Carolina Panthers quarterback Haynes King lived the dream in Canton Thursday. King was the hero of the Panthers’ 33–30 win in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game against the Arizona Cardinals.
He said at his postgame press conference Thursday that it was a childhood dream to be playing in front of the Hall of Fame class of 2026.
“I’m very excited that I got this opportunity, and I feel like I went out there and operated at a high level,” he said. “And I feel like I affected a lot of people, and improved, and allowed everybody around me to play better as well.”
King took over for veteran backup Kenny Pickett—who started the game for the Panthers—midway through the second quarter. On his first possession, he led the Panthers down the field and tied the game at 14 with a 15-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Ja’Seem Reed. He threw the go-ahead touchdown to running back Anthony Tyus III to put Carolina up 24–20 with just under 14:30 left in the fourth quarter.
But it was in the final two minutes that he showed up. On third and 10, down 30–27 with 1:45 left in the game, King completed a pass to wide receiver Casey Washington for a first down. A few plays later, on third and 14 from the Arizona 43-yard line, King escaped pressure from the edges and took off running. He was hit out of bounds at the 16-yard line.
“Once I got the first down, it was a lot of open space,” King said of that play. “It was like: keep going, slide, or get out of bounds, and I chose to try to get out of bounds, stop the clock, try to regroup everybody because it was third and 14. Everybody was going to have to get down there. It was a long way.”
Two plays later, he threw a pass to wideout Jimmy Horn Jr. for a first down, but the pass was caught in bounds. With two seconds left on the clock, on third and goal from the 5-yard line, King dropped back, escaped an edge rusher, scrambled across the line of scrimmage, and dove for the goal line to win the game.
“We were trying to get dig-post action on one side, and we had one-on-one on the other,” he said. “Dropping back, and it just kind of parted, and I was going to try to extend the play ‘cause obviously this is last play of the game, and then it just kind of parted, and the linebacker started closing space, and I was like, ‘oh, I can get around him,’ and that’s what happened and [I] scored the ball.”
Despite his heroics, King refused to hog all the credit.
“It’s not just me,” he said. “There’s 10 other guys that’s out there doing it. The lineman with the run game, and pass blocking as well, just allowing me to go out there and also give it to the guys to make plays. And on top of that, I feel like we’re going out there as a selfless group as well. There’s a handful of guys that made a couple plays on the perimeter, but also [were] blocking as well.”
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “Growing up, you hear about all these first-ballot Hall of Famers, and to see some of them even walking in front of you before the game like that is pretty amazing. And then just to be out there and go out there and try to showcase your talent in front of them is a dream come true.”
