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Black and Blue Review

Carolina Panthers News and Coverage for the Digital Age

After ‘Man-Date,’ Panthers Selling ‘Purrbacca’ Shirts for a Good Cause

(UPDATE: Sat., Dec. 19, 4:55 p.m. – As of Saturday afternoon, nearly 4,000 Purrbacca shirts had been sold, raising about $40,000 for The HEARTest Yard.)


 

The 13-0 Carolina Panthers are wound so tight ahead of Sunday's game with the Giants, this is what they were working on before Friday's practice:

Ignoring the section of the Internet that believes an athlete should do nothing but focus on his or her craft, let's break this down into three parts.
 

THE SHIRT

 
Designed by Charlotte-based illustrator Joey Ellis, a friend of center Ryan Kalil, 'Purrbacca' is a mashup of the Panthers' logo and the lovable and hairy Chewbacca from "Star Wars."

"I love Chewy," Kalil said after Friday's practice. "Chewy's one of my all-time favorites."
 

THE CAUSE

 
After seeing the design, Kalil, as he's wont to do, came up with a creative idea. Put the logo on a T-shirt ahead of this weekend's release of "The Force Awakens" and sell them for a good cause.

With every T-shirt sold, $10 will go to The HEARTest Yard, a charity started by tight end Greg Olsen that helps families of babies affected by congenital heart disease.

"We just put [the link] up right before practice and our Twitter feed's blowing up," Kalil said. "I think we broke the Internet for a sec there."

The backend of the site selling the shirts actually did have some hiccups shortly after the link went up. That can happen when you post a picture of Olsen wearing a shirt that bears an uncanny resemblance to himself and another of the NFL's best linebacker supporting the same cause:

1ABE2E9B-0998-4B4B-BA40-D83931DB6FAD@carolina.rr.com

5DCB34D2-F73A-4ED2-8BB5-68FA1D1E3A19@carolina.rr.com (1)

THE MAN-DATE

 
Before he had the shirt idea, Kalil pre-rented a small movie theater for Thursday's release.

"I got really excited for the last year about this movie," he said. "I think more guys were excited about me getting excited than actually going to see the movie."

Kalil estimated about 20 of his teammates joined him for the showing, including the entire offensive line.

"It was a complete nerd man-date. It was fun to get a piece of your childhood there for just a couple hours," he said.

"We've had a lot of fun trips this year as an offensive line group. I think that stuff carries over on the field."

Oline movie night, Star Wars!!! #theforceawakens

A photo posted by Mike Remmers (@mremmers74) on

Even if it's just a bunch of guys having some fun, it's proof you don't have to study your playbook 24/7 to be successful.

"It's such a silly, dumb thing and I think this exemplifies the attitude of this team," Ellis said. "They connect with people and they get it. They're don't take themselves too seriously. Could you imagine New England doing something like this?"

Nope. And that speaks to the type of players' coach the Panthers have.

"When you build teams and you have good locker rooms, that's what you hope for, that these guys come together at something like that," coach Ron Rivera said.

"I'm just crushed I didn't get to go."

CLICK HERE to buy your Purrbacca shirt

AD5175D1-7004-411E-9ACF-9C1973E82423@carolina.rr.com

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2 thoughts on “After ‘Man-Date,’ Panthers Selling ‘Purrbacca’ Shirts for a Good Cause”

  1. Best team in the NFL, and not just for their record. It seems like almost every player on our team is trying to help the world. It’s a great feeling to cheer for people who do things like this, keep setting the example of what football players and human beings everywhere should be.

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