"Tight end Jeremy Shockey pulled on a red shirt and camouflage print pants late Sunday afternoon in the quiet of the Carolina Panthers' locker room, sighed deeply and looked into the faces and cameras staring at him.

This one, Shockey said earlier in the week, was different because he had been released by the New Orleans Saints after last season and he had taken it personally. The Saints had decided to go with six-foot, six-inch tight end Jimmy Graham, who spent Sunday afternoon tormenting the Panthers.

For Shockey, there was little to say.

"You saw the game. We lost," he said to the group of reporters gathered around his locker. He caught three of seven passes thrown to him."