How a DM predicted the pairing of two Panthers' draft picks

[Sir Purr]

So what's this about Pride calling it? Well, he apparently spoke the pairing into existence.


Chinn and Pride met in January at Michael Johnson Performance in Dallas while they were training during the pre-draft process. Pride said the first thing he learned about Chinn was that he went to Southern Illinois — an FCS school Pride hadn't exactly heard of previously.


"I asked him where that was, first of all," Pride said with a laugh. "And then, we just started to chop it up."


The pair then ended up on the North squad at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala. There, they began to learn about each other's games.


"Once I saw him on the field moving around, once you see a guy who's like 6-foot-3, 220, 230 and can run with anybody, can take on blocks, knock anybody out, and then is smart enough to understand the entire game of football — you just know that he's a special player," Pride said.


Chinn noted that even in the beginning stages of knowing one another, they formed a solid partnership.


"Our communication was great back at the Senior Bowl," Chinn said.


From there, the duo went back to Dallas to continue training for the Combine, though they split up once March hit and before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down training centers and pro days across America. But Chinn left the kind of impression on Pride that doesn't just go away from a distance.


With Pride back home in South Carolina and Chinn in Indiana, the cornerback slid into the safety's DMs in early April to start putting out a prediction into the universe.


"The crazy thing is, he DM'd me and he said, "Hey, let's go to the same team,'" Chinn said. "I was like, 'Alright, where are we going?' He said, 'I don't know, let's just do it.'"