CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers Training Camp begins Wednesday at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
The players will arrive and move into the college’s dorms on Tuesday morning. In addition to several new faces and names on the field, one of the first things fans will notice is the voice on Panthers broadcasts.
Replacing the legendary and recently retired Mick Mixon this year in the radio booth will be experienced play-by-play broadcaster, Anish Shroff.
Though he’s lived in Charlotte for over a decade, this will be his first crack at Carolina training camp.
“My job is to help fans connect with the team,” Shroff said. “So any information that I can get helps people connect with the players and the coaches on a human level? That’s my goal when I go to camp.”
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Just about all 32 teams in the league are giving fans reason to be optimistic in training camp.
In Carolina, there’s been a pair of five-win seasons to start the Matt Rhule era, but Shroff points to a young defensive core, an improved offensive line, and the most recent move to try and figure out quarterback.
“They’ve addressed a lot of their weaknesses from a season ago,” he said. “So for me, that gives a lot of optimism to me as a broadcaster and hopefully it gives a lot of optimism now to a fanbase that I know is thirsting for the Panthers to get back to where they were a few years ago.”
It’s a camp that will, at least at the very beginning, have a quarterback competition. Sam Darnold sticks around after a rough season, and Baker Mayfield is here from the Browns.
Both have plenty to prove.
“You’ve got two QBss in Darnold and Baker who are in the last year of their rookie contract,” Shroff said. “They’re fighting for their lives in many ways to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. There’s a lot at stake. So you hope it brings out the best in everybody in that room.”
Shroff had a chance to get to know Mayfield after the deal.
“When I look at Baker’s history, this is a guy who’s succeeded when he’s bet on himself. He was a quarterback at Lake Travis High School in Texas, big-time high school,” Shroff said.” Everybody saw him, nobody offered him in the Big 12, he walks on at Texas Tech.”
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