The Sports Xchange

SPARTANBURG, S.C. — It wasn’t Ryan Kalil’s newspaper ad, but it had a similar confidence.

While his teammates were checking into their dorm rooms at Wofford College for the start of training camp, Carolina Panthers defensive end Mario Addison made a bold prediction:

“We’re going all the way, man. We’ve got all the tools. All we’ve got to do is put it together, and I see a Super Bowl this year,” Addison said.

Comparable claims will likely be made at all 32 camps around the league, which means at least 31 guys will be wrong.

As two-time defending NFC South champions with a healthy quarterback and a handful of other key pieces, the Panthers should have a certain amount of confidence. But tight end Greg Olsen was more practical about the months ahead.

“I think we are confident, I just think we have to be realistic that one year does not necessarily roll over to the next. There’s a lot of work that goes into having success in this league, and I think we saw that last year,” Olsen said. “Coming off a 12-4 season, maybe guys thought, ‘We’re just going to automatically pick up where we left off,’ and we struggled early.

“Every year, as cliche as it is, you start from scratch. The previous year, good or bad, has no impact on the next. There’s a lot of work that goes in between now and the start of the season. You’ve got to stay healthy, you’ve got to have young guys step up, you’ve got to have new faces come in and establish their roles. So we’ve got a long ways to go, but I think we’re in position to have success as long as we’re willing to do all the things from here going forward that we have to.”

Meanwhile, before zipping off on his new scooter, Addison repeated his claim: “We’re going to the Super Bowl, I feel it. If you speak on it, it’s going to happen.”

And what did his coach think of the prediction?

“I appreciate that,” Ron Rivera said. “As long as he doesn’t put it in the paper, I think he’ll be OK with that, a la Kalil.”