CAROLINA IN HIS MIND
Beason’s happy to be a Giant, but can’t help but pull for the Panthers, the team he broke in with Ralph Vacchiano,
JON BEASON couldn’t be happier t hat he wa s t raded to t he Giants, but he spent so many years in Carolina he can’t help what he’s feeling. The Panthers still have a place in his heart, and on Sunday he may even have a place on their sidelines.
But even if he doesn’t make the trip to watch his old teammates open the playoffs against the San Francisco 49ers in Charlotte, the linebacker made it clear that he’s definitely still on their side.
“I want them to win because I feel like I’m still a part of the team in terms of what we’ve endured over the last couple of years,” Beason told the Daily News on Friday. “I’m still debating (whether to go). You know, you want to be there, but it’s still a tough pill to swallow just in terms of those being my guys.
“That’s the thing that hurts the most, to see those guys in the locker room, the family atmosphere we developed.”
Yes, there are moments t hat the 28-year-old Beason thinks he should be getting ready for the game in Carolina this weekend, especially with his new team not in the playoffs. That’s not a reflection on the Giants. In fact, he still calls his trade “the best possible outcome” for his career.
But he was there when the Panthers bottomed out with a 2-14 record in 2010 and he endured the first two years of Ron Rivera’s rebuilding project before he was dealt for a conditional seventh-round pick. He was supposed to be a big part of the Panthers’ turnaround and it feels odd for him not being there for the payoff — especially since he insisted he felt it building for several years.
“Yeah, no question,” Beason said. “We had different slogans going through the process. ‘Earning the right’ was a big one this year. And (Rivera) knows that when you sit in that big chair, a lot is expected. It’s tough. We know that. We tried to get it done for him. You look at the progress from the first year to the third year, and you see it kind of coming together.”
It had just started to come together when Beason was traded to the Giants on Oct. 4. The Panthers had started the season 0-2 and looked like they were on their way to another lost season. Then in Week 3 they hammered the Giants at home, 380. They would go on to win 12 of their next 14 games to earn the NFC’s No. 2 seed.
That was a continuation, Beason said, of what happened one year earlier when the Panthers finished a disappointing 7-9. What’s been forgotten is the Panthers got off to a 2-8 start but rallied by winning five of their last six. That led to an offseason in which Beason admitted he was “kind of surprised” by how hard everyone was working and how, “on a very quiet level,” they were talking big.
“To see it kind of come to fruition, it’s been great to watch,” Beason said. “For me, I couldn’t be more proud. As a teammate, as a friend, as a brother, to see what they’ve been able to do.
“It would be a great story to see them go out and win this game and continue the run.”