The Panthers, its fandom and the city of Charlotte. All three are tied together, bond sealed, fates bound. Everyone does what they can to maintain the relationship, to give folks something positive to say about the region. What’s good for the team is good for the city, and for its people. When one of the three rises to prominence, the other two are elevated, and the world gets to see what others in the region already knew. The Panthers have finally hit the big time and they’re on the nation’s radar as a powerhouse, even though, according to North Carolina governor Pat McCrory, they already deserved to be there.

Wearing a white No33 jersey over his blue plaid button-down, McCrory tells the crowd gathered for the Panthers’ Super Bowl pep rally: “North Carolina doesn’t get the respect it deserves as the ninth largest state in America. National media doesn’t give Charlotte the respect. Cam Newton doesn’t get the respect he deserves. These players don’t get the respect they deserve, but guess what? They’ve earned it. They’ve earned every bit of it.”

The crowd’s reaction is to start its call and response: keeep – pounding.

There’s a story behind that phrase. There’s a story behind everything, but perhaps that phrase is the most telling.

The motto presents the idea of just desserts. Nothing given, everything bought with hard work, sweat and ingenuity. Lay everything on the line, every time, and eventually the world will have to recognize greatness. Keep knocking on the door until someone opens it, or you tear it down. Either way you get inside.

This is the chant of the underdog, of the under-appreciated legion of the two-time defending NFC South champions, dressed in turquoise and black. This is not the hostile, violent south portrayed on television. This is another south, the one that locals know, and it’s full of people who face the region’s contradictions and are determined to throw dishonorable traditions in the recycling bin. Being named the nicest fans in the NFL is only one facet of a growing movement that highlights how southern people can do innovative things, smart things, things that change the world, and the way the region is portrayed, a few minds at a time.

Bank of America stadium has been a home to desolation and perhaps even desperation, but never hate

Charlotte is second largest city in the south-eastern US, behind Jacksonville, and the third fastest growing major city in the US. The area is home to more than 2.3 million people. Still, Charlotte has a small-city feel, and now its name is as well-known as Atlanta or Nashville, but feels like a younger because it’s still building its infrastructure. Don’t be mistaken – the city was founded before the American Revolution and was home to the nation’s first gold rush, but Charlotte didn’t find its footing until the late 1980s, when it rose to prominence as a center of banking and finance.

Skyscrapers blossom from the concrete and stretch towards the sky – there have been 20 of them built in the last decade. Still, it wrestled for an identity beyondbeing North Carolina’s Queen City. The creation of the Panthers franchise in 1995 gave the two the opportunity to grow together, and the residents had the chance to alter the way the outside world saw their city. The franchise is young enough to have skipped many of the contentious historical issues associated with the south-east and segregation. The city is also situated in an area with longstanding tradition of athletic success and rabid interest in football – whether it’s in the region’s big, football-obsessed high schools, in the SEC or the NFL. Because of that, football games are family-oriented events, second only to church in family attendance.

To understand the fandom means to understand debt. Jerry Richardson, who owns a 48% stake in the team, is paying to send the entire Panthers staff (interns included) to the Super Bowl. While something like this has happened before with the Golden State Warriors, it is the sentiment that matters – taking people that believed in the process, that helped maintain the well-oiled machine. Richardson can’t take the whole city of Charlotte, but he can try.

A young Carolina Panthers fan cheers at the Panthers Pride Rally at Romare Bearden Park in Charlotte. Photograph: Diedra Laird/AP

The Panthers games are family friendly, and there is a noticeable lack of profane or inappropriate content. The fans are often gracious, not gloating – leave that to the men on the field that put in the work. When you identify with a franchise that’s endured a stunning amount of heartbreak and futility, and never won a Super Bowl, you don’t get this close without feeling invested. But the fans do not gloat, because everyone knows how quickly a season can change. The king of sports giveth, and he taketh away.

There arelong suffering fans that remember the 2010 season, when the Panthers were 2-14, and fairweather folks wondered if it was time to re-join the Falcons. These are the ones with a reverence for perseverance, and belief in delayed gratification – they believe in it as much as they people believe there is a heaven. Carolina fans knew they were on the verge of something, and that perhaps this is one of those events that happens once in a lifetime, where everyone looks back and marvels that they were part of history. They’ve been nurturing the hunch all season fingers crossed, talismans in hand, hoping, praying for this pep rally to materialize. Once this was a team with nothing to lose.

The south has always been polarizing, and the Carolina Panthers are a team with personality in a corner of the Carolinas that is rife with it. Still there was much to prove. There are no princes here, and no inheritors of privilege. Talking a good game isn’t enough – it’s the south, and that can be found anywhere. Cam had to show Panther Nation what he was capable of before the televisions were on and the mics were hot. If Cam wasn’t making plays, Cam couldn’t dance. Faith without work is irrelevant.

That is perhaps why there are fewer criticisms of Newton – he is judged for his achievements, and ability to channeling the joy and exaltation of the stadium during post-touchdown celebrations. Everybody – the team, the fans and the city – is determined to make the nation pay attention. People of the region see themselves in their icons – underappreciated and misunderstood, but full of unique attributes, if anyone bothered to look hard enough or ask the right questions. There is an appreciation for the authenticity and personality of the players, and now everyone is doing the dab.

The players feed off of the energy of the fans, and Thomas Davis often thanks the fans for their support, saying Seattle’s 12th man can’t compare. Players often reciprocate by spending hours signing autographs after practice or games. Many contribute their time to local charities and nonprofits. Leadership on the field and off. Gentleman and warrior in one body. To whom much is given, much is required.

Let them hear you down in Myrtle Beach! The jumbotron in the stadium alternates between phrases like this and the official Panthers mantra: keep – pounding. It is the phrase that fans mutter in the blistering heat during training camp, 20 yards away from the players, separated only by a white picket fence that is mostly for show, not for security. Players know they have nothing to fear from the people that make the trek to Spartanburg, South Carolina, to have the satisfaction of sizing up the team’s efforts for the upcoming season, proving their loyalty.

What is loyalty? Perhaps it is deciding to stuck with a team through a series of miserable seasons, when Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 feels like a distant memory – something in the back of your mind that you cling to anyway. It is being dedicated to a franchise, unwavering and faithful, even at 2-14, when the rest of the country doubted. It is redoubling efforts when the other major sports team in Charlotte, the Hornets, decides to relocate and become the New Orleans Pelicans. Loyalty is bred so deep in this region it might as well be a tradition. It means showing up for a franchise that’s endured a stunning amount of heartbreak on its quest to return to the Super Bowl. Bank of America stadium has been a home to desolation and perhaps even desperation, but never hate.

In age when cellphones have the capacity to capture every waking moment, it is the human connection and desire for stories that compels people to gather in the shadow of the stadium for celebration and fellowship. To truly understand the the fandom, you’ve got become one of the crowd, to experience the hospitality and culture for yourself. There are black-and-blue Alien vs. Predator masks, and every iteration of Panthers gear since the team’s inaugural season. Good-luck superstitions in the form of dances and talismans are on full display. These fans have invested time, energy and dignity into their team, a team the nation will be introduced to next week.

There is pride, and soon Sunday’s battle will be the stuff of legends, exaggerated in the retellings. After all, fans love a good story. Will the Panthers get their fairytale ending? Either way, the fans will keep showing up, presenting a welcoming aura to the opposing team, and pouring love and labor into their Carolina Panthers. It’s just what they do.