Inheriting a position that once belonged to longtime offensive tackle Jordan Gross, center Ryan Kalil is the cagey old veteran of the Carolina Panthers' offensive line. Playing surrounded by youth (Including his younger brother, left tackle Matt Kalil), Kalil is helping his younger teammates along as he enters his final NFL season, much like Gross & company did when Kalil was a rookie out of USC.

This is particularly true when one of his young teammates has a bad rep or a rough day in practice, because Kalil remembers what it was once like. Speaking in an article by Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer, Kalil recalled his "Welcome to the NFL" moment, which came in the second game of his career.

It was Week Two of the 2007 season, and the Panthers were playing their home opener against the Houston Texans. Not yet the starter at center, Kalil was the Panthers' starting right guard, and was on an offensive line that had given up zero sacks in the team's Week One victory against the St. Louis Rams. That spotless record was about to be spoiled by Kalil, the hotshot All-American out of the Trojans.

Going up against the Texans' defense, Kalil gave up all three of the sacks the Panthers allowed during the game. Two of those were against tenth-overall draft pick Amobi Okoye, who was running all over Kalil and making quarterback Jake Delhomme's life very difficult in a game the Panthers ended up losing 34-21. Kalil recalled to the Observer how Delhomme began yelling at him on the sidelines.

"Amobi Okoye made me look pretty bad and I was down on myself for a while," said Kalil. "Took a couple games to kind of get out of that funk, bounce back and finish the season strong.

"I got some more opportunities toward the end of that season (at center), and then I got to stay in that spot ever since," he continued. "That’s a story I definitely share with a lot of younger guys."

The young guys that Kalil mentioned include backup center Tyler Larsen, who saw significant action throughout the 2017 season as Kalil battled a neck injury. Even before Larsen came along, Kalil has made a habit out of trying to help younger players along: He even co-wrote a book on adjusting to the NFL called "The Rookie Handbook: How to Survive The First Season in the NFL" with Gross and Geoff Hangartner, both of whom played alongside Kalil for a good chunk of their careers.

Speaking to the Observer, Kalil shared that he believes that the hardest thing to do as an NFL rookie is build confidence.

"It’s a big jump from college to the pros. And the faster you can trust yourself, the faster you can find your footing, the better off you are," said Kalil. "It’s easy to sort of get down on yourself. You get humbled pretty quickly in this league."

The younger members of the Panthers' roster will look to lean on Kalil as much as they can as he prepares to play in his twelfth and final season in the NFL.



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