A couple of former Carolina Panthers players had some interesting reactions to the news that general manager Dave Gettleman was fired Monday morning. Steve Smith Sr. and Josh Norman both took to Twitter following the shocking news to express their feelings.
Norman, whom the Panthers pretty much rejected after a contract dispute last spring, reacted with a couple of emoji symbols that say plenty.
"👀" 🤔
— *Joshua R. Norman (@J_No24) July 17, 2017
Hmm. Yeah, we’re quite positive Norman has an idea why Gettleman was fired.
Gettleman rescinded Norman’s franchise tag last year when he got frustrated with how negotiations were going. That decision allowed Norman to hit free agency, where he signed the richest deal of any cornerback in the league on a deal with Washington.
A few minutes later, Smith Sr. took to his Twitter account with the following message.
https://twitter.com/89stevesmith/status/886992866479710208
Like Norman, Smith Sr. was rejected by Gettleman following his first season as the team’s general manager. Rather than sign a deal to retire as a member of the Panthers, Smith Sr. ended up heading to Baltimore to close out his career in 2014.
This was after Gettleman released him without even letting him know it was coming.
Recently, he said retiring as a member of the Panthers wasn’t really on his radar. Perhaps now he might be inclined to change his mind.
Clearly, these two former Panthers aren’t exactly upset that Gettleman lost his job. And who can blame them?