Mac Attack 6/18/12: Free agent WR Plaxico Burress stops by and tells the guys he would love to sign with the Panthers and has a lot of respect for Cam Newton and Steve Smith.
Burress had no problem telling us what an awesome fit the Carolina Panthers would be for him. From a personal standpoint and a professional standpoint, he made it obvious that Carolina was his number one pick.
“There’s no doubt about it. I’m a Virginia Beach guy, born and raised. My brothers live there in Charlotte, my cousins live there in Charlotte…and all my family is down in Columbia, SC, so that would just be a great situation all the way around…Not just that, but playing with Cam who I think is one of the top five quarterbacks in all of football. And I’ve been saying for as long as I can remember that Steve Smith has been one of my favorite receivers as long as I can remember. I just think it’s a great situation.”
Since Burress has so much respect for Cam, we asked him what he would say to those who speculate a sophomore slump for Newton.
“He grasped the game just as fast as anybody that I’ve seen come in and play the quarterback position in the NFL and do it at such a high level… For him to come in as a rookie and just light it up and have some of those grown men looking like children, I just think it says a lot about him as a player and as a quarterback.”
We asked Burress why he hadn’t seen interest from other teams. According to him, it’s simply because he is being very particular about the type of environment he wants to play in.
“I just want to put myself in a position to go out and have success and to make the guys around me better and obviously play with a quarterback who can really play the position. It’s just about me picking my spots and seeing where I’m a good fit. You just look at a situation like Carolina. You can’t come across a better situation than that. “
Some Carolina fans have expressed fears that bringing Burress in as a receiver could throw off the chemistry that seemed to come along last season. Burress assured us that wouldn’t be an issue for a guy like him.
“You can ask any of the guys that I’ve ever played with about being a guy in the locker room that everyone likes and treating everybody the same. That’s who I am. But, for the people who say those things, maybe they don’t know me.”
