CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Michael Palardy was about to sit down for dinner in his Atlanta home after putting aside a project on his self-proclaimed honey-do list when the Carolina Panthers called on Sunday around 6 p.m.
“I’m building a chalkboard/coat rack with some two-by-fours and one-by-fours," Palardy said. “It’s unfinished. It’s sitting in my garage. My fiancé is like, ‘You’ve got to get this out of here, you’ve got to get this done.’
“But ..."
Once Palardy finished dinner and got his 5- and 6-year-olds to bed, he was in his car for the three-and-a-half hour drive to Atlanta.