It feels like I was in the delivery room for the birth of the Carolina Panthers in 1995.

At the time, I lived in North Carolina, working as a college bureau beat reporter for The Charlotte Observer. Having some experience as an NFL writer, the paper called on me to help cover the team's expansion draft.

Do you realize that Rod Smith was the first player selected by the Panthers? No, not the Broncos great, but a cornerback who began his career with the New England Patriots.

Two years before signing with Denver, fullback Howard Griffith was an expansion draftee of the Panthers. So was former Broncos nose tackle Greg Kragen.

Kragen had finished the '94 season with the Kansas City Chiefs and told me he planned to retire from Football before the draft. He wound up playing three seasons with Carolina.

When the Broncos played their first-ever game against Carolina, an exhibition contest at Clemson's Memorial Stadium in August 1995, I was there. The Panthers won 19-10, and afterward, I stood in the tunnel telling Broncos owner Pat Bowlen that I never should have left Denver.

As fate would have it, a year later I was back in Denver on the Broncos beat. And we went to frigid Green Bay in January 1997 to cover the young Panthers in the NFC title game - after the Broncos had choked against Jacksonville.

Went back to Carolina for an exhibition game at Ericsson Stadium in 1997. Denver won 23-13, but linebacker Bill Romanowski made national headlines by delivering a jaw-breaking blow to Panthers quarterback Kerry Collins.

My last visit to Panthers headquarters was in 1999, to speak with players, coaches, law officials and neighbors who lived near former University of Colorado athlete Rae Carruth.

Carruth, who played for Carolina, was arrested Thanksgiving Day 1999 on charges of conspiracy to commit the murder of his girlfriend, Cherica Adams. In 2001, he received a prison sentence of 18 to 24 years.

Three head coaches, two NFC title games, one Super Bowl appearance and 113 wins in 230 games, including the playoffs, in 14 seasons. Those baby Panthers of '95 are all grown up now.