IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 47
f
n f l b o i l e r s
BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
O
n a Thursday night late last summer, Kawann
Short stood on the field at Bank of America
Stadium in Charlotte. He couldn't help but grin from
ear to ear, soaking in the moment.
He had arrived on the big stage of the NFL, after
years of hard work in East Chicago and then West La-
fayette.
"It was right after warmups, right before the na-
tional anthem," Short recalled in mid-April, when he
was at Purdue for the Boilermakers' spring game.
"You just took a moment, checked your surroundings,
to realize where you were and what you had on, an
NFL jersey and about to play a game."
Short had other such moments during his first sea-
son in the NFL, where he helped guide a resurgent
Carolina Panthers' organization to 12 wins and into
the playoffs. A second-round pick of the Panthers (No.
44 overall) last April, the defensive tackle put together
a solid 2013 season. A reserve most of the year — he
did start that final Thursday night preseason game
— the 6-foot-3, 310-pounder finished with 30 tackles,
including 1.5 sacks with a broken up pass, a forced
fumble and a fumble recovery. He was also second on
the Panthers in quarterback hurries, despite playing
in only about half of the defensive snaps.
It led many to consider Short one of the best rook-
ies, at least one of the most impactful on the defensive
side, in the league. After the season, Sport Illustrat-
ed's Don Banks' conducted a mock re-draft of the 2013
prospects and had
Short, in hindsight,
moving up to a first-
round selection.
He was that good.
Short was part of
a deep defensive line
for the Panthers —
fellow rookie tack-
le Star Lotulelei, of
Utah, was a first-round selection and starter — that
helped Carolina to have the NFL's second-best rush
defense. And the depth allowed Short to ease in to his
first year, as he played about 30 snaps per game as a
reserve.
That was a big change from what Short had expe-
Carolina Panthers
Kawann Short played a big part of Carolina's surge in 2013,
as the reserve defensive tackle had 30 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Welcome to the league
Short makes big impact in first year
