“They got to buckle up.” Those were the words of running back Rico Dowdle when asked about facing his former team, the Dallas Cowboys, next week. He gave his all to them, finishing 2024 with a 1,000-yard campaign, yet Jerry Jones and the team let him go.

Initially, the decision felt right as Dowdle took his time adjusting to the Panthers’ roster. But this Sunday, Week 5 against the Miami Dolphins, he gave Dallas plenty to regret. 

“I think they know for sure. They didn’t keep me there for five years for no reason,” Dowdle said without hesitation. As America’s Team co-owner and Jerry’s son, Stephen Jones appeared on 105.3 The Fan, and he made Dallas’ feelings clear about facing Dowdle. It reflected a touch of regret. 

“We were huge fans of [Rico Dowdle]. But we made a conscious decision to go for Javonte [Williams], even though we had a lot of love for Rico,” Stephen said. “My hat’s off to Rico. What a hell of a game he had. He’ll be a handful for us.”

Stephen was referring to Dowdle’s solid game on Sunday, where he racked up 206 yards on the ground with one touchdown across 23 carries, plus 28 more yards on receptions, totalling 234 yards from scrimmage. As a result, Carolina secured the second victory of the season, standing at 2-3. Week 6 has them scheduled against the Cowboys—a game Dowdle confirmed that he’s taking personally. 

Dowdle won’t just be thinking about how the Cowboys chose former Denver Broncos RB Javonte Williams over him; his energy will be fueled by all those times the Cowboys didn’t appreciate him. The time when billionaire owner and GM Jerry didn’t remember his name during his early days. 

They let him test the free agency market without giving any clarity on the future, and that’s why he signed a $2.75 million, one-year contract with Carolina, where again he’s proving himself from scratch.  

Rico Dowdle earns praise from Dave Canales 

RB Dowdle got the center stage due to the Panthers’ starting RB, Chuba Hubbard’s injury. In just a single game, he made franchise history by tying with Jonathan Stewart’s 2009 record of second-most yards in one game as a Panther. In fact, he believes that if he hadn’t gotten the calf cramp late in the game, he might have surpassed DeAngelo Williams’ record with 210 yards. 

So, after the game, head coach Dave Canales didn’t get tired of praising the six-year veteran running back. “It’s the attitude he ran with, the violence that he ran with, finishing through arm tackles. Something that we’ve been challenging our guys on. I saw a great finish today out of Rico.” 

Even though rookie Trevor Etienne replaced him in the final six minutes of the game, the victory wouldn’t have been possible without Dowdle. Early in the third quarter, with the Panthers trailing 17-10, he ripped off a 53-yard run, which marked the team’s longest offensive play of the season.

But then in the fourth quarter, before going down with a calf cramp, he logged a big 43-yard pass to set up his own 1-yard touchdown. This helped in trimming Carolina’s lead to 20-17. 

Meanwhile, check our lates video. We delve deep into Russell Wilson’s recent struggles under center.