CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers were set to begin their pre-draft news conference on Wednesday when general manager Marty Hurney blurted, “Fire away."
Coach Ron Rivera laughed and responded, “What do you think this is, a firing squad? Fire away and start shooting? What the heck?"
It was a light moment before a 28-minute question-and-answer session in which, as you might have guessed, neither Rivera nor Hurney hinted at which player the Panthers might take with the 16th pick of the April 25-27 draft.
There also might be some irony here. If Rivera and Hurney are to avoid the proverbial firing squad after losing records in two of their past three seasons, they need to hit home runs in the first three rounds, particularly the first.