Carolina Panthers legend Sam Mills took the lengthiest of roads to Canton, Ohio. So perhaps its only fitting that his long-awaited, well-deserved induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame was one that just kept on pounding.
On Thursday night, Mills was named as part of the hall’s incoming 2022 class. This was, as he’d been on the ballot since 2003, his 20th and final year of eligibility.
Mills played 17 professional seasons of football between the NFL, CFL and USFL. He spent three of those campaigns with Carolina, where he earned one of his five Pro Bowl nods and lone First-team All-Pro distinction in 1996.
Of all his on-field accomplishments, no moment for Mills shined brighter than his “Keep Pounding” speech. As a linebackers coach in 2003, the cancer-stricken Mills rallied the Panthers with an emotional message prior to the team’s wild-card victory over the Dallas Cowboys in their magical run to Super Bowl XXXVIII.
“Keep Pounding” has remained the mantra for the organization, continuing to inspire coaches, players and fans alike. Mills—who has also been immortalized in the Carolina Panthers Hall of Honor and the New Orleans Saints Ring of Honor—died of intestinal cancer in 2005 at the age of 45.
Alas, his legacy will keep living on.
