Mick Mixon, the longtime Carolina Panthers radio voice, has announced he is retiring at the end of the 2021-22 season after 17 years of calling Panthers games.
However, the Carolina Panthers say he's still going to be around from time to time after the season, hosting some events and serving as a de facto ambassador for the team. But what he can't wrap his mind around yet is how it will feel when he walks away, to not have ballplayers and coaches and broadcasters and reporters around every day.
"I've tried to, but I can't get there. It'll definitely be new for me," Mixon said. "This is all I've ever wanted to do since I was a little Mickey Mixon growing up in Chapel Hill. All I've ever wanted to be is a sportscaster.
Mixon might describe himself as a simple sportscaster, but he's been far more than that.
He's a classic storyteller — the kind they don't make so often anymore — a raconteur even, the kind of guy who can speak extemporaneously for a tight five minutes on any topic pulled out of the ether. That can be sports, but it doesn't have to be, as his breadth and depth of knowledge extends to local history, music, or just about anything else.
"He's just so effortless, he's so smooth, so eloquent," said former Panthers quarterback and current radio analyst Jake Delhomme. "Things that aren't easy, he makes it look easy, because you see how much joy he gets from it."
"He could have been a doctor, he's already a musician, there are so many things he could have done besides radio," said Mixon's longtime teammate Jim Szoke. "He's just super smart, has that dry wit, and we can ham-and-egg it and finish each other's sentences.
"I love him as a broadcaster, but mostly he's my friend."
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