As soon as the clock hit 0:00 on Monday Night Football during the New Orleans Saints visit to Bank of America Stadium to play the Carolina Panthers on September 18, some poignant verbal daggers sparked a heated exchange with former Auburn football (now Panthers) star defensive lineman Derrick Brown and Saints wideout Michael Thomas.
It started as Thomas was walking down the wrong tunnel thinking he was going towards the visitor’s locker room. As Thomas is walking down Browns says “Hey 13 your locker room that way.”
Thomas turns around at looks at Brown when words are exchanged with each other. Brown confronts Thomas and more words are exchanged before Panthers personnel prevent Brown from escalating the situation further.
In the fracas, Brown referred to Thomas as “slant man.”
Thomas posted this on X Tuesday.
https://twitter.com/Cantguardmike/status/1704218767486542131
https://twitter.com/Cantguardmike/status/1704219519961494004
https://twitter.com/Cantguardmike/status/1704219831015256213
Saints HC commented on it by saying (h/t Saints Wire), “I think what kind of happened, Mike got a little discombobulated and he went through their tunnel, he was obviously trying to make his way back to our locker room — (it) looked like they took offense to that.”
Thomas (who is listed at six-foot-three and 213 lbs) should’ve known better than to confront the Auburn football legend (who is listed at six-foot-five and 320 lbs) and provoke him because Tiger and Panther fans know who would’ve come out on top.
Auburn football legend Derrick Brown thrived despite his team’s loss
Despite the loss on Monday, Brown had a good night on defense recording seven tackles and helping the Panthers get four sacks on the night. When asked about it on Wednesday, Brown declined to comment on the postgame exchange and said he’s “moved on” from it and in the rematch will focus on the Saints, not Thomas.
The Panthers travel to New Orleans in Week 14 for a rematch of this emotional NFC South Rivalry game.