12 things in Pro Football Hall of Fame that Panthers fans, Carolinians should see

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It’s pretty much the first thing you see: the big Julius Peppers jersey encased in glass, the bluest artifact in the welcome room of the Pro Football Hall of Fame museum.

There’s a Green Bay Packers throwback jersey, too, in the exhibit. There’s a green and yellow football inscribed with Peppers’ accomplishment of becoming the first player in NFL history with 100 sacks and 10 interceptions. There’s even a Chicago Bears helmet paying homage to his first four years outside his home state.

But really what hits you is the blue, the Carolina of it all. Filling out the exhibit is an ode to his Tar Heel basketball playing days — a picture of a young, 6-foot-7, 295-pound beast slamming away a dunk as his loose jersey flails with a Bill Guthridge practice plan and “thought for the day” beside it: “You can act yourself into a way of thinking,” the practice plan reads, “far easier than you can think your way into acting.”

Peppers’ case was one of six on display front and center of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, alongside the rest of the 2024 class inducted officially Saturday afternoon. It will sit there for a few more months, before the next class gets announced.

But for Carolina Panthers fans and just people from the Carolinas in general there are several things you should see if you travel up to the museum in Canton, Ohio. Here’s a list of them.

1. First mention of “Panthers” ... is “Red”?

Walk onto the first-floor rotunda space, and you’re greeted by loads of football patina. Dig a bit, Panthers fans, and you’ll find the first reference to “Panthers” to be about the long-defunct Cleveland Panthers. The team name was found in a caption below the football helmet of Harold “Red” Grange’s helmet, who was a mammoth star in the 1920s. Grange is one of the greatest football players to ever play — his exploits at Illinois University dubbed him the “Galloping Ghost” — and, according to the museum, his participation in pro football lent credibility to a fledgling NFL.

2. First mention of Carolina comes in 1993, naturally

The Carolina Panthers were announced as an expansion franchise in 1993 before the organization’s inaugural season in 1995. The Jacksonville Jaguars are also mentioned in the same exhibit, as they joined the league at the same time. Also noted here is a section meant to contextualize the ‘90s with a bunch of pop culture references, which includes the punk/grunge band Nirvana. (And Nirvana has an interesting connection to Charlotte, as the band visited the vaunted venue Milestone in its first U.S. tour ... but anyway.)

3. First Panthers player: Reggie White

The early ‘90s — 1993 to be exact — marked the introduction of today’s system of free agency. In this exhibit marked the first mention of a Panthers player that I could detect: Reggie White. The Hall of Fame pass-rusher was among the highest-profile free agents in the first iteration of the free agency pastime; he eventually landed in Charlotte in the twilight of his career.

4. The Record Wall, another Panthers team?

You can’t articulate the treasure trove of team-record data on this wall in a few sentences. So I won’t try. But one cool thing: There are many “former” teams on the wall. One of them is the DETROIT Panthers — who would’ve thought “Panthers” was such a popular nickname? — and the team went 12-8-4 in two seasons in 1925 and 1926.

5. The hallowed bust room with many Carolinians

Legend has it that when the Pro Football Hall of Fame museum locks up for the night, the busts of the players in the pristine room speak to each other. In that discussion are five former Panthers representatives: Kevin Greene, Sam Mills, Bill Polian (GM) and Reggie White. It’ll soon include Julius Peppers, too. Among the others there with North Carolina ties include Joe Gibbs, the legendary Washington coach who now owns one of the best teams in NASCAR, and UNC football legend Lawrence Taylor.

One fun note: The Class of 2024 occupies one of the last available slabs of wall in the room. So it’s conceivable the Class of 2024 will be the last group of busts in that particular room in the museum. The museum hasn’t announced yet what they will do to expand the room or relocate the busts.

6. NFL mic’d up

In the “NFL Today” exhibit, there’s a funny video that plays and includes a montage of all the best moments of players talking in-game. It includes a self-deprecating Baker Mayfield, who spent a season in Carolina.

7. Christian McCaffrey Carolina Panthers jersey

One of the best running backs in Carolina Panthers history is honored as part of an exhibit in the “NFL Today” exhibit.

8. Women in football trivia question involves Carolina

There’s an exhibit devoted to women trailblazers in the NFL. One is Maia Chaka, a referee who became the first Black woman referee to officiate an NFL game. Her first regular-season game came in Week 1 of the 2021 season. The contest? Carolina Panthers versus New York Jets in Bank of America Stadium.

9. International exhibit

In 1991, the NFL launched a league overseas. That league was reorganized in 1995 under the name “NFL Europe” that featured six European teams and a handful of other American teams. Not to give it all away, but one of the U.S. teams? The Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks. (And no, Raleigh-Durham is still not a thing.)

10. Draft card

Some relics of NFL drafts of the past are in the Hall. One is the draft card from 2023 draft. What’s inscribed on it? “First name: Caleb; Last name: Williams; Choice from (in white out) Carolina.”

11. Black College Football Hall of Fame

One of the final stops you’ll take at the museum is the Black College Football Hall of Fame. So many ties to the Carolinas here. Among them: Robert Porcher (from Wando, S.C.), Billy Joe (Aynor, S.C.), Billy Hayes (Durham, N.C.), Timmy Newsome (Ahoskie, N.C.), Earl “Air” Harvey (Fayetteville, N.C.), Ben Coates (Greenwood, S.C.), Johnnie Walton (Elizabeth City, N.C.), Art Shell (Charleston, S.C.), Harry Carson (Florence, S.C.), Doug Wilkerson (Fayetteville, N.C.) and Jethro Pugh (Windsor, N.C.).

12. Flag football exhibit

One of the final exhibits celebrates the growth of flag football across the world, and some video footage of the IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship from last summer was used. Where was some of the footage filmed? On the campus of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.