Steve Smith is turning to broadcasting, and the NFL is not ready

I don’t care what team you pull for, you’re going to want to watch Carolina Panthers preseason games for one key reason.

The team announced Monday morning that Panthers legend Steve Smith is joining the preseason broadcast team, and this is the best possible news for fans of every single team. If you think this is just a boring case of “ex-player joins announce team,” then obviously you haven’t thought this through.

You make a conscious decision to allow Steve Smith to reap havoc on your broadcast when you hire him to do something like this. This is a man who does not bury his thoughts behind what is “proper” or “acceptable.” No, he’s going to speak his mind, whether you like it or not — and hey, maybe he’ll make someone cry in the process.

Smith relished on making rookies sad by dominating them in training camp. When Josh Norman stepped to Smith as a rookie and said he was going to dominate him in drills, Smith proceeded to body him all day, while mercillesly teasing him in the process. THAT WAS HIS OWN TEAMMATE! So, do you really think Smitty is going to pull his punches if Sam Darnold trots out and stinks up the joint?

Hell no. That’s why this is going to be incredible. Smith is going to speak his mind every second of a broadcast, might drop an “Ice up, son” on somebody — and have a ball doing it. I’m sure this is just a trial to see how Smith likes the booth, and if the Panthers like him in it, but I can’t help but get excited to see if this broadens into more opportunities.

Also, the Panthers play the Ravens Week 2. The team Smith last played for and who he knows a lot of their players personally. God, this is going to be fun.