Panthers coach mingles with gallery

The question came from a small boy as Carolina Panthers coach John Fox was walking from the seventh green to the eighth tee Wednesday afternoon: Why did you cut Keyshawn?

"Well, we're just getting a little younger," Fox said.

That's been the Panthers' staple answer since suddenly releasing receiver Keyshawn Johnson, 34, on Tuesday.

Fox didn't shy away from the boy's question and looked natural mixing and mingling with fans in between shots at the Quail Hollow Club.

Though he is tight-lipped with the media during football season, he's actually an extrovert with extraordinary people skills.

On Wednesday, he repeatedly stopped for autographs, photographs and quick conversations as he moved from green to tee.

"Y'all having fun?" he asked a group of children standing near the seventh green. "Did you thank your parents for bringing you out here?"

Kids galore asked him for a golf ball. He answered that he wasn't sure he had one to spare.

"I'm running out," he said. "I've been hitting them all over the place."

He hit more than his share of good shots. He played with PGA Tour pro Steve Stricker and CBS-TV executive Jim Keever. Fox was the only one in the group to reach the par-5 seventh in regulation (three shots). He missed his birdie putt, however.

At least once he heard perhaps his most famous quote repeated to him from the gallery: "It is what it is."

Provider:
Knight-Ridder / Tribune Business News / Charlotte Observer, The (NC)