news-record.com

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Mike Minter stood before an audience Tuesday and handed in his playbook. He'd assumed they'd have to pry it from his cold, dead hands, but he thought back to something his preacher had told him a few days ago after watching Minter work out.

"You look bad," the preacher said.

Minter knew he was right.

"In this game, some people tell you what they think you want to hear," Minter said.

He knew his preacher was telling him the gospel truth.

The man who has played more football games for the Carolina Panthers than anyone in their history retired with tears in his eyes and a message for those who will play on without him.

"I don't have anything left," he said.

He didn't want their mercy and he didn't want their sympathy. Minter wanted them to know he gave everything he had on every play, and the end became apparent only when it was clear to him that he had nothing left to give. The 10-year safety out of Nebraska walked away before walking onto the field for one last time.

He didn't want to have to limp off during a game or be carried off the stage or be forced off the team during a failed season. Minter was allowed to walk away on his own terms, one of the few NFL players given that honor.

Jerry Richardson, the owner of the Panthers, wept only minutes after advising Minter not to stand in front of the crowd and "crash and burn."

He called Minter the epitome of consistency.

Minter was not the best player in franchise history, not the best defensive player and maybe not even the best defensive back in franchise history. But he was the most consistent. He never was voted to play in the Pro Bowl, never even made it as an alternate. But for five straight seasons he was elected the defensive team captain. He started a team-record 94 consecutive games after an injury in 2001 and started every game he played in after a staph infection almost killed him in 1998.

"I wasn't supposed to come back," Minter said.

He probably wasn't supposed to play in the NFL at all. Minter was a 5-foot-10, 190-pound strong safety coming out of college. He caught the eye of Bill Polian, the general manager of the expansion Panthers, and came to Carolina as a second-round draft pick in 1997.

Minter played injured, played hurt, succeeding as a force of will against bigger and stronger players. He attributed his career to an act of God and considered each play an honor. Playing with a broken foot in Super Bowl XXXVIII against New England, he finished with 18 tackles, the most he'd recorded in an NFL game.

"I don't want to be at 80 or 85 percent," he said Tuesday. "But I want to be remembered as a player who always played at 100 percent."

He renegotiated percentages of his contracts to help the franchise sign better players, agreed to play for less to extend his deals in 2001 and 2005.

Minter agreed to give up more than $1 million to attempt to make the team on his own this summer. The team acquiesced, giving him the opportunity to play on for the league minimum instead of releasing him outright.

Minter thanked Richardson and coach John Fox for that one last chance. He thanked Polian and Marty Hurney, now the Carolina general manager. He thanked his family and his teammates and the fans and the media and team officials you don't usually hear about. He thanked Tom Osborne, his college coach, and his youth-league coach and just about every coach he ever played for except George Seifert.

In the end, he thanked God and his preacher for giving him the strength to play and the strength to quit. Minter knew it was time to end his career after he sought not advice but truth.

That's how he will be remembered by most everyone who knew him as a player. Minter looked you in the eye and told you the truth.

They'll probably retire jersey No. 30, but they probably won't build him a statue. They'll almost certainly put him in the team's Hall of Honor, but they might not make him an emeritus coach.

Minter wants to be a high school coach, and he thinks he might someday become a preacher. He might be a great high school coach, and he might be a great preacher. He never was a great football player, but Mike Minter was the most consistent football player the Panthers ever had.

That might not sound like much, but those who played the game will look you in the eye and tell you it's the truth.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ehardin @news-record.com