Picked off JC Horn at the 40 yard line.
Plays like that are why the Panthers rewarded their star
cornerback, JC Horn with a four-year,$100 million
contract extension. It's not just those interceptions. It's
what he does on a down in, down-out basis
. Look at the lowest passer ratings allowed in coverage
going back to 2021, which was JC's rookie year
. Fourth in the league behind only Derrick. Singley
Jr. also just got his payday sauce gardener,
Dron Bland. JC Horn, Paige Richley, and
now gets his opportunity to come on the Insiders with
me, Tom Palisero, as well as Steve We
. JC, it's been a couple of weeks now
since you, you signed that extension. It's a
journey always, especially for you to get to this
point when you're actually putting pen to paper on a
life changing type of contract like that. What's the
feeling? Man, it's surreal. Like you almost
don't know how to feel because, you know,
you dream about that day, you hope, since
you pick up a football, you know, having
, making life changing money, you know, getting
into that second contract, you know, that's the
main goal when you come in the league and then
when you actually do it, it's like, man
, it's a real feeling, but you know,
now I'm just ready to get back to work and
, you know, prove that I am worth that
money. JC, on that note, we know
some of the problems that you guys had on defense
last year. What did it mean to you for
your organization to say. This guy is part of
the solution to fixing that we want him here long
term. Man, it meant a lot. It
meant a lot to me, um, especially,
you know, what I've been through injury wise,
um, the ups and downs of that, you
know, they stuck beside me the whole time and
, and, and let me know that if I
go handle my business on the field and play good
football, they were gonna take care of me and
um I try to deliver on my side and,
you know, they tuck beside me and delivered on
their side and now I'm just ready to change the
defense around, man, and, and bring some
winning football back to Carolina. You mentioned those injuries
, JC. I mean, you had 2 years
that were basically lost to that in your 1st 3
seasons in the league. As confident as you are
as self-assured and knowing the history and that you are
a playmaker, did you ever have any doubts that
you'd be sitting here in this position as one of
the NFL's highest paid corners? Yeah, I mean
, I'll be, I'd be lying to you if
I said I didn't have any doubts, you know
, I was always confident in my ability and what
I could do on the field, but like you
said, when you're missing full seasons and first game
of this, I think I got injured, uh
, my 3rd year, first game of the season
and my rookie year was like the 3rd game.
So you get injured that early, you're out the
whole season, of course, you're gonna have the
doubts, uh, but, you know, I
stayed confident in who I was as a player and
I knew if I just put a season together where
I show what I could do, um, everything
will work itself out. So, man, that's
what happened and I'm, I'm ready to get back
to it. JC, big picture, when you
look at this, right, we're seeing all these
wide receivers getting paid the way they're getting paid,
but at the same time, Pat Sertan, you
, Derrick Stingley, you're getting paid at a,
on a scale much like these wide receivers. Do
you think that the pay scale for cornerbacks now is
to match what's going on in the wide receiver game
? Yeah, we're not, we're not all the
way there with them yet, but, you know
, I feel like we should be making, where
they're making them more just because, you know,
our job, man, I feel like I saw
a quarterback, it's the hardest job on the field
. Um, and it, it, it takes
a lot to be able to play corners, so
, but you know it is what it is.
It's, it's all life changing money so you can't
complain too much about it. Spoken like a man
who knows if he stays healthy, like 23 more
years. Maybe you're right back at the table.
Maybe your agents going back in there getting this new
deal redone. So JC, when you're, you're
watching free agency, right, and Steve referenced it
, the defense struggled last year, but you were
overmatched. You had injuries up front from Derek Brown
getting hurt in the first. game, all the
other issues you had. They go out, they
signed Trayvon Merrick, they signed Bobby Brown, they
signed Tershon Warden, and Pat Jones, are you
actively watching what's going on in free agency and how
does it change your expectations about what this Panthers defense
should be about in 2025? Yeah, I'm for
sure, for sure tapped in on what's going on
, man, cause I'm on that side of the
ball, you know, you know how I work
for a corner when you have deline putting pressure on
a quarterback and make your life way easier. You
know, we got corners playing defense and make it
easier on the D line. So I'm definitely glad
we brought all those guys in, um, and
I just feel like we got all the pieces we
need, you know, getting Derek back. Uh
, DJ Waum, our age who was out most
of the year last year, who I think,
um, is underrated as a player, like getting
those guys back and then adding on the free agent
acquisitions, man. I'm just excited to get back
to OTAs, get to work, and, um
, just put it together so we can be a
dominating defense. And one thing that helps out a
Defense JCs if the offense puts points on the board
and we saw Bryce Young after he was benched last
year come back and play much better down the stretch
. What are the expectations as a teammate out of
Bryce going into year 3 with the confidence that he
built in the back half of last season? Yeah
, man, I, I expect Bryce to go
do it, man. I mean, he was
a hen for a reason. He was the number
one pick for a reason. Um, and,
uh, like I always say, we always believed
in him, you know, we practiced with him
day in and day out and see the crazy plays
he made, uh, how he, how he
manipulate the pocket, um, and make throws from
every angle, uh, but it was just a
sense of him getting comfortable and like you said,
last year we saw that, so I feel like
the sky is the limit, man. He,
he got everything he needs and we, we need
to just go put it together and win football games
. Bryce, when you meet him, he,
he's a very kind of humble to himself type of
guy. I'm sure he's a little bit different when
it's on the field, but how, if at
all, have you seen his leadership characteristics kinda progress
here over these past couple of years? Yeah,
I mean, I think from him being a rookie
to now, he just kind of let down his
guard a little bit, man. He, he's
talking a little bit more, um, and it's
, it's tough to come in as a quarterback,
uh, as a rookie and, and lead a
team full of grown men. So it's take a
little bit of an adjustment, but now I just
think he's way more comfortable, um, more personable
guys in the locker room and a guy just ready
to. Run through a wall for him and,
and win football games for him, um, because
he got just work extra hard, you know,
he don't, he don't do a lot of extra
BS man. He just work hard and do the
right thing, so we wanna go win football games
for him. You know, on that note,
you know, when you look at your whole division
there in the NFC South, and you look at
the quarterbacks in Price, and you see how that
division is up for grabs every year, what do
you think you guys need to do to get through
Atlanta, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay? Man
, I, I really think it just come down
to the details and um just understanding how important those
games are early on, you know, cause,
uh, since I've been in the league, like
some seasons will start slow and then we get to
the end of the season and look up and you
one or two games back from the playoffs, uh
, just due to the division like you said.
So, I feel like it's just having that mindset
early in the season to know that these games are
important, um, cause they can come back to
bite you later. Um, and just taking that
approach and, you know, winning the football games
, that's what it comes down to either win or
lose and I think we just need to execute and
win the games. Jay, not only are you
a Pro Bowl corner, but you're also the inventor
, I think of one of the most common now
celebrations for DBs, which is the seat belt celebration
. I'm curious, every time you see a guy
do this, you see it more and more.
We saw a few flags and fines last year because
people are like, are they holstering a weapon?
Should this be allowed? Have you had any conversations
like, make it clear to the NFL, to
the officials, everybody like, this is cool,
man, we're actually delivering a very important message about
public safety. Yeah, man, uh, that's
, I see some guys get flagged, but I
think they'd be adding a little extra on it,
man, shooting the guns and stuff like that for
, for us it's just, for us it's just
been putting the seatbelt on saying we strapped up,
you know, we did our job there. No
, nothing more, none less, man. Well
, real quick, you know, you, you
, you're coming to us from a car. I
know it's right. I know it's March. Can
you give us one right now? Can you put
it on? Let's see if the seat belt right
now. I ain't driving right now, but I
, I do need to put it on, man
. You're always strapped in secured. So hey real
quick, I cannot let you off the hook with
this one. I'm old enough, you can tell
with the gray hair. I covered your father,
Joe Horn, one of the best wide receivers in
the late 90s in the early 2000s. He might
have had the all-time touchdown celebration when he pulled the
phone out from under the padding of the goalpost when
he's with the Saints. Is it, are you
just a chip of the old block when it comes
to something like that, or did he give you
some other vital lessons on how to celebrate you making
a good play? Yeah, man, I mean
, he, he was a flashy dude. I'm
kind of the opposite of him, you know how
the receivers is, man. They, they divas
. But um, yeah, it is crazy that
a lot of people tell me it's like one of
the best celebrations of all time, him pulling out
the phone and then just the connection with the seat
belt, how, how that's taking over and you
see it in different sports and stuff like that.
I think it's pretty cool that, you know,
I kinda got my own little celebration too that,
that people can talk about, but yeah, man
, it's exciting for sure. JC, congrats again
, man. Drive safe. I know you will
. We appreciate you being here, dude. Let's
do it again. Yes, sir, I appreciate
y'all for having me.