Even music icons aren't immune to the friendly jabs that come with sports rivalries.
Country music star Luke Combs is a massive Carolina Panthers fans, and with him being from the Charlotte area, it makes complete sense as to why. Like many other Panthers fans, though, Combs' patience with the team has been tested as of late.
Carolina has not made the playoffs since 2017, but the past two seasons have been especially brutal.
The Panthers traded away star running back Christian McCaffrey at the 2022 trade deadline, and he then went on to win Offensive Player of the Year with the San Francisco 49ers last season. They then posted a league-worst 2-15 record in 2023, and don't even get the first overall pick as they traded it to the Chicago Bears last year to move up and get Bryce Young.
For Combs, though, the latest disappointment may have been the breaking point. On Monday evening, the Panthers traded two-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Brian Burns to the New York Giants for a measly return of just a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick.
That return only looks worse when remembering that the Panthers reportedly had a massive offer from the Los Angeles Rams in 2022, which would have sent Burns to L.A. for a 2023 second-round pick as well as first-round picks in 2024 and 2025.
After hearing about the trade, Combs when on a passionate rant criticizing his team for the recent shortcomings.
“Panthers WHAT ARE WE DOING?!?!? No first round pick for McCaffrey a few years back and now none for Burns?!?! Are we just fire bombing the whole team here or what? I usually don’t comment on these kinds of things but it’s just becoming slow torture at this point,” Combs wrote on X.
The Atlanta Falcons saw an opportunity to poke fun at their rival, and oh boy did they take advantage of it. The team replied to Combs' rant with a picture of him wearing a Falcons jersey during a show at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, as well as a caption referencing his song One Number Away.
Will Combs take the Falcons' offer seriously? Probably not. But it is a good bit of fun for the Dirty Birds.
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