By Mike Cranston
Associated Press
SPARTANBURG, S.C. ó Steve Smith loaded up the car early Sunday morning and the ugly memories returned.
Throughout his 90-minute drive to training camp, Smith replayed the scene a year ago when he broke Carolina teammate Ken Lucas’ nose with a sucker punch, an incident that produced a two-game suspension and another dent to the star receiver’s reputation.
On the same day Julius Peppers ended his offseason of discontent by showing up to camp and then avoiding reporters, Smith had plenty to say.
He got out of his car in front of the Wofford College dormitory, plunked down a mini refrigerator on the sidewalk and tackled the issue that has sometimes overshadowed his four Pro Bowl selections: his temper.
“Everybody in this circle, football players and football fans, kind of know what happened last year. I’m just dealing with that,” Smith said. “I’m just kind of kicking myself coming down here.”
Then Smith acknowledged turning 30 in May was significant. Already holder of several team career records, he knows he’s closer to the end than the beginning. He feels he must fill a larger role on a team that went 12-4 last season before a shocking home playoff loss to Arizona.
“I really have to take my role and my position on this team and become a better leader and a more responsible leader and enjoy this time because it will pass,” Smith said.
Smith’s reflectiveness came on an unseasonably cool, drizzly morning as the Panthers reconvened 202 days after their embarrassing 33-13 loss to the Cardinals.
The focus of the offseason, Peppers, hid from reporters. A day earlier the four-time Pro Bowl defensive end told The Charlotte Observer that he was fully committed and that “nobody has to worry about me taking any plays or games off.” That comes after being adamant that he wanted to play elsewhere and skipping offseason workouts before signing a one-year, $16.7 million tender.
“I saw him this morning getting my physical,” quarterback Jake Delhomme said. “I shook his hand like I would have if he was here at minicamp. There’s a business side of football. Things happen, things get said. He’s here at camp.”
So are 20 other starters from last year’s NFC South-winning squad. The only one missing is Lucas, the cornerback whose quick forgiveness of Smith last season was credited with preventing the team from tearing apart. Lucas was released in a salary-cap move in the offseason and signed with Seattle.
Smith, who caught 78 passes for 1,421 yards and six touchdowns last season despite sitting out the first two games, knows the Lucas issue still dogs him.
“I’m not too excited about being in camp with the circumstances of last year,” Smith said. “All of the things that are going to be said and with a lot of things that happened, the respect I lost from fans and also my teammates, and being a distraction and stuff like that.”
His past is checkered with other incidents, including a fight with teammate Anthony Bright that produced a one-game suspension in 2002. But Smith got closer to several teammates after the Lucas attack. Now he’s ready to take on the mentoring role that he’s avoided despite being one of the longest-tenured players on the team.
“He’s got a chance to touch a lot of people, because when Steve does speak, people do listen, a lot of guys on the team,” Delhomme said. “He’s not one who looks to get out of a practice. I think that’s the biggest thing, the way he prepares and practices.
“To me, that’s an offseason spent reflecting on what can I do to get better. That’s how I look at it.”
The magic 30th birthday may have helped, too. No longer that 5-foot-9 return man from Utah who had to prove coaches and critics that he could play receiver, Smith is an established star.
Yet he acknowledged becoming a respected, trusted veteran will take doing everything “totally opposite” from the first eight years of his career.
“For the next six years I just want to have fun,” Smith said, “and be the player on the field and in the locker room that I have the potential and the opportunity to be.”