Super Bowl XXXVIII is the one I rewatch on purpose. February 2004, Carolina and New England trading body blows in the fourth quarter, the kind of football you forget is supposed to be a defensive era. The Panthers tied it at twenty-nine with a minute and change left. Then Tom Brady drove the Patriots into range and Adam Vinatieri hit a forty-one-yarder as the clock died. 32-29.

Two trips, no trophy

Carolina has reached two Super Bowls and lost both. The first was that shootout against the Patriots. The second was Super Bowl 50 in February 2016, the year Cam Newton was the most unstoppable man in the sport right up until the game that mattered, when Denver’s defense swallowed him whole and won 24-10. Twelve years apart. Same ending.

The sympathy is real

A franchise that has only existed since 1995 has already tasted the last play of the season twice and come up empty both times. Panthers fans, you packed a lot of heartbreak into not many years. I know teams that waited decades for one shot. You got two. They just both went the wrong way by a kick and a defense.