CHARLOTTE — Monroe Freeling was so ecstatic, he couldn't even keep his phone pointed towards his face. Jumping on a conference call with local Charlotte media just minutes after the Panthers drafted him No. 19 overall in the 2026 NFL draft, Freeling whooped and hollered and sat in disbelief that not only were his dreams coming true, but they were coming true so close to home.

"I didn't imagine this, and I'm so happy that this is the case," Freeling expressed once he finally caught his breath. "I get to stay up 3 hours from home."

It was an immediate display of the attitude general manager Dan Morgan said he and the Panthers staff loved during the draft process.

"He's an unbelievable kid," said Morgan Thursday night. "Just always happy, great smile. He loves football, part of which is huge for Dave (Canales) and I and the rest of the staff is to get guys that love football, are passionate about being great, and you felt that from Monroe every single time you talk to him.

"He just loves the game. He loves competing. He's tough. So he brings everything that we were looking for."

For the Panthers, Freeling was the easy choice. He was—as general manager Dan Morgan said multiple times—the best player on their board when it came time to select. Head coach Dave Canales chimed in that Freeling "came right to us."

Three hours away, just outside of Charleston, S.C., in the riverside town of Mount Pleasant, Freeling was floored when his phone rang with a 704 area code. He had received some feedback from his agent that the Panthers were a possibility if he was still available at No. 19, but for the phone to actually ring, and for it to all be happening, he's been in a dream-like state ever since.

"I think Detroit was still on the clock, and I got a call, and I was like, hold on, let me pick this up, and they're like, 'Hey, this is the Carolina Panthers.' I was like, 'No way. There's just no way.'

"It was surreal, and it's still surreal, and I don't even know if it's set in quite yet that I'm staying home and I'm only a three-hour drive from home, and it's closer than I was in Athens, so it's still not really setting in yet. But I imagine that in the next 24 hours, maybe even the next week, it's going to really hit me that I'm here and I'm blocking for a former teammate of mine, and it's everything I've ever wanted."

As Freeling mentioned, he will reunite with a former Georgia teammate. Running back Trevor Etienne was the Panthers fourth-round selection last year. In his rookie season in Carolina, Etienne had 20 carries for 94 yards and was also used as a returner.

"I mean, knowing him as who he was at Georgia, I mean, he's a great guy," Freeling said of Etienne. "Having known how good a guy as he is, and how special a football player he is, it just makes it even more like a—I got to do my job for him.

"So I'm going to go out there and give it my all for him, I'm going to go out and give it for Bryce Young, I'm going to do it all for the Panthers. I'm a team player."

Etienne won't be the only familiar tie for Freeling to the Queen City. His brother, Tristan, played basketball at Queens University of Charlotte. The Panthers' tackle is tapping his brother as his guide when he arrives in the city limits of his new home.

"It's like a cycle almost," Freeling joked. "I'm going up there too, and I'll be up there with him…I do definitely have a guide."

It won't be long, though, before Freeling makes this city his own. After going to Georgia for college, he's ready to immerse himself back into the area of the country that raised him, giving his all to the Carolinas after they gave so much to him.

"I didn't grow up with really allegiance to any NFL team, but I came here in, I think 2016 we moved to South Carolina. But, I know a lot of Carolina fans that are kind of around me, just being in the area, and the fact that I really claim Carolina more than I claim where I used to be from in Oregon, so it's like now that I get to really claim Carolina for real, it's awesome," expressed Freeling.

"I get to basically stay at home, and I didn't do that through the college recruiting process, so I guess I owe it to my Carolina fans.

"I don't even know if it's set in quite yet that I'm staying home…I imagine that in the next 24 hours, maybe even the next week, it's going to really hit me that I'm here and it's everything I've ever wanted."