Cam Newton, Torrey Smith support Eric Reid: ‘We got a steal’

7:03 am | October 4, 2018 | Go to Source | Author:

10:19 AM ET

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Eric Reid still hasn’t said whether he will take a knee or partake in another kind of protest against social injustice during the national anthem on Sunday prior to his first game for the Carolina Panthers.

The free safety’s new teammates aren’t worried about what he will do.

“Hey, no one cares,” wide receiver Torrey Smith said on Wednesday as the Panthers prepared for the visiting New York Giants (1 p.m. ET, Fox). “It’s not like he’s out there and coach calls Cover 3 or man-to-man, he’s going to take a knee and let his guy run by. If that was the issue, it would be a problem.

“Eric knows what’s best for Eric and what Eric needs to do. We all understand what he’s fighting for, so if that’s something he decides to do, that’s what he decides to do. But that has absolutely nothing to do with this locker room, the way we approach the game, the way we prepare and what we’re trying to do.”

Ditto, said quarterback Cam Newton, who said signing Reid, 26, was “the right move” after the Panthers lost Da’Norris Searcy (concussion) for the season.

He went so far as to say “we got a steal” in Reid.

“We have great players in this locker room and we’ve accepted him with open arms,” Newton said. “I was thinking to myself. I hope he was and is as excited as everyone is at having him. He’s a very young, talented football player that has a lot of talent left in his body. For him to be on our team is a great thing.

“…I’m going to stand by him knowing none of that will be a distraction for us winning football games.”

Reid went the entire offseason and the first three weeks of the 2018 NFL season without being signed. He claimed in his collusion grievance against the NFL that it was because in 2016 he was the first player to join former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick in kneeling during the anthem to protest police brutality and social injustice.

He still feels strongly about social injustice and said on Monday that he’s still considering ways to protest.

But that hasn’t been a distraction for the Panthers (2-1) and it probably won’t become one because of strong locker room leadership with Newton, Smith, linebacker Luke Kuechly, defensive end Julius Peppers and center Ryan Kalil.

This is one of the oldest locker rooms in the NFL with an average age of 26.8 heading into the season. It is one that has developed a culture the past seven years that coach Ron Rivera often refers to when talking about having success despite adversity.

This is a locker room that in 2014 made the playoffs despite the intense media attention surrounding defensive end Greg Hardy and his domestic abuse case. This is a locker room that in the past eight months has seen team owner Jerry Richardson accused of sexual and workplace misconduct and forced to sell the team he founded.

This is a locker room that has welcomed with open arms new owner David Tepper, whose more progressive philosophy allowed general manager Marty Hurney to sign Reid when other teams wouldn’t.

“Guys can just kind of be themselves,” Smith said. “We have some of the most interesting conversations on politics and religion that I’ve ever been a part of. This locker room is all about free spirits as long as you’re doing your job.”

It’s also a locker room that has chosen, perhaps in part because of Rivera’s strong belief of respecting the anthem because of his military background, not to protest since Peppers stayed in the locker room during the anthem the first week teams joined Kaepernick and Reid in their cause.

Smith certainly doesn’t plan anything.

“I want to figure out ways to not let people take away from the message,” Smith said. “When somebody takes a knee, and they protest, all y’all want to talk about is them taking a knee. Y’all don’t want to talk about the why.

“I don’t know what Eric is going to do. Even if he does it, I know him as a figure means more than that protest in many ways.”

Smith lobbied last week for the Panthers to take a chance on Reid, his former teammate with the 49ers. He said the team would be getting a great leader and “one of the best men I know.”

For that reason, he said Reid would have been a good fit for any NFL locker room.

Panthers wide receiver Torrey Smith says Eric Reid would have been ”great” for any NFL locker room. Most important he believes Reid will help Carolina win. Video by David Newton

“A lot of people view it as a distraction,” Smith said. “But the only distraction is when ya’ll ask questions. … I don’t care if he takes a knee or not. He does whatever he feels in his heart and Eric is going to be ready to play ball this weekend and he’s going to help Carolina win.”

But Reid was a particularly good fit for the Panthers because of the need at safety and the change in ownership with Tepper, who spent part of Tuesday with Smith visiting a local detention center and meeting with city officials in an attempt to find solutions to social injustice in Mecklenburg County.

“He’s open to what works,” defensive end Wes Horton said of Tepper. “He’s picking people’s brains to how could we put this team in the best position to win on Sundays.”

Giants coach Pat Shurmur gave Reid the ultimate compliment, comparing him to Kuechly with his physicality and instinct for being around the ball.

“He plays the game a lot like Luke does at the linebacker level,” Shurmur said.

That’s what the Panthers are focused on, not whether Reid does or does not take a knee.

“Ain’t got no distractions,” Newton said. “Whatever happened in the past, that happened. We know he’s going to be an impact player for us. All that other stuff y’all can write.”

— ESPN.com’s Bob Pockrass contributed to this report.