A Secret Weapon Called Beavers

What is a 5-foot-10-inch, 167-pound kick returner from a largely-unknown Division III school doing suiting up in Panthers practice gear and taking the field in Charlotte? That’s the question of the week for the Carolina Panthers, and the answer is this: don’t underestimate Larry Beavers - let his work speak for himself. Beavers, a former star at Wesley College in Dover, Delaware, had 39.5 yards per kickoff return and 29.2 on punts with eight combined touchdowns last year during his senior season playing football for Wesley, and now he’s getting the attention he deserves, having been signed onto the Panthers’ lineup with the absence of return man Mark Jones.

Beavers can run the 40-yard dash in 4.28 seconds, and he certainly isn’t scared of jumping from a D3 school to the big leagues, working with receivers Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad so far over the last week at the Panthers’ summer school workouts. Beavers will be in competition with Ryne Robinson, Mike Goodson and Captain Munnerlyn to be the Panthers’ kick returner this year, but so far he’s got some supporters in his favor, including Steve Smith, who recently said, “I think if you’re here and you have a uniform it doesn’t matter what school you went to… Some of the best first-round draft picks generally have flaked out. And hey, Utah beat up on Alabama pretty good, so who cares what school you went to?” He’s still got a lot to learn, but look for Larry Beavers this season as he tries to tread water in this sink-or-swim league.

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