CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are bringing back one of the biggest big-play threats of the previous decade, who was part of some of the biggest successes in team history.

Former Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. is this week's Legend of the Game, and he'll hit the Keep Pounding drum heading into the fourth quarter against the Broncos.

Ginn signed here in 2013 to return kicks and add to the offense, and he responded with what was then a career-high five touchdowns, averaging a team-high 15.4 yards per reception as the serious threat on a team that also included Steve Smith and Greg Olsen.

That team jumped from seven wins the year before to 12, setting the stage for an eventual Super Bowl run.

Ginn left in free agency in 2014, but returned the following year to join a historic run. He became especially useful after the training camp ACL tear by second-year wideout Kelvin Benjamin, and he was second on the team that year (behind Olsen) with 44 catches for 739 yards (for a ridiculous 16.8 yards per catch) and 10 touchdowns.

His stats were even better the following year, though the team didn't have the same kind of success. In three seasons, he caught 134 passes for 2,047 yards and 19 touchdowns.

Recently, he tried his hand at coaching, leading the Columbus Aviators of the UFL, alongside former teammate Captain Munnerlyn as his defensive coordinator.

Panthers.com caught up with Ginn this week to talk about his past with the team, and what it means to come back.

Q: When you think back on coming here in 2013, and then returning in 2015, what did that period mean to you and your career?

Ginn: "I mean, first off, the coaching staff, (receivers coach) Ricky Proehl, he helped rejuvenate my career. I went to the Miami Dolphins, played on the Super Bowl team with the 49ers, and I was just a punt returner with the Niners and different things like that. I got in on a few little special plays. I ran my course with the Miami Dolphins, but coming to Carolina that year, it was like a make-or-break year for me in 2013. And to get in that room with Brandon LaFell, Steve Smith, Ricky Proehl, kind of just helped me rejuvenate who I really was gave me an identity, especially playing with Cam Newton, having DeAngelo (Williams) and (Jonathan) Stewart in the backfield, with Greg Olson at the tight end; it was a complete team.

"It was just really trying to find that, I would say, third or fourth receiver that was going to come in and make impact plays like a 1 or 2 was, and as camp went on, Ricky came to me one day and said, 'What can you do? I know you can catch a punt or a kickoff, but what can you do in this receiving role?' And I was never really asked that question in the last couple of years, like, what is my value going to be in the receiver role? At once, I knew that I had a guy that was going to be in my corner in some sense and give me the opportunity and let me have mistakes, but still know that I have talent to play the game. That would really draw me to Carolina.

"And I had a one-year deal, which I thought I should have came back the next year, which I ended up going to Arizona, but you know, right after that, I remember we're playing a playoff game, and we played actually in Carolina. And as soon as we left the field, I remember Luke and TD walking up on me like, 'Man, go put your stuff in the locker room; we need you tomorrow, next week.' You get what I'm saying? And I just think that first stint showed everybody who I was on and off the field, that made me be able to say, as soon as I get out of this deal, I want to come right back."

Q: How would you describe the vibe of that 2013 team, because that was its first real taste of success, and the first of three straight playoff years?

Ginn: "I think it was the camaraderie in the locker room. I mean, Cap is still one of my best friends to this day. We talk all the time; we holler. I just think that we built a brotherhood around there that became unstoppable, the love that we all have for one another that year. And we all had a vision of changing who we were, as a team and personally, that gave us the edge that we had as we continued through that year.

"To sit next to a guy like Steve Smith every day and be able to get his good graces in certain aspects of playing the game of football made our room tighter; the events that we had together, going out, hanging out, doing different things within the community, doing different things as a group. That gelled us and you know we knew that if we would have kept this thing together, take it to the next level. We all went our own different ways in 2014; in that, key guys should have really stayed around to really be on that run that we went on in '15."​

Q: When did you realize the 2015 team was on the verge of something special?

Ginn: "I mean, in camp, whenever you can compete with the number one defense in camp, it makes it a lot easier. I've played for a lot of years, so usually, defense usually gets ahead of the offense. That year, I wouldn't say we were neck and neck, but it was more of a 40-60.

"We were coming out being able to win those days and put pressure on a defense that was number one. And that took us a long way, and then I just think I hated that Kevin Benjamin went down, but that kind of struck the receiver room, and it helped us showcase what we all have. Me leaving, him coming in the next year, and him having the yardage he had, it let Cam play a little more freely. It wasn't a focus on 'Who do I have to throw the ball to?' Is this guy getting the proper catches?' and the things that go on with really having a number one receiver.

"We were able to do things within our ability between me, Corey (Brown, better known as Philly), (Devin) Funchess, (Jerricho) Cotchery, and then Greg is the all-time great, you know what I'm saying? So being able to put so much around Greg, and then  Greg running things off, and then having guys underneath who could catch the ball, really gave us that edge. We played a lot faster, I think, in 2015 with the speed that we had on that roster. So it just gave everybody a chance to say, hey, I can run and get you open; you can run and get me open. That camaraderie was there, on top of still having two great backs in the backfield and then having Cam Newton, who is another back as well, in certain situations. And we were able to gel and we gelled early because I wouldn't say that they gave up. But when you get a dagger like that, it's kind of hard to know where to go next and I think we all stepped up to the plate and swung our bat. I know I did.

"I remember that day when Benjamin went down, and I hated it when he was practicing against the Miami Dolphins, and I could just watch how it just sucked the air out of the practice. And me being an older guy in my room, and you just lost Brandon LaFell, you just lost Steve Smith,  guys that will really come in and make a difference, because they've been around for so long with Cam. We just had to get on the same page, and I remember walking up to Cam and telling him, well, let's start getting used to what I can do, what I'm good at and we practiced it. And as the year went on with our run game and our special teams and our defense playing at a high level, it took a lot off of us on the, on the offensive side with having to make sure that you have to make the biggest plays to carry the team. It was an all-around type effort."

Q: You grew up in a football family, your dad was a legendary coach (at the Ohio high school level), I was curious what your experience as a head coach was like this spring and what you found out about that after playing as long as you did?

Ginn: "Well, as you get older in the league, you try to become a player-coach, and that kind of started a little bit there in Carolina, a little bit with the Saints (from 2017-2019), because you come in and you're a lot older than a lot of the guys that are coming in.

"But my experience this year was great. I enjoyed it. It's something that I want to carry on. You just learn the ins and outs about being a head coach. You get every component that comes with the game of football. So, making travel plans, making schedule plans, making sure everybody's on time, coaching your coaches, making sure that you've got the right players. So, it's like you're a GM, you're player personnel, you're a travel agent, you're a discipliner, you hire, you fire, especially in this realm that I'm in with the UFL. But I enjoyed it. It was a blessing in disguise; when I say that is not having the potential to really go and coach in some high schools, some colleges, some NFL teams, gave me an opportunity to see it in a different realm than you see it as a position coach, or you might just see it as a GA. I always said I didn't really want a room, so God kind of blessed me with being able to see all rooms, and it's been a great thing. Like, as of right now, I'm going through trying to get the UFL draft boards together, having weekly meetings with my coaches. So, it's exciting where, it's like being a receiver and a kick returner and a punt returner, in that everything is in your hands and this person's going to do this, and this person knows that, then we're going to have some type of success.

"The record don't really give the amount of greatness that I had this year; we were 3-7. We could have easily been 7-3, just understanding that there are different components of the game that I have to look at and pay attention to. I have to have all the right people around me because I've got to pay attention to penalties. You've got to pay attention to people, the refs not calling certain things. You've got to pay attention to whether my people see that this guy's tired on both sides of the ball. I look out for injuries,  so it's just a whole lot of different things that go on that I enjoyed, that I was happy to have a say in and have the last word on?"

Q: So is Captain Munnerlyn more fun to be around as a teammate or a coach?

Ginn: "Both. I mean, that was a guy when I came in in 2013 that we got underneath each other's wings, and he was already there for so many years. And he showed me the city. And we just enjoyed our time to where we always told each other,  as we talked and we were retired, we always told each other, 'If I get a job first, you get a job first; I'm going to hire you,' because I know what type of player he was. That could translate over to being the type of coach that he is.

"And the same, I'm going to say it, the same little man syndrome that he has on the player's side, he also has on the coaching side. But it's in the best for our team, that room, him being the defensive coordinator for me this year, I mean, he, he finished in the top three. So, that style he comes from- understanding, learning the whole ins and outs- is to be able to make that his playbook as he goes on. And I know he's teaching it within young kids; he's teaching it within the UFL, so the Ron Rivera playbook is all over the world right now, and that's all you can really take away is learning how to match and make with the players that you've seen as we were, I guess, younger, that's making us be the coaches that we are as we get older, so you know we don't have a lot of bickering and a lot of going back and forth.

"He understands what I say to him on certain things. I understand what he says to me on certain things, and we know how to take coaching with coaching and friendship with friendship. So I think that's the biggest thing when it comes down to it: Can I get on your ass? Can you get on my butt? When we're doing the coaching thing, it's just like we're doing a brother thing, so it's been a great situation. I was able to get a lot of guys that I played with throughout the course of my career, from high school to college to pros. So, it's just been a blessing that I could create the tree that I'm creating to give an opportunity to guys that will have a hard time getting an opportunity in some type of league or some type of preference. So, I think it's a blessing because now for a guy like Cap, you get to coach football year-round."

Q: What are you looking forward to about being in front of these Charlotte fans again and getting out there and hitting that Keep Pounding drum?

Ginn: "I just want to get the welcome I was supposed to get. I came in, I kept my head clean. I played by the rules, I played by the locker room. I put everything that I ever had into the game, as you can see. I played so many years; I just want to get what's supposed to come to me and definitely a win from the Panthers. I don't want to be the jinx. I want to be the guy that I always was for that stadium. I owe a lot, too, because it embraced me with open hands, and I embraced it with open hands, and it's a great place to play. It's a great place to be and play football at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. That's always going to go with me.

"And I mean, that Keep Pounding, that's a staple that's embedded in what we do now in our life every day."