Making it to the NFL is a lifelong dream for thousands upon thousands of football players. But few make it. For the Panthers 2026 rookie class, the last four months have been a blur; a culmination of a dream years, even decades in the making. And a crash course in all it takes to become a player at the highest level of the sport.

Six of the Panthers seven draft picks from this year's class recently sat down to reflect on their draft day, the time since, the nerves of training camp, the excitement leading into the season opener, and more in their rookie diaries.

Next up is Zakee Wheatley. The safety was a fifth-round pick (No. 151 overall) out of Penn State.

So, ball's been a part of my life, my whole life. But in terms of when I really knew I could make it to the NFL, that's a tough question. I remember personally being in high school and getting my first offers, and I was always like, 'OK, let's do it. I can go do it.' And then getting to college and comparing my skill set to people around me, saying again like, 'OK, I could definitely do this. I just got to keep going.'

And even in college I had ups and downs. It wasn't smooth sailing. I ended up redshirting. But throughout all of that, I still knew that I had a chance. And obviously, as I kept going in college, made a name for myself, started making plays, and earned a starting job at Penn State, I definitely knew it was a shot. Just had to keep my head down and keep going.

Draft day was a pretty important day, important weekend. My family was super supportive. I was really blessed to have the opportunity to be in that position and experience it. And then, from there, just trying to go in with an open mindset, just being super grateful for the opportunity, not really worrying too much about where I end up or where I land or the day or the pick, knowing I just got to trust God, trust my faith, believe in my talents, and then understand that the work starts when I get there.

But for me, draft week was amazing; I had a big celebration. I had a lot of my family over. I'm a big family guy, so a lot of my little cousins, my older cousins, I'm looked at in the family, like the guy who's made it to the NFL. So that's a big accomplishment for my family and me, and just being able to have a weekend and a night to celebrate, it was amazing. So it was a celebration for the whole family.

Being a competitor, being someone who's been in sports since I was five years old, obviously when that week came, I had a lot of nerves and tried my best to put whatever I needed in my head to just keep my spirits high and not worry about the outcome and just be grateful for the opportunity. But during those moments, each pick that goes by that's closer to your range that you've talked to with your agent, obviously, you know, your antennas come up; you're seeing people in your position go before you and seeing this is on the board, so it's definitely nerve-wracking.

Definitely was watching for my name on Mel Kiper's best available, or if I didn't, someone in my family would definitely tell me. I'm telling them like, man, it don't matter, but deep down I'm looking at it, trying to see what's going on, trying to stay in touch with my agent.

But really, just not having too high expectations, too low expectations, I feel that's kind of where you can lose sight of the true meaning of what's really going on, when you try to put it into a box, and if it's not in that specific box, then you may feel a certain way. But at the end of the day, it's a blessing to even have the opportunity to have your name called.

Everyone in the house, we're obviously watching it, but once you get to Day 3, everyone's focus is a little less. Like they're on the TV, but it's people doing more side chatter, so everyone's not this locked in on the TV.

So I'm in a corner. I'm in the kitchen. I have all my cousins, all my family and friends all around. I was actually talking to my little brother, and the phone rang. I don't know, for some reason I just tried to play it super calm because I wasn't sure what it was, but I got that North Carolina number, answered the phone, and the minute I heard it was Dan Morgan and you know, the Panthers, I kind of walked over to the TV, kind of told everybody to chill. As soon as they saw me on the phone and smiling, everyone kind of figured out what was going on. So at that point I'm trying to tell everybody to quiet down so I can hear the conversation, but my family went nuts. So it was a blessing.

For me, (rookie minicamp) was a big difference, coming from being on a team in college for five years and playing for a program like Penn State. I took over the leader role there and, you know, just kind of had a different role than coming in and still trying to learn everything myself here, and still go out there and play with tenacity. Still try to be as vocal as I can while still being a rookie, staying in my spot and just being myself, learning the guys while still going out there and trying to make the most plays I can while just navigating everything.

I feel like everything's a building block. So I think rookie camp for me was a great building block, being able to come out here, introduce myself to the guys, learn the guys, learn the coaching, learn the system, and go out there and play fast, with all the other rookies before I got thrown out there with the vets when it moved a little fast.

So it was a good time for me to hone in, get back to the roots of football, back to having fun out there, wearing the logo, wearing a helmet, and just trying to play fast, but still have a chance to catch your breath, so to speak.

I feel like it's natural for every rookie to have their welcome-to-the-NFL moment, or hey, rookie moment. And not necessarily I had one, but just the fact that it is different levels to this game, it shows you why there's a National Football League or there's college football or there's high school, or there's Little League; like no matter how good you are at one level, there's always going to be learning curves and differences in each level and I feel like from college to the league, a lot of it just, really honing in on the mental aspect in the game, understanding what the offense is really trying to do and then it's the play speed.

Me being competitive, I've been raised my whole life to always come in and be my best, or at least try to be the best version of myself. So I'm blessed to be raised like that, where I don't have to put too much effort into how competitive I'm going to be or how hard I'm going to go in a certain direction. So, it's natural. And then from there, improving and kind of developing — not only doing the basic stuff, because you wouldn't be here if you didn't do those — but doing that and then adding your own sauce and making plays and doing the stuff for the reason that they drafted you for.

So I think that's all just a learning curve, and things you just learn day in and day out. Every single day, it's going to be a new technique. It's going to be a new cultural point. As long as you're making new mistakes and learning, I feel like as a rookie, that's all you can do.

I'll say for me, training camp is something I'm always looking forward to deeply. I'm a guy that loves contact. I play safety, so obviously, playing a safety position comes with being physical and being tough, so it was great doing it with shoulders and a helmet and spiders, but obviously when the pads come on, it's a different aspect of the game. You're going against grown dudes, and I'm in the same league now, so I'm just learning how to use my skill sets, my talents, and my physical attributes.

One thing I'm big on is using my God-given talents, like my quickness, ball skills, or arm length. So instead of going in and colliding with a sixth-year left guard, I use my arms and wingspan to avoid the ball, make the play, protect myself, and be as physical as I can while playing smarter.

(My fellow safeties), what's the word I should- if I can use any word- I'll say, like, energy magnet. Those are guys that are going to come out there and, Tre'von Moehrig, for instance, has been in the league for a long time, super cool dude, super laid back, super chill — I know he likes to play the guitar. I've talked to him a lot about music, we definitely need a deep dive into that — but, super calm and collected, and then he put the pads on and he's super turnt, while still having that laid back factor, he's coming to make a play every play, and he's going to put them pads on and make you pay for it if you make a mistake.

And you got Lathan Ransom on the other hand, who's super outgoing, super good with his energy, so he's playing along those guys. I think the safety room got a great balance of personalities.

Then Nick Scott, that's OG right there. That's my dog, him going to Penn State. I knew who he was before he knew who I was, but Nick Scott's the dude who Penn State talks highly of. So when I was an underclassman at Penn State, he's a dude that's used as an example of taking stuff seriously, just going day by day until it's going to be a time where God calls you up for a level that you've been preparing for. So Nick's a great OG, great guy, especially with that Penn State connection. We get along real well.

I actually haven't thought about that (season opener) moment because we're just trying to go day by day. I'm not someone who wants to look too deep into the future. Step one for me was proving myself, making the team, showing the coaches that they can trust me. But now that opening week is here, we're not looking too much into the future.

That's kind of been my motive. Like even in college you can find yourself trying to worry about the NFL, but always just handling what's in front of my face at the time. Now it's here, going deep into preparation, going full out on that and just making sure I'm ready.

My mind is definitely wandering to coming out of that stadium and playing my first official home game for the Panthers and going against an opponent like that. It's going to be crazy.

Chicago, they throw it deep, don't they? So for a safety, it doesn't get better than that, so it's a blessing.