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Hidden details of the 2022 schedule release video

CHARLOTTE — You've seen the schedule.

You've seen the video.

Now, you get to take a closer look at the things you might have missed.

Like rarely seen video of legendary Panthers quarterback Jack Trudeau, custom ice cream flavors, and an image from a magazine called TV Guide that people used to need to know what was showing on television at a certain day and time, so they could plan their trips from the couch since not all of us were lucky enough to have a remote control.

Yeah, it's a throwback week around here.

If you look beyond the ancient artifacts, and past the anticipation of the schedule itself, there are a number of cool things to find beyond the news.

I mean, Sir Purr his own self made an 8-bit appearance as a character in the classic Nintendo game Excitebike, one of many Easter eggs we've hidden for fans.

Sir Purr

And you'd have to be a long-time fan to have recognized a few of the players who showed up in uniform. (They called in an actual Old Guy to help with the IDs.)

That number 82 was none other than wide receiver Don Beebe, one of the many former Bills players original general manager Bill Polian brought here with him from Buffalo.

Number 10 stumped some folks, but that was Jack Trudeau, who was chosen in the 28th round of the 1995 expansion draft (five picks before they took a guy named Bill Goldberg, who eventually dropped the first name and became a wrestling star).

You had to look carefully to see Trudeau back then too, as he appeared in exactly one game for the Panthers in the inaugural season, throwing three interceptions against the Rams in their third-ever game.

08 Who is this WR

There were artifacts aplenty, from the Blockbuster Video magnet on the fridge to the Bagel Bites and Dunkaroos on the kids' plates.

09 Peep the fridge

Sometimes, they were hidden.

On the back of dad's newspaper — remember newspapers? — we swapped in an image any Panthers fan should remember.

Legendary linebacker Sam Mills and quarterback Kerry Collins graced the cover of the 1996 NFL Preview edition of TV Guide, dated Aug. 31-Sept. 6. (And yes, honest, we used to have to subscribe to a magazine to know what was on the few channels we had then. We barely had the internet, and were a decade away from a streaming service.)

It wouldn't be Panthers history without Mills making an appearance, after all.

03 TV GUIDE COVER - MOOD RING - GUESS WHO

Speaking of TV and the 90s, did you catch the "Wazzup" Guy from the Budweiser commercials? If you didn't, you're welcome, as anyone of a certain age will have that stuck in their head the rest of the night.

05 Wasssup Commercial

But the real treat, pun intended, came from the frozen delights former linebacker Thomas Davis got to pass out.

We had to drop in an "Ice Up Son" pop to honor Steve Smith Sr., but there was a lot of other stuff to keep you in a good humor (pun also intended) from the Sir Purr Treats truck.

Maybe you'd like a traditional Keep Pounding Bar.

Or a SpiderBurns or a 2 Cool, a nod to current stars Brian Burns and DJ Moore.

And the set itself was something to behold.

Angela Denogean and Megan Verceles-Carr of our social media department and photographer Chanelle Smith-Walker spent weeks scouring all the Goodwill and Salvation Army stores in the area looking for vintage items, to the extent employees cheerfully greeted them as "The Panthers Girls" because they kept coming back for more stuff.

They weren't the only ones happy to see the staff. The fan in the house next door to our set in a quiet neighborhood off Graham Street was happy to see us anyway, and offered the use of his driveway.

When Davis rolled up in an ice cream truck, it was more than he could believe.

Kind of like this amazing collection of stuff, including some secrets we can't even tell.

Yet.

(Stay tuned for next year.)

View photos from the last time Carolina played each of this season's opponents.

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