Carolina Panthers great talks Bryce Young, Brian Burns and growth of flag football

When the U.S. men’s and women’s national flag football teams won it all on the Charlotte 49ers’ campus on Friday, Mike Rucker was there.

No, he wasn’t rushing a passer.

But the former defensive end and Carolina Panthers great still had his fingerprints all over USA Football’s product last week, which is officially called the IFAF Americas Continental Flag Football Championship.

Rucker, who spent 1999-2007 with the Panthers and along with Julius Peppers bolstered one of the best defensive lines in the NFL during that stretch, is an important supporter for USA Football and has taken a particular interest in the growth of flag football.

And his interest has intersected with the sport’s ascension: Per a 2022 study done by the Sports and Fitness Industry Association (SFIA), 7.1 million people in the U.S. participated in flag football with roughly 2.5 million people routinely engaging.

The Charlotte Observer’s Alex Zietlow caught up with Rucker while he was spectating one of the flag football games. Here’s the conversation. The interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Why Mike Rucker loves flag football

Alex Zietlow: As I look at this field, there isn’t really a defensive line. What position would you play if you were a flag football player?

Mike Rucker: That’s a great one (laughs). I feel like I could go back to my tight end days. I could stand up a little bit. I could hike the ball. I could be the center. But I think I could do OK with not putting my hand in the dirt. It’d take me a little to knock some rust off and go back to those high school tight end days, but I still got a couple of catches in me.

AZ: It’s funny how you only suggest offense.

MR: Well here’s the thing (laughs): I remember in college, I was being recruited by coach Tom Osborne. And we had a choice of either playing defense or tight end. Now at tight end, I love catching the ball because you’re catching touchdowns. Awesome. But when I looked at the pay scale and saw sacking the quarterback paid more — that’s how I made my decision. So I loved both sides of the ball, don’t get me wrong.

AZ: When did you get involved with flag football, and why is it important to you?

MR: So a couple of years ago, with the Panthers, with the community relations, they started a flag football jamboree. Just kind of an introduction to women’s/girls’ flag football. And so they asked me if I would come and hand out the trophy and do an end-of-ceremonies type thing. I said absolutely, not really knowing what I was getting into. Didn’t really expect much.

And it was six teams from Mecklenburg County. And when I came, and when I watched, I was in awe. When I saw the athleticism — girls jumping, making moves — I just fell in love with the sport. It was instant. What I actually saw was this gateway of how the game could grow.

AZ: So is it about growing another avenue for team sports for girls and women? Is it more trying to grow the sport of football? Is it both?

MR: I think it’s all the above. After this game, you’re going to see the men. So you have young boys that maybe, they don’t want to do tackle football right away. This is a great pivot option for someone to get their feet wet and to this game, and to learn it. Safely. Same thing with the girls and the women: It’s another way for young people to learn the game as an entry point, and let it take them wherever they want to go with this.

It’s a gateway to so many different things.

Rucker on Brian Burns, Bryce Young

AZ: Part of the reason you love helping out with USA Football is because you get to see this impact in your own community. I assume you keep up with the Panthers as well.

MR: I do. That is part of my blood. That is my family. It could be 50 years from now, the Panthers are still my family. I only played for one team, and that was by design. I played nine years, and that should show the love that I have for this organization, for this city, and for North and South Carolina. That’s why we stayed.

AZ: The Panthers just picked up the fifth-year option of defensive end Brian Burns’ rookie contract. (Burns was the lone Pro Bowl representative and had a career-high 12.5 sacks in 2023.) Do you think hammering out an extension should be a high priority for the team?

MR: I feel like when you look at this game over the years, it’s changed. You see there’s a premium on quarterbacks. And I think you see a premium on guys who can get after the quarterback. So once you identify one of those two positions — and there are other positions like corner, wide receiver, etc — both those two can dictate a game really quick. And we’ve seen it.

We’ve been on the good ends sometimes and the bad ends on the other, but those two positions are key, and him being one of those guys. And him being a young guy, who gives back, loves the game, respects the game — I would definitely think he’s a high priority for the organization.

AZ: He also has a renowned sack celebration. The Spider Man thing?

MR: I have to give it to him, it’s really cool.

AZ: You mentioned quarterback: The Panthers got Bryce Young with the overall No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. What do you think of him?

MR: I think it’s a great addition to the organization. And for the Carolinas. And the reason why I say that is, I’ve met him. I’ve met his parents. We’ve had many conversations. And you can just see how he respects the game. He’s humble. And he’s eager to learn, but he’s putting in the work.

Obviously we haven’t had the season yet. But you can just see with the time that he’s gotten with the team, you can ask anybody in the organization, his first priority is winning ballgames and being in the organization and leading this team.

I think that when you look at what they have done and have surrounded him with some veterans, with some good people, he is then able to be the best version of himself.

AZ: You’re not concerned about his size, it sounds like.

MR: No, I’m not. I think that when guys come out of college, they have to find something. You can’t be this perfect guy. So really the only that they could say is his size. But ultimately when you think about the conference that he played in, the school that he went to — last time I checked, Alabama isn’t a small, running little team. There are some big guys on both sides of the ball. I think that he’s taken his licks before. And I think that he’ll be fine.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers-Carolina Panthers connection

AZ: Matt Rhule was at Carolina, and now he’s at Nebraska. And you went from Nebraska to Carolina. Did you ever sit back and think, “Huh, well that’s ... strange?”

MR: Ya know, I got a lot of calls when his name popped up back home. And they were asking me, ya know, “What’s he like?” And here’s my thing: I said that he’s a guy who is committed to the cause and puts in the time and the work. And so for him to go from here to there — he was successful in college; this didn’t pan out, which if you talk to any coach in the coaching world, no one has been in one spot 100 years, that’s part of the journey.

But for Nebraska, for us, we’ve been at the bottom for so long, we need structure. And I think that he’s bringing structure to the University of Nebraska, and that’s something that makes us hopeful. If we can get pointed in the right direction, that’s going to be good for us. And I think that he’ll be able to do that.