The Carolina Panthers' secondary may have lost its motivational baseball bat, but the tenants haven't yet been kicked out of the neighborhood.

Actually, they still run the place.

"This is the Thieverhood. Y'all are just on the main street of Thieve Ave.," cornerback Teddy Williams said.

That apparently became official Monday when a makeshift street sign popped up above the secondary's section in the Panthers' locker room.

 

 

Some residents could see it as an unnecessary addition to the community, but this was a unit that led the league with 24 interceptions during the regular season.

"When you win, you get money, so we were able to put our money together and get something made," said safety Kurt Coleman, who tied for the NFC lead with seven interceptions.

But considering the sign was constructed by two pieces of cardboard taped together, playoff bonus checks must not be as generous as you'd assume.

"I talked to the city already. I don't know who they sent in, must have been a young guy, fresh out of school," safety Tre Boston said.

Two lockers down, cornerback Josh Norman chimed in:

"It's under construction."

And in the Thieverhood, being the biggest name on the block doesn't necessarily equal having the most pull.

"I would like to say I'm at the top of that, but I'd be telling a lie," Norman said. "But at the same time, I'm not at the bottom."

So who's in charge?

Cornerback Charles Tillman pointed to safety Roman Harper.

"If I'm the mayor, somebody's getting fired," Harper said. "It's terrible spelling."

Evidently, Thieve Ave. isn't supposed to represent a singular notion.

"If's there's a 'v' in thieves, it has to have an 's,'" Harper said.

"I went to Alabama and have a decent education. I know how to spell Thieves Avenue."

 

 

By now, some may be wondering why the secondary isn't completely focused on Sunday's divisional playoff battle with Seattle. But in a way, the sign stuff is part of the preparation. The Panthers' passion for thievery has been around longer than the baseball bat that made national headlines last month.

During a practice in 2014, the defense was going through a takeaway circuit — a set of drills when position groups rotate through work with different coaches. Suddenly, defensive line coach Eric Washington blurted out what would become the rallying cry of the league's most productive secondary.

"I said that one day, and then the next day when I didn't say it, they were like, 'Why didn't you say it?'" Washington recalled.

"Josh was the first one that noticed it and it just kind of caught on with the guys."

It's not at all shocking that Norman was the one who immediately took to it. After various wins this year, he's glowingly shared other variations of the phrase.

There was "thievery sells" after the Panthers picked off Colts quarterback Andrew Luck three times. At Tennessee two weeks later, "thievery travels." And on Thanksgiving, the Panthers gave "thanks for thievery."

 

 

For his part, Washington isn't in a rush to take much credit for his motivational tactic.

"The thing that motivates our guys is the consistency of our message. That starts with Coach Rivera and filters through every aspect of what we're doing," Washington said.

"It's a huge part of our identity and we've been working on that every year I've been here."

In Washington's first season in Carolina, the 2011 Panthers ranked 18th with 24 takeaways. This year, they forced 39 turnovers, six more than anyone else.

But there was one game when the Panthers didn't force a single turnover. Despite that, they still managed to win in Seattle.

So excuse the secondary's mess this week. They have some work to do.

"You guys come back tomorrow, we're going to have this thing right," said Harper, looking at the Thieve Ave. sign.

"We're going to get this thing corrected and we're going to be better because of this."