Star Running Back Christian McCaffrey Traded from Carolina Panthers, Country Stars React
The Carolina Panthers have been nothing short of a mess this year. In the past couple weeks, they’ve fired their head coach Matt Rhule, kicked star WR Robbie Anderson off the field mid-game, traded Anderson later that week, and are off to a 1-5 start in their first six games.
Thursday night, the Panthers traded away their best player, Christian McCaffrey, to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for draft picks. The team is clearly in rebuilding mode. McCaffrey is the unquestioned, most talented player on the Panthers, but is also arguably considered the top running back in the National Football League as well.
There are a couple big-name country stars who are huge fans of the Carolina Panthers, Luke Combs and Chris Lane. They were both quick to react to McCaffrey’s social media goodbye posts. Posted to Twitter and Instagram, McCaffrey said:
“I’m forever grateful for all of the people who have helped make these past 5 1/2 years so special for me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Carolina, I will always love you. #KeepPounding”
Luke Combs isn’t a crazy regular in terms of “liking” messages on Twitter, but he was quick to hit the “like” button on this post. We’ll see if he comes with any additional reaction. Chris Lane, on the other hand, wrote a well thought out comment in response to the Instagram post. He said:
“We love you fam! Thanks for the top notch memories in Carolina.. we can’t thank you enough for everything.”
Luke Combs may be the biggest fan of ANYONE from Carolina. Last year, Luke hung out at the Carolina Panthers practice facility, and hung out with a bunch of the players, including the new departure, McCaffrey. Born in Charlotte, this was one of Luke’s lifelong dreams. He has been a fan of the organization his entire life.
Luke has been known to speak out on choices the Panthers have made in the past, both positive and negative. In regards to star linebacker Luke Kuechly, he said:
“Man, to be brutally honest with you, I was like ‘who in the hell is this guy? You’ve got to be kidding me, a linebacker? What a joke, at least get a lineman that helps the offense out a little bit, ya know?’”
It turned out Kuechly was one of the best linebackers to ever play for the organization, and the two are friends to this day. The Lukes even went on a podcast together back in 2021, appearing on Lindsay Czarniak’s “The Artist and The Athlete.”
Chris Lane is a pretty big Panthers fan as well. In the past, he has performed at halftime of the Carolina Panthers games, and has also had many Panthers players in attendance at his shows. Chris has also spoken out and said that he “has to hit the picture he has hanging of Thomas Davis on his tour bus” before he takes the stage. Thomas Davis is an ex-Panther who was also a linebacker for the team. Davis himself has spoken out as well, sharing that he is a huge fan of Chris, and has shared videos on social media of him singing Chris’ songs.
It may be a while before the Panthers are back to championship level, especially after the McCaffrey trade. But one thing is for sure, these two country stars will be fans of this team for life.