"After catching eight passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in the Panthers' season-opening 28-21 loss at Arizona Sunday afternoon, wide receiver Steve Smith added to the message his play had already sent.

"Nobody wants to actually admit it but there were a lot of articles being written that I've lost a step. That I'm 32. People say I'm just bringing out the air," Smith said.

"If you Google it, it's out there. I'm disgruntled. I'm this, I'm that. Today displayed what I was saying all of camp and all of the lockout. I want to have fun and wherever I go, wherever I am, I'm going to have fun.

"So haters need to get a new hobby because I'm not on that list anymore. I'm just going to have fun and enjoy my teammates and they can enjoy me. It's a blast. I'm going to do like (linebacker Jon Beason) and put it all out there and if I blow a tire, that's the standard that's been set and that's the standard that I think we all should follow. I'm all in with him.""