Versatile Myles Hartsfield keeps adding jobs, on and off the field

[Sir Purr]

Hartsfield got into the business innocently and easily enough. He knows something about keeping high-level athletes prepared, so it was a short step to gathering some friends who were trainers to work with people outdoors during the early stages of the pandemic.


"We were training people who couldn't get into a gym because of coronavirus, and people kept saying 'You need your own spot,'" Hartsfield said.


Now, he's spending more time learning how to acquire permits than working with clients, but that's nothing new for a guy who has found his niche with the Panthers because of his versatility, and willingness to do anything.


Head coach Matt Rhule recruited the New Jersey native to Temple back when Hartsfield was a running back. He became a defensive back at Ole Miss and bounced all around the secondary there.


That continued to be the case in his rookie year, as he got work on both sides of the ball in training camp.


By Week 7, he was back to his roots on offense, as the Panthers made him part of the game plan before the first New Orleans game.


"I mean, I'm sitting in the same meeting room with Christian McCaffrey. I was like, 'Is this real?'" Hartsfield said. "I thought they were blowing smoke at first, but I get to the hotel the night before the game, and I'm looking at the first 15 (play) script, and I'm in there, it's like, 'What's going on? They're really going to give me the ball.'


"Then, as soon as I got hit, it's like 'OK, this is why I play defense.' But I hadn't done in it five years, so my two carries for 2 yards were like living the dream."


As he progresses in his football career, Hartsfield knows his most likely path is on defense, and that's where he built more and more of a role last year. But his first entry point was on special teams, where he quickly became a regular (playing every game and finishing with 254 snaps).


He played 140 snaps of defense (one of seven rookies to play at least 100 snaps of defense for the Panthers last year), along with his four on offense, making his first season a lesson in multi-tasking.


"I knew by getting into a camp at all, I was blessed to be in that situation," Hartsfield said. "I didn't know when I got here what my role might be, but I knew I could contribute on special teams. Putting everything into that helped get me the reps on defense I got at the end of the season.


"I didn't care where they put me, really, I just wanted to get my foot in the door."