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This is undoubtedly the most creative Steve Smith jersey I have ever seen. The person in the picture, Panther fan Ross Levin of Charlotte, is a longtime Carolina PSL holder who was very unhappy that Carolina fired Smith in the offseason.
Levin wore this pieced-together jersey to the Ravens game Sunday. He had earlier taken both a Carolina and Baltimore Smith No.89 jerseys to Christie's alterations on South Boulevard in Charlotte and had them cut in half and then stitched together (the other two halves weren't thrown away, either -- they made a jersey for Levin's wife).
Like many Panther fans, Levin was not at all happy when the Panthers decided to release Smith. "It is just amazing to me we boot our superstar," Levin wrote me in a postgame email.
On Sunday at the Ravens game, Levin said received lots of requests for people to take their picture with him and "hundreds of comments" about the jersey. Most, he said, were of this variety: "What idiot would get rid of Smith? This was before the game. It was obvious to this fan base they got lucky to get someone so special. And just could not understand us letting him go. To them, we looked liked idiots."
Smith, of course, had two touchdowns and 139 yards receiving in Baltimore's 38-10 victory Sunday. As for Levin, he said he will use his PSL tickets for the Panthers-Chicago game Oct.5th. And he is planning on wearing his homemade Smith jersey again.
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7 comments:
Love the jersey! I too am furious that they let Steve Smith go. I think it's a horrible decision.
One big major reason why Steve Smith is succeeding in Baltimore is Smith isn't their #1 receiver on the depth chart. As of now (which will probably change soon), defenses are using their top backs against Torrey Smith and Steve Smith is having great success against the lesser DBs.
Towards the latter years in Carolina, the Panthers never addressed that need to supplement Smith with a great free agent or 1st round pick WR and as a result, Smith still remained our #1 WR. As a result, each team's best defensive backs were pitted against him and were faster than him as he started losing that burst of speed. So Smith was not open many times when he played in Carolina. Now that Smith is the Raven's #2, he's not getting the best CB's against him and he's blowing by the lesser DBs consistently.
The Panthers biggest mistake was waiting until this year to FINALLY select a #1 WR in the draft and not addressing this problem 3-5 years ago. I strongly believe Smith's numbers would have been a lot higher had we developed a new #1 WR during that time, dropping smith to #2.
Made mine exactly like this but didn't destroy either jersey in the process. It was on News Channel 36 the Thursday before the Panthers/Ravens match up. Wore it to the game and had a TON of pics made with both Ravens & Panthers fans!
To answer the question "What idiot would get rid of Smith?" His name is Gettlebum, Dave Gettlebum. I said this in March and I'll say it again, I don't care who he drafts or what brilliant move he makes the guy will still be a bum because getting rid of the heart of this team who is also the greatest player in franchise history and paying him to play for another team was the stupidest and most disrespectful move in franchise history. FIRE DAVE GETTLEBUM!
Went to the game in Baltimore, i saw a few of these, very creative and a good way to show loyalty to team and Steve. #bloodngutseverywhere
Got to love SSs competitiveness. He's a great receiver and Panthers cut too deep in WR corp trying to rebuild. Kelvin is a great replacement and he'll end up being better than Smith IMO. It was, I believe Smith's aggressive nature and acerbic locker room, practice field personality that got him cut. Not his talent, obviously from Sunday's show. He torched the Panthers. What's getting me is our so-called running attack that has them running to the ER every fourth carry.
That's creative? I've seen that a lot in similar situations with other players.
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