CHARLOTTE — In another life, Lathan Ransom would be an actor.

Or maybe even "a broadcaster or some type of streamer. But somewhere in front of a camera," Ransom admits, "is something I'd love to do if I wasn't playing football…I was in a commercial one time for a car company."

The car commercial must exist somewhere in the depths of the internet that holds the MySpace code and wedding announcements from 1997, because it's not easily found, but the search will continue.

In the meantime, in this life, Ransom is not an actor but a football player. He spends hours each evening watching not the silver screen but the film screen, poring over every hour, minute, and second of practice from that day.

"I came out so motivated because I haven't achieved anything yet," Ransom said as to why he's become such a film junkie. "I mean, whatever you did before the NFL don't matter now, so I'm at the bottom of the barrel, just grinding and trying to find different ways to help my game and help the team, but yeah, that's that's how I stay hungry, and then I'm always a sponge and finding ways to get better, so that's how I stay hungry."

It's a philosophy he adopted at Ohio State as well as a rookie, working his way up a loaded depth chart and through injuries to be a starter on the National Championship team in his fifth year. It's a part of his resume that stood out even to head coach Dave Canales, who commented on Day 3 of the draft that the mentality of a championship starter was enticing.

"First and foremost, you look for the guys that exhibit that kind of effort and juice, the enthusiasm we talked about, toughness, intelligent play that shows up, playing smart, and a finisher," Canales began.

"And when you get a chance to talk to this guy, you know, he's just, they won a championship for a reason, at a core of really talented but also really driven players, and we just love being able to bring somebody that has that winning mentality into the building."

Now, as a rookie in the NFL, Ransom relies on the lessons from that championship team.

"I think just how to grind every day, how to work every day, and then just for me personally, it taught me how to build a routine," Ransom explained. "I'm really strict on my routine, kind of brought it here, and what helped me be successful at Ohio State and then just being a younger guy now has taught me how to just be a young guy in a winning program, a guy that doesn't talk too much.

"Just, you know, tries to listen and learn as much as I can from the older guys and do anything I can to help the team… it's been fun to be the young guy in the room trying to learn from the vets that have been successful in the league already and learn from my new coaches, and it been fun to be on a young team."

There was a time when this dream seemed far away. Ransom suffered two significant injuries during his Ohio State career: a break in his tibia and fibula during the Rose Bowl for the 2021 season and a Lisfranc tear in 2023 that sidelined him for most of the season. Even as the injuries and subsequent recovery extended his runway to the NFL, Ransom never lost faith that he'd get here.

"Oh, no, it's something I always, always dreamed about," he stated. "I always believed that I was good enough to play in the NFL. I just had to get the opportunity, and God blessed me too. I never would change the injuries for anything.

"It taught me a lot about myself, grew my faith, and made me a better football player at the end of the day. It made me tougher at the end of the day, but I think it prepared me to transition really well and hopefully help me be successful at this level."

Ransom joins a safety group that includes free-agent acquisition Tre'von Moehrig, incumbent Nick Scott, and last year's breakout rookie safety, Demani Richardson. The Panthers added Ransom to the group for his experience, his nose for the ball, and his physicality, according to general manager Dan Morgan. Now comes the work to do: put it on the field.

"Just watching Lathan's tape, just, the way that he plays the game, again, it goes back to the passion, the energy, and the love of the game that he plays with," Morgan said. "You could tell he just enjoys the physical aspects of the game and just being out there with his teammates, celebrating with each other, and just having fun. So, he's exciting to watch."