For Panthers special teamers, it’s “volunteering” for opportunity

But for Gipson, it took coming here to really open his eyes to that world.

He had played just 286 snaps of special teams in five and a half seasons before arriving here in late October of 2025.

He then played 110 special teams snaps in the final nine games of last year, becoming a key part of that phase for the Panthers.

“You know, man, just the culture here sort of embraced me, and I sort of fell in line,” Gipson said. “I just started taking advantage of my opportunities. When I wasn’t on defense, I would just sort of let my physicality play out against special teams, obviously, and I think that did me some service.

“So, you know, at the end of the day, Tracy knows like if I need to fill in in whatever position he wants me to, that I’m going to give it my all for sure, right?”

Gipson laughed when asked about the offer to return kicks, and pointed toward injured special teams mainstay Thomas Incoom in the locker next to him.

“That’s true, I offered, but only because TI went down; my hopes got a little bit better while he’s down, I’m going to try to take advantage,” Gipson said. “I try my best, and I want to help the team in whichever way I can.

“Honestly, regardless, special teams starts the game off, whether it’s kickoff return or kickoff. So those guys are the ones that lead us out to the game, and you know, at the end of the day, we feed off their energy. And they’re just as important as offense and defense, and whenever we can help out, we help out.”​