the Carolina Panthers selected Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback Bryce Young as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft on Thursday night, but even though the team couldn’t turn in their draft card until Thursday, that pick had been made for quite a while. And it wasn’t something Young did on the field that sealed the deal, it was what he did at dinner.
During a press conference this week, Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer revealed that he personally made the decision that Bryce Young was the right pick for Carolina at a dinner with him ahead of his Pro Day workout.
“You feel the presence of the player, just like the command that they have,” Fitterer said according to Pro Football Talk. “As he’s sitting there at dinner, he was so poised and you’re like, ‘OK, if I put this guy in a huddle,’ if Frank and I saying, ‘This is the guy, we’re putting him in the huddle, game’s on the line.’ Bryce is the guy we want our players looking at, knowing this is the guy that can get it done for us. We can win with this guy. And I think that’s kind of where that social part overlaps in the football side when you get to know the person and not just the player.”
Obviously, Young confirmed their choice with his strong Pro Day performance the following day, and the rest is history.
