The Year of the Cat

by Scott Fowler, Charles Chandler

In Year of the Cat, award-winning journalists Scott Fowler and Charles Chandler go behind the scenes to explore Carolina's successful second season, and in doing so paint a vivid portrait of the players, the coaches, and the personalities that gave the team its identity and its first shot at winning an NFC championship: franchise player Kerry Collins, the Generation X, hard-throwing, hard-partying quarterback whose off-the-field behavior sparked controversy at a team meeting that turned the Panthers' season around; Kevin Greene and Lamar Lathon - "Salt & Pepper" - two ornery All-Pro linebackers whose distinct differences off the field translated into immediate success on it; Bill Polian, the fiery GM whose hard-nosed negotiations and astute football knowledge helped piece together a winning combination in the Carolinas; Wesley Walls, the good ol' southern boy from Pontotoc, Mississippi, whose lilting drawl and exciting play gave Carolina fans something to root for; Eric Davis and Sam Mills, the perceptive veterans and locker-room leaders whose defensive performances sparked many to emulate their inspired play; and Dom Capers, the meticulous, obsessive coach whose game strategy and leadership brought the fledgling franchise to the brink of the Super Bowl. Like any team and any franchise, the Carolina Panthers had their ups and downs: from the Reverend Billy Graham's inspiring dedication of Ericsson Stadium to the suspension of center Curtis Whitley for a drug-abuse problem that was never fully revealed until now, Fowler and Chandler chronicle the ins and outs of the Panthers' second season.

304 pages, Hardcover

First published September 8, 1997

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authors Scott Fowler and Charles Chandler were beat reporters for the Carolina Panthers football team, so you knew what type of book they were going to write. Which was a book that squeezed just about every detail it could out of the 1996 Carolina Panthers.

Year of the Cat was a comprehensive analysis of the 1996 Panthers, and it's one of the better analysis of a pro or college football team I've ever read. The game summaries were engrossing, the on and off the field analysis of the teams' key players were well written, and etc.

Pros of Year of The Cat: The book analyzed its subject to a tee, which means you can't come away from this book and not be educated on the 1996 Carolina Panthers.

Cons of Year of The Cat: What cons?

In conclusion, Year of the Cat explained in almost 300 pages what went right and wrong with the 1996 Carolina Panthers. This book wasn't interested in painting a pretty picture of that team, it was more interested in giving you the details on how much of a grind an NFL season is even if you have a good or great team.

[Jacob]

This novel was about the Carolina panthers team they had just got a new coach and they where drafting all of these new players better players than they where getting .The coach that they had just got he was better more smarter hired better coaches and when it came to his players he was always doing something to help them out. he was always in shape always in his office married . He was good he led them to the supper bowl but lost .