CHARLOTTE -- Carolina Panthers defensive tackle Damione Lewis was a rookie in 2001, the first-round pick of St. Louis. He came with high expectations of joining a great team, one of the parts that was going to lend ballast to the "Greatest Show on Turf."
It never worked out that way, for him or the Rams, and he's been careful to spread the word to all who'd listen. He suffered a foot injury and watched as that team lost the Super Bowl to New England.
Lewis is one of 24 Panthers with playoff experience, but like every other player on the team, he doesn't own a Super Bowl ring.
That's why the 30-year-old and some of the veterans called up the kids not that long ago, to remind them why they were there.
"We were putting up 50, 40 points every game and just putting up points like it was unbelievable," he said of his rookie season. "It just came real easy, it seemed like. I didn't understand the work that went into it and how long it took them to get to that point. They'd been to the Super Bowl two years before that and I just didn't understand the whole thing. That was my rookie year, and now here it is my eighth season and I haven't been back yet. So it's kind of a reality check.
"We had a meeting probably about a month ago just to let them know it's not easy -- that it takes luck, chemistry, being in the right place at the right time, there's so much that goes into it that you have to go out and prepare every day knowing that that's the goal in mind."
Though this remains a young team, there's a base of experience. When they went to the Super Bowl in 2003, the Panthers had 18 players with playoff experience, a total of 80 games worth. There are 135 postseason appearances on the current roster, something coach John Fox knew would be important as the rebuilt this team this offseason.
"It's like taking that trip," Fox said. "The trip there seems a lot longer than the road home because you've done it before. So, hopefully, we can use that experience to help us. This game is about preparation and playing real well on that day. It doesn't matter about the regular season. All of that is out. It's 0-0 and it's one and done.
"To be able to handle that pressure and handle that type of preparation, it's obviously helpful that we've been there before."
The Panthers have 13 players who have played in Super Bowls, yet no winners. Ten of those were with Carolina in 2003.
While they've been talking about what it takes to get back, there's another element of the team that has been grinning from ear to ear all week.
Backup quarterback Josh McCown, who was exiled in Arizona, Detroit, Oakland and Miami before coming to Charlotte in a preseason trade, used the word "neat" about a dozen times to explain the experience of being around a contender.
"It's awesome," McCown said with a grin. "The feeling at practice, the intensity of the situation, it's exciting, it's fun to be a part of. I'm thankful to be here, get to be a part of it. It's pretty neat.
"No matter where you're at, I'm sure it's neat, but being here, with these guys and the people that are here and everything, it makes it more fun to be a part of."
For others, being in the playoffs is nice, but the simple feat of being relevant past Halloween makes them giddy.
Defensive end Tyler Brayton spent his first five years in Oakland, going 19-61. So the new experiences McCown talked about kicked in for him months ago.
"It's exciting, it's all new territory for me," Brayton said. "At the same time, you've got to stay focused, stay focused on your preparation, and not just another game because it's a one-and-done atmosphere.
"You're playing for something at the end of the season. Places I've been before, that hasn't been the case. It means a lot more, and it makes it a lot more fun, too."
McCown at least had the benefit of being on a Cardinals team which was mathematically alive in December a time or two, but he said nothing compares to winning a division, a 12-4 record and not just making the playoffs, but having a first-round bye.
"In 2004, we were 4-7 when I got back in (after being benched), but we were in the hunt if we won out," McCown said. "It was exciting then, but you knew you were going to have to grind and some things were going to have to happen.
"Whereas here, the last few weeks it was fun. One, you feel good about your team, but you also feel good that you controlled your own situation. So yeah, it's been pretty neat, and it has been neat for a while."
