The Carolina Panthers’ first chance at achieving professional football immortality ended in the most painful way possible, and one of the members of that squad hopes the 2015 edition erases some of those memories on Sunday.
It was 12 years ago when the Panthers, who had finished 1-15 just two seasons prior and surprised many in the 2003 season by making it all the way to the game’s biggest stage, almost became one of the unlikeliest champions in the Super Bowl era. They succumbed at the very end to an Adam Vinatieri last-second field goal as the New England Patriots won the second of their four Super Bowls this century, squeezing out a 32-29 victory in Houston after a wild fourth quarter.
One of the integral members of that 2003 Panthers team was wide receiver and Carolina great Muhsin Muhammad, who caught an 85-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Delhomme in the fourth quarter of that game to give the Panthers a 22-21 lead. Muhammad took some time out to chat with A Lot of Sports Talk to share with us his memories of the game, including what his emotions were immediately before the game, how the Panthers’ penchant for last-second heroics all season long helped to carry the team to the Super Bowl, as well as how he first found out about the “wardrobe malfunction” that occurred during the halftime show involving Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson.
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[audio:https://s3.amazonaws.com/ALOST/Muhsin+Muhammad+interview+(02.04.16).mp3]
[Cover photo (Muhammad) courtesy of the Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press]
