CHARLOTTE — Kawann Short has been here before, but he can tell just from walking around town that this one is different.

And so is the team he used to play for.

The former Panthers defensive tackle, who saw plenty of highs during his career with the team from 2013-2020, has been chosen as this week's Legend of the Week. He'll be back to hit the Keep Pounding drum heading into the fourth quarter of Sunday's game against the Saints.

He's done it before in 2023, but he's looking forward to it this week, to see some former teammates and a new energy.

Originally a second-round pick in 2013, he began his career with three straight playoff runs, including the 15-1 season in 2015 that led to the Super Bowl. He was named All-Pro that season and has two Pro Bowls on his resume.

He also got to line up with a rookie named Derrick Brown during his final year in 2020, and he's likely to see Brown surpass one of his marks Sunday.

The current Pro Bowl defensive tackle is just one tackle behind Short on the team's all-time list for tackles by a defensive lineman.

And Short saw it coming.

Panthers all-time leaders, tackles by defensive linemen

Panthers.com caught up with Short this week to talk about what coming back means and what it's like watching his protege succeed.

Q: You were back and hit the drum back in 2023, but this time feels different, doesn't it?

Short: "Yeah, it's definitely different, and the atmosphere is crazy right now."

Q: Can you sense that when you're out in Charlotte?

Short: "Literally, if someone doesn't know me and they ask if I used to play ball, you know, sometimes I tell the truth, sometimes I don't. But the people that I do know in the city of Charlotte, man, they're just fired up, and you can just hear the energy in their voice and how they're excited. They like to see what the Panthers are doing right now."

Q: OK, I have to ask, how often do you talk to someone here who doesn't realize they're talking to KK Short?

Short: "It's a lot, it's quite often, honestly. I mean, I don't go around saying I used to do this, I used to do that. Depending on if I think the conversation is going to be elongated or if you just want to be an actual fan of the Carolina Panthers, man. I enjoy talking to people. But sometimes it also gets a little tedious if they're asking all these questions. Then again, you have to realize, a lot of these people don't get to be around a lot of athletes or people who played in the NFL, so you have to give grace to them. You understand that you're blessed to be in that position to have played this game at a high level, and these people just want to be a breath of fresh air in that type of atmosphere and get your point of view of what you've done, what you've been through, and how it is now."

Q: So, do you tell people who ask that you were a plumber or something?

Short: "Back in the day, honestly, I used to say I'm a security guard at Bank of America. I never said which one, so you know, I was always defending the Bank. But you know, in which way or which one, you have to guess that yourself."

Q: That's amazing. I can see that we need to Photoshop you into a security guard uniform now, right?

Short: "Just make sure y'all make me look good, man."

Q: With your actual role as a former Pro Bowler who did this at a high level, when you watch Derrick Brown right now, what's going through your mind?

Short: "My god, man. When I was in the league still, my last year, I was teammates with Derrick Brown, and just seeing him go from a rookie to who he is now, man, it's just amazing. I just told that man, 'Man, just put your head down and grind and you'll become one of the premier defensive tackles in his league if you stick with it and you believe in it.' And that's what he's done, man.

"You just see him day in and day out, hustling to the ball, taking on double teams, splitting double teams, getting in the backfield, hauling down quarterbacks, running backs, wide receiver screens, man. You see that as an ex-defensive tackle, man. You just praise him and you're happy to see such a guy playing at a high magnitude."

Q: What do you remember about Derrick as a rookie?

Short: "Quiet, quiet. And just seeing that, the one thing we'd do when I was telling Derrick, man, I said, if you stay low, man, you would dominate 99 percent of the guys you face, ... You see what I did there? (Short wore 99) I mean, 99 percent of these guards and these tackles in the league. I was in the same position, it's like easy to say hard to do, right? And once you do it a couple of times and you see like, man, I can't be stopped doing this. And that's what he's doing right now, man. He's stepping into a leadership role of his own and understanding the game more, and it's slowing down, and you see him weekend-to-weekend playing at a high level.

"It's wild to me looking back at it. I mean, because it feels like every week he is just throwing somebody. Man, he is launching a 310-pound offensive guard out the way. He is definitely on a roll."

Q: Is there anyone you remember throwing like that?

Short: "No, I don't think I ever did that. I probably split a double team and just got through the line, but throwing somebody like that, no, he holds the title for that right now. Every week, he's throwing somebody out the club, and that's rare. With offensive guards, that's what they tell you, is throw them out the booth, throw them in the telephone booth. And man, he's doing that on 310-pound linemen, and he's having fun with it. So I commend him.

"He's a strong guy, big, tall. I said, Man, you can do anything you put your mind to, man. You got the body, you're athletic enough. You've just got to want to do it, and that's what he's doing right now. He is definitely doing that."

Q: When you think about your time here, what's the next step as this team tries to go from having a little something going on to becoming a better team? What does this team need to do?

Short: "Just consistency, honestly, week in, week out. We start with practice, it's just building that callus of consistency and understanding what type of team they have. The league talk might be like they don't have the best roster or they don't have the best guys in this position, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the best of the best.

"It's got to be the person with the most heart and the person that wants it the most. And right now, these guys are playing at a high level. You got Bryce Young is playing good, and Rico Dowdle is playing well, and the defensive line is starting to get after it. The offensive line is doing the thing, the wide receivers are coming, everybody's playing on a great level right now. And it's just as the season goes on, they've got to keep stepping up another notch."

Q: You were back here earlier this year. Can you tell the feeling in the stadium is starting to change?

Short: I do, but I think at the end of the day, they've got to understand, this is not an easy job. This is not a blow-through job. Some teams make it look easy. Some teams have got to scratch, claw, and bite their way to a win. And we're that team right now that's still trying to find an identity of who we are and who we can be, and believing in that. And we need the fans to bring that energy, especially in Bank of America, to hype us up sometimes, and to get us going. We feed off the energy that they bring."

Q: So, having been a part of the traditions here, what does it mean to hit the Keep Pounding drum and keep that tradition going?

Short: "When I got here in 2013, as a rookie, you hear that's the mantra, that's the mantra. And then, you know, come 2015 to 2016, and understanding that the person and the people before us, they kept that tradition alive. The organization and the people who bled that into us.

"It was only right to understand, to follow what's going on and who we do it for, and why we do it. So I think the mantra of Keep Pounding, man, it's just going to live forever in the Carolinas because that's who we are.

"That's who we are as a team and that's who we are as an organization that doesn't doubt, doesn't waver, and we Keep Pounding until the very end."