’s successful run, right? But I guess you would argue it’s wildly different…for some reason…just not one that you’d be able to articulate.

[Carl Spackler]

3 hours ago, NanuqoftheNorth said:

You know what's even funnier?  That Hurney didn't.  Weird.

You know what’s hysterical? They both suck but for different reasons. 

[CPantherKing]

3 hours ago, KillerKat said:

pretty much this. If he was indeed getting jealous of Cam and giving him heat, he had to go.

 

3 hours ago, NanuqoftheNorth said:

I appreciate Steve's exceptional talents as much as any fan, but his inability to play second fiddle to Cam was ultimately his undoing.  Especially sad, knowing the Panthers (and Steve) would have likely been Super Bowl champions, if not for his unrestrained ego.

This false narrative is a Huddle myth.

There were a group of players that decided to play/stick together through the rebuild (2010/2011) because they wanted to end their careers together. They were a package deal and it was well known the two Utes (team SB leaders) were at the head of this group. Gettleman became the wedge that destroyed all of this with his incompetent ways. He single handidly lost Gross, Smith, and Wharton after a playoff year because he only wanted Gross at a contract below his value.

The myth squad will run with Proelh's interview, but all that pointed out was there were some (not all) in the coaching and front office that believed Smith would stunt the growth of the young receivers and Cam. Smith believed young players earn their C patch. Others wanted to push Cam into a C patch regardless of what current captains like Smith and Gross thought.

How did that turn out without Smith around? KB never had the leadership or motivation he needed. The leadership he later he wish he had. The same leadership that Lafell showered praise on Smith as Lafell made his way through the NFL. Funchess found his way out the door quickly without a SB role model. Philly brown was here and gone. Smith would have done nothing to make their careers any shorter.

The mistake was JR not promoting an innovative GM like Beane instead of going after an old school mindset in Gettleman who believed windows of opportunity did not exist in the NFL.

No doubt in my mind Beane would have had Smith, Gross, and Wharton playing for at least 2 more seasons before all retiring a Panther. He would have had Steve Smith Sr, Kelvin Benjamin, Stefon Diggs, Ted Ginn Jr, and Philly Brown as the 2015 receivers. I really wish Gettleman would have listened to Beane over Rivera when it came to trading up for Funchess over getting Diggs later in the draft (Gettleman loved those big receivers over the small ones). Smith would have protected them from Cam while demanding more from all of them alongside Ted Ginn. I believe Benjamin and Diggs would have benefited greatly from this with Diggs instantly connecting with Smith prior to his retirement as a Panther. Cam was always the uberAlpha and would have done it his way and challeneged coaches and captains no matter what. Just needed players like Norman and Smith to challenge Cam and keep him in check instead of having Rivera waste time babysitting his outbursts leading to reprimand/punishment. The OL with Gross - Norwell - Kalil - Turner - Wharton would have had better protection on Cam.

This in my opinion would have been the difference between a SB Champion exit as Panthers for Gross, Smith, and Wharton and prolonged success for the franchise. We will never know because obviously the wrong choices were made under Gettleman/Richardson and then Rhule/Tepper.

BTW, if Cam Newton couldn't develop among players like Smith and Diggs, do you think Beane would have not traded his MVP ego for picks in 2017 or 2018 while walking away with a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen from those drafts?

[MechaZain]

2 minutes ago, CPantherKing said:

 

This false narrative is a Huddle myth.

There were a group of players that decided to play/stick together through the rebuild (2010/2011) because they wanted to end their careers together. They were a package deal and it was well known the two Utes (team SB leaders) were at the head of this group. Gettleman became the wedge that destroyed all of this with his incompetent ways. He single handidly lost Gross, Smith, and Wharton after a playoff year because he only wanted Gross at a contract below his value.

The myth squad will run with Proelh's interview, but all that pointed out was there were some (not all) in the coaching and front office that believed Smith would stunt the growth of the young receivers and Cam. Smith believed young players earn their C patch. Others wanted to push Cam into a C patch regardless of what current captains like Smith and Gross thought.

How did that turn out without Smith around? KB never had the leadership or motivation he needed. The leadership he later he wish he had. The same leadership that Lafell showered praise on Smith as Lafell made his way through the NFL. Funchess found his way out the door quickly without a SB role model. Philly brown was here and gone. Smith would have done nothing to make their careers any shorter.

The mistake was JR not promoting an innovative GM like Beane instead of going after an old school mindset in Gettleman who believed windows of opportunity did not exist in the NFL.

No doubt in my mind Beane would have had Smith, Gross, and Wharton playing for at least 2 more seasons before all retiring a Panther. He would have had Steve Smith Sr, Kelvin Benjamin, Stefon Diggs, Ted Ginn Jr, and Philly Brown as the 2015 receivers. I really wish Gettleman would have listened to Beane over Rivera when it came to trading up for Funchess over getting Diggs later in the draft (Gettleman loved those big receivers over the small ones). Smith would have protected them from Cam while demanding more from all of them alongside Ted Ginn. I believe Benjamin and Diggs would have benefited greatly from this with Diggs instantly connecting with Smith prior to his retirement as a Panther. Cam was always the uberAlpha and would have done it his way and challeneged coaches and captains no matter what. Just needed players like Norman and Smith to challenge Cam and keep him in check instead of having Rivera waste time babysitting his outbursts leading to reprimand/punishment. The OL with Gross - Norwell - Kalil - Turner - Wharton would have had better protection on Cam.

This in my opinion would have been the difference between a SB Champion exit as Panthers for Gross, Smith, and Wharton and prolonged success for the franchise. We will never know because obviously the wrong choices were made under Gettleman/Richardson and then Rhule/Tepper.

BTW, if Cam Newton couldn't develop among players like Smith and Diggs, do you think Beane would have not traded his MVP ego for picks in 2017 or 2018 while walking away with a Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen from those drafts?

did an AI write this

[frankw]

7 hours ago, NJPanthers12 said:

Gettleman has become beyond underrated. Only GM responsible for 3 straight playoff appearances. Just look at the giants foundation and it should be obvious how good he was. Daniel Jones, Saquon, Andrew Thomas, Dexter Lawrence, Leonard Williams, Xavier McKinney.

i love the hate he got for letting Norman walk and drafting bradberry. Norman never replicated his 2015 season and Bradberry had been the better player from that point. He was a bust of a contract for Washington.

Thomas Davis called out gettleman for not extending his contract. Hurney gave him 2 more years and his production dropped considerably. Greg Olsen called out gettleman for not extending his contract. Hurney swooped in and saved the day. Olsen never surpassed 600 yards or 4 touchdowns again.

it was widely spoke about that the release of Steve smith was the best thing for cams development. He went on to win a MVP and win a nfc championship.

i find it comical how much hate gettleman gets from panthers fans when the baseline for almost two decades had been journalist marty meatball Hurney.

Gettleman apologists still exist?

[GRWatcher]

I remember Smitty saying publicly that it was not his job to mentor or teach the young WRs. That was the beginning of the end of the Smitty/Panthers relationship. Smitty put himself above the team with that statement. I think Smitty was angry at Gettleman and the team because he was surprised by the announcement not because he was released. It was probably the 1st time since his rookie year that he had no control over his destiny. And he was all about control.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, MechaZain said:

did an AI write this

A troll did...

[scpanther22]

The kind of player Smith was and how he played, the same attidue  that made him great probably made him a bad teammate to be around at times.  

[The Huddler]

I love you smitty!! 

 

[MHS831]

20 hours ago, MechaZain said:

He'd agree with you. In this same interview he says his biggest regret was how he treated his teammates. He's upfront about maturity issues as a player. It's something he's overcome only just recently. Honestly one of the cooler character redemption stories in sports.

 

 

 

I used to go watch a few OTAs each year and I noticed that players tend to hang around their buddies when possible during the moments when they could.  They'd warm up together, for example.  Smitty did not seem to have any personal relationships with teammates---except 1, and to me, it was the last person you'd expect.

Smith would warm up with this person at the back, and they would be talking the entire time--Every time I went to see them.  I was so close, I could almost hear them, but you could tell from facial expressions that they liked each other. 

The other player? John Kasay.