CHARLOTTE — This is a big weekend for Ricky Proehl, as he gets to watch family on several big stages.

He flew out earlier this week to see his son, Blake Proehl (a singer who rose to fame on American Idol and continues to rise in the music business), perform in Minnesota, and is heading back here Sunday to be recognized as the Panthers Legend of the Year during the Panthers' big game against the Seahawks. Proehl will hit the Keep Pounding drum heading into the fourth quarter, something he's been honored to do before.

He'll also receive a $5,000 Legend of the Year community grant to donate to a cause of his choosing. The grant was created to highlight and support Panthers Legends who continue to demonstrate exceptional commitment to community service and philanthropic efforts in their respective communities, long after their playing days.

Proehl came here as a free agent in 2003, and his veteran presence stabilized an offense that, along with Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad, and fellow acquisitions Jake Delhomme and Stephen Davis, helped the Panthers to their first Super Bowl run.

He caught the game-winning touchdown in the 2003 opener against Jacksonville, setting the stage for a year full of comebacks.

In his 17-year NFL career, he caught 669 passes for 8,878 yards and 54 touchdowns, and won a couple of Super Bowl rings with the Rams and Colts.

And even after his retirement as a player, he was a big part of the Panthers organization, serving as an assistant coach on Ron Rivera's staff that made a second Super Bowl run.

So he's seen some things and enjoys everything he's seeing now.

Panthers.com caught up with Proehl while he was in an airport this week to talk about the rise of the current team, his fond memories, and what this weekend means to him.

Q: It sounds like you're in an airport. Did you just fly into Charlotte?

Proehl: (Laughs) "No, I flew to Minneapolis. My son is headlining a show here, and then I'll get back to Charlotte Sunday morning. It's been a crazy week. It's a lot of fun watching Blake. It's crazy how three years ago he was playing football at ECU and then the Vikings, and then it's all of a sudden he starts singing, and it's like, 'You didn't know he could sing?' I'm like he wasn't singing as a kid, I promise you."

Q: What's it like for you to come back and see a Panthers game like this one, with the team in this kind of playoff atmosphere?

Proehl: "It's fun to see. You know, Panther Nation getting behind the team, and obviously, this organization, this team is trending upwards. And I think that's why you're starting to see the people come back and fill up Bank of America Stadium. Because they're seeing Bryce Young play well, and they're seeing some of these young talents, Tetairoa McMillan, I mean, what a talent he is. And Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard, these guys are just playing well. They've been somewhat inconsistent during the course of the year, but I think at the end of the day, they're playing hard, they're playing hard for the coaching staff and Dave Canales, and it's just fun to see.

"It's exciting to see big plays, and the fans get behind them. And for me, as a former player, I couldn't be more proud of a guy like Bryce Young, who has just stayed the course. He's gotten under so much scrutiny the last couple of years, and never has wavered and just stayed the course and just shown his leadership. And amongst his team, just always congratulating the guys when they come out, or high-fiving even after a tough loss. That's what this organization has been all about, just being there for each other, supporting the city. And it's great to see the city get behind them and get behind this organization again and this football team."

Q: Having been here for two Super Bowl runs as a player and a coach, do you see things about this team and the beginning to stabilize and trending upward, as you said, that's familiar to you from the 2003 team, and then what became the 2015 team?

Proehl: "When I got there, I was blessed. When I got here in '03, two years before they were 1-15. But you start to realize the staff, the organization, and the front office knew where we needed help. Whether it's defensively, offensively, they did such a great job through the draft and some free agency of building the football team that is conducive to winning, and to also what their needs are offensively and defensively, and plugging people in to where they can be successful.

"I think, playing for 17 years, you realize that players win football games, but it's the coach's job to put them in places to have success. And in your system, you have to plug in players that fit your system. And I just see the pieces starting to come together and what they're doing and how they're building this football team from the inside out. The line has become so much better, and truth be told, you, you become a championship football team on the offense and defensive lines. It starts there. I mean, you can have all the greatest skill players in the world, but if you can't block and protect the quarterback, which is what we couldn't do in the past, and now you're seeing a run game, now you're going to see play action pass, so you're seeing big plays down the field. You're seeing Bryce have what, 12 come-from-behind wins in the fourth quarter? I mean, it's crazy. And I think that's what it takes to win in this league: building confidence, building continuity amongst the football team, and then comes confidence to where they know they can win no matter who they're playing. And that's what you're starting to see bits and pieces of. We were the same way in '03, you know, I mean, shoot, we were down against Jacksonville and came back, but that kind of catapulted us.

"But then I look at coach Rivera's staff, and we lost for the first couple of years. I mean, we weren't very good, but we had pieces in place. We were young, and then all of a sudden, we add a couple of players here and there, some veteran leadership. Greg Olsen comes to mind, but then Luke Kuechly, and then obviously, Cam was Cam, and then it all started coming together. And we started winning those football games that they were losing in the past, and then that breeds confidence. And then you start to realize the identity of your football team. And then it starts to grow, and then, and then you, you start filling in the pieces, and then the rest is history. And I think that's what I see in the direction of this football team. Coach Canales and Dan Morgan have worked together in starting to put some pieces together on what their needs are and how they can get better, and it's starting to show up on Sundays."

Q: Speaking of additions in the draft, as a guy who played with and coached a lot of high-level wide receivers, what do you think when you see Tetairoa McMillan and what he's been able to do as a rookie?

Proehl: "I mean, he's a stud. He has not played like a rookie at all. I mean, he's come in, and he's a polished receiver. You know, we can all get better, but for a guy that's come in as a rookie and made the plays he's made, his body control is unbelievable, his route running is good, he just has a knack for the game.

"He's a stud. I mean, that, that, that's sums it up. I mean, the kid is going to be a great player. He stays healthy, he's going to be a great player, for this organization, for a long time."

Q: I also wanted to ask, as a guy who was on the 2003 team and heard Sam Mills' original Keep Pounding speech, what does it mean to come back and continue that tradition?

Proehl: "It's awesome. I was fortunate to be. Standing there when he made the comments of Keep Pounding and how we motivated him to keep fighting cancer. I'll never forget when he talked about that game down in Tampa (in Week 2 of 2003), he said that's when it started. We're playing in Tampa. And we were winning the whole game, had the game won, and they scored a touchdown to tie the game with no time left, and all they had to do was kick the extra point to win the game, and we blocked it, and the game went into overtime and we won. He said that inspired him to keep fighting in his battle with cancer and to Keep Pounding because we could have just folded in the towels and just say everybody makes the extra point. But we didn't, we kept pounding, kept fighting and ended up winning that game. And he said it inspired him.

"But, but to sit here and hear that firsthand, and now to see that legacy, his legacy and that tradition, still going today is just, it's awesome. It's awesome, and it's become such a mantra; it's just so cool. It's become the identity of the Panthers, and when guys, former players come back and pound the drum, I just think it's really cool."