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IllustrateD volume 24, issue 5 49 f From Our Family to Yours... We Love the Boilermakers! WindowWorld.com Four Indiana Locations Lafayette Indianapolis Terre Haute Muncie Columbus New store 523 s. earl Ave. And the preparation showed up on the field. In Game 3 against New York, Carolina's first win and only win in the first four weeks, Short broke out with four tack- les and a sack. It was the start of good things for not only Short, but the Panthers; after losing the following game, they reeled off eight straight wins and 11 of 12 to end the regular season. It gave Carolina an NFC South Division crown. But the Panthers lost in the Divisional Playoffs to San Francisco. "We had an eight-game win streak, which was pret- ty good," Short said. "When you start winning, the coaches ease up a little bit, which makes us go play even harder. That was the biggest thing. It's your job now, so everybody is pretty much determined to win." Short had never before experienced such a winning streak, nor been on a team that had championship as- pirations. He was a star of his East Chicago teams, but it was on the hardwood of the basketball court, not on grass, that the school excelled; there, he and team- mate E'Twaun Moore helped the Cardinals to a Class 4A state championship in 2007. But football wins there, and at Purdue, were hard- er to accumulate. The Boilermakers finished with 6-6 regular seasons in his final two years, winning a bowl game as a junior before losing as a senior. But that wasn't comparable to the Panthers' run. "Just the atmosphere is so much different than be- ing up and down, up and down," Short said. "When we got the eight-game winning streak, everything was so laid back, so cool. They just let you play." j stayIng, goIng A few former Boilermakers who are veterans of the NFL are still looking for jobs this spring. But the most high-profile, Anthony Spencer, has landed a deal. The linebacker/defensive end, who Pro Football Talk had previously ranked as the highest-re- maining free agent on the market, signed a one-year deal to stay in Dallas. The eighth-year veteran, who had micro-fracture knee surgery early last season that limited him to only one game, could make up to $3.5 million; his base salary is $1.25 million. In 2012, he had 95 tackles, 11 sacks and two forced fumbles. Tight end Dustin Keller, however, was still looking for a deal in late April. The seventh-year vet missed all of last season with the Dolphins after suffering a mas- sive, multi-ligament knee injury during a preseason game. And he had missed much of the 2012 season, his last with the Jets, with a hamstring injury. But recently, agent Eugene Parker told New York area media that Keller was "good to go" from a health standpoint. In his last full season with the Jets in 2011, Keller caught 65 passed for 815 yards and five touchdowns. Also, guard Uche Nwaneri, offensive tackle Mike Otto and tight end Kyle Adams, who each spent time in the NFL last season, remained free agents as of late April. — Kyle Charters