SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Most Panthers who returned from last year's team couldn't wait to get back to work at training camp. They know that it represents the first official work of the new season, thus placing the memories of the playoff loss to Arizona firmly in the past.
But if Steve Smith had his way, he'd bypass camp entirely -- and it's not because of the grueling on-field work that awaits.
Even though a year has passed since the incident with Ken Lucas that led to a two-game suspension, and even though the two reconciled in a manner so profound that numerous Panthers said it brought the locker room closer, Smith knows the event still stalks him.
"I just want to get these couple of weeks over as soon as possible," he said. "Obviously, everybody in this circle, Panthers fans, players, football fans, know what happened last year. Dealing with that, I was just killing myself coming down here."
But Smith's immediate remorse helped all involved heal.
"I think the way the team responded to it, the way Ken and Steve responded to it, we got everything out in the open and we moved on," quarterback
Smith's 12 months since then were fairly eventful, both personally and professionally. On the field, he averaged over 100 yards per game for the first time in his career, returned to the Pro Bowl and led the Panthers to their best regular-season finish in a dozen years. Away from it, he hit his 30th birthday.
For most men, the 30th birthday is a cause of introspection and reflection -- and Smith was no different.
"It's just getting older, and my first time being 30 -- and just seeing how many blessings and opportunities I have, and looking at the team and analyzing it -- I (realized that I) really have to take my role and my position on this team," he said. "What I'm called to do is be a better leader -- be a more responsible leader."
Smith admits this runs against his nature. As demonstrative as he can be on the field, he can be equally quiet away from it. But in order to maximize his career, his reputation and his success, he knows he must look outward.
"It's just an opportunity to learn more about my teammates and for me to open up a little bit more, as well," he said. "I'm kind of an introvert and outside of the football field, I kind of shy away and go back a little bit. (I need to) open up."
For that, he'll find support in his quarterback.
"He's right about what he said," Delhomme said. "I think for some people it comes naturally and for others it doesn't. He's more of the guy who takes the bull by the horns on the field and goes with it."
Said bull will be gripped all the more tightly by Smith, for whom the 30th birthday was a call to urgency -- as it is for many professional athletes, since their career clock spins quintuple time.
"When guys are saying, 'I watched you in high school,' and they're on the team now -- I wouldn't say I'm getting old, but I'm teetering the fence," he said.
"When he says, 'He's 30,' for the NFL that's a magic number. That's a different number," Delhomme said. " One, it's a credit because you've been in the league that long, but two, for a lot of guys -- and maybe kickers, punters, quarterbacks it's a little different, 30's not an old age -- he sees that."
And he knows he must savor it -- and eventually leave his career knowing that he maximized his abilities not only as a wide receiver, but as a teammate.
"(I) really just (want to) enjoy this time, because it's going to pass," he said. "For the next six years, I just want to have fun and be theat kind of player in the locker room and on the field that I have the potential and opportunity to be."
