Smith: Jake (not Favre) is 'Our Guy'

SPARTANBURG -- As the Panthers checked into training camp Friday morning at Wofford, the subject of Brett Favre quickly came up.

   Favre is the recently retired Green Bay Packers quarterback who wants back in the NFL. The Panthers were briefly rumored to be a team he might be interested in playing for, but team officials have continually squashed that idea.

   Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme, who spent much of the summer in Louisiana, said he hasn’t paid much attention to the Favre saga.

   “You do hear about it, you’d have to be living under a rock not to,” Delhomme said Friday. “I’m just glad all that’s not going on in our camp. So far we’re distraction free. That’s a big positive.”

Delhomme’s favorite target, Steve Smith, wouldn’t have been interested in Favre anyway.

   “Jake’s our guy,” Smith said. “Jake’s my guy. Anybody else, I’m not interested.”

   Smith was asked why the Panthers might have been mentioned as a potential destination for Favre.

   “That’s (the media’s job),” he said. “Or maybe (the media) just thinks we’d be interested because we can’t have too many weapons. We just got another offensive lineman (Charles Spencer, acquired on Wednesday).”

   OBSERVATIONS

   The Panthers arrived steadily throughout the relatively cool morning. Heading into Wofford’s Walter K. Greene dormitory, they were greeted by a sign on the main door that read: Team meeting, 4:00.

n Among the first players on hand were running back DeAngelo Williams and cornerback Richard Marshall, who cruised up on motor scooters.

n Smith is doing a video diary of training camp for the NFL Network, and he walked up the sidewalk into a group of television cameras with his camcorder rolling right back at them.

n Smith also had a few ball boys help him move his stuff into the dorm. Meanwhile, about 20 yards away, linebacker Adam Seward schlepped his own belongings, including a television set with a cord dangling perilously close to Seward’s feet as he walked.

n Linebacker Thomas Davis got out of his car and hoisted his baby son – 8-month-old Thomas Jr. – and gave him a goodbye kiss.

n Not there: First-round draft picks Jonathan Stewart and Jeff Otah, who remain unsigned. General manager Marty Hurney continues to negotiate with their agents today.

n When Smith was asked about Favre, he said he was more worried about the stock he has with two Charlotte banks “plummeting.” One of those banks happens to be a major team sponsor and a team spokesman quickly moved in to stress to reporters that Smith was just joking.

-- David Scott