SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Being let go from a job can be one of the hardest things to go through. When Captain Munnerlyn found out he was going to be released from the Panthers he was boarding a cruise ship. That's T-U-F-F. Tuff!
But Captain was able to regroup and landed on a new team. The Buffalo Bills.
This week the Panthers are hosting the Bills for joint practices before their preseason game this Friday night in Charlotte.
Today it was all love in Spartanburg as the former Panther defensive back returned to Wofford's campus practices with his old team.
He's wearing 26 instead of 41 but the players still recognized him out there. They definitely still remember his voice with all the trash talk at today's practice.
"I was here for a long time and coming down the hill I was like dang I'm back in Spartanburg at a training camp. It was a little different but it was great to do it," Munnerlyn said.
But Captain feels that being let go was the best thing that happened to him going into his 11th season as a pro. He spent 7 years with the Panthers franchise and he wants to prove them wrong and put the league on notice.
"I'm hungry again man. I've never been released a day in my life until February. To get released made me feel hungry again," Munnerlyn said. "I feel like I got a lot of football left in me. With that being said I want to play for awhile so this is the year I can go out and show I still got it."
Another guy who used to wear the garnet and black was in today's join practice. Buffalo Bills fullback Patrick Dimarco returned to the Palmetto State with Captain and the Bills.
The 7 year pro is entering his third season in Buffalo. His teammates know he went to USC and he let them know about the heat in South Carolina.
Buffalo doesn't get that hot but Patrick let them know you got to get used to it because they will be play in some warm games this year. But He also had to teach his teammates on the geography of the state.
"It's good to be back. Everyone's been asking me, tell me about all these places in Spartanburg. I'm like Spartanburg's close but it's not Columbia," Dimarco said. "Good to feel the sunshine, the heat, all that stuff, keep you nice and warmed up and good to be around some Gamecocks. I heard it when I was walking in earlier. Go Cocks and all that stuff so it's good to be back."