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SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Ron Rivera is a student of history, which is why he has been quick to address the elephant in the Carolina Panthers locker room.The two-time NFL Coach of the Year reminded players that the last team to return to a Super Bowl after losing it the previous season was the 1993-94 Buffalo Bills. The road ahead will be difficult, but he wants to avoid being another NFL statistic.We know we are the hunted, Rivera said.The Panthers took the field Thursday for the start of training camp with their focus on bucking that 23-year NFL trend.It would seem they have the personnel to do it.Back is league MVP Cam Newton. So is Kelvin Benjamin, the teams No. 1 receiver who missed Carolinas franchise-record 17-win season with a torn ACL. The Panthers defense, which led the NFL in takeaways last season, is mostly intact with the exception of All-Pro cornerback Josh Norman. The entire coaching staff is returning, too.The talk all offseason has been, `Hey, how do we get back?, Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula said. Its been 20-something years and believe me, weve heard all of that forever now. But if there has ever been a group of guys who can do it, its this group. Just because of what theyre made of physically and intellectually and the character that we have inside.Marv Levy, who coached the Bills to four straight Super Bowls in the 1990s, said having players with high character was essential to overcoming adversity.Ability without character is nothing, Levy said.The day after Buffalos crushing loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl 25 (when kicker Scott Norwoods potential game-winning field goal sailed wide right), Levy posted a poem his mother once read to him on a message board outside of the teams meeting room in Orchard Park, New York.The poem, written by an unknown author, read:Fight on, my men, Sir Andrew said.A little Im hurt but not yet slain.Ill just lie down and bleed a while,And then Ill rise and fight again.Levys players asked for copies of the poem, and it became a source of inspiration and pride for the Bills over the next three seasons.Nearly 25 years later, Levy cant explain why it has been so tough for Super Bowl losing teams to get back to the big game. He said free agency might be one issue.There is no hard and fast formula, Levy said. But I think one of the big factors is you have to have players with tremendous character -- and part of that is resiliency. You have to have guys who arent going to give up. We were blessed to have that.Rather than ignore history, Rivera has chosen to confront it.Hes even sought out the advice of others around the league, including former NFL coach John Madden. Rivera has stressed the importance of paying attention to details with his players and taking nothing for granted.They seem to be listening.We arent going to win the Super Bowl today, but we are going to need to do all of the right things that lead up to your first preseason game, your first regular season game and so on, Panthers tight end Greg Olsen said.Olsen joined the Bears as a rookie in 2007, just months after their Super Bowl loss to Indianapolis. Like many previous Super Bowl losers, the Bears failed to make the playoffs the following season.I think everyone -- not just the players (but) the team, the community and the fans -- just assume that `Hey, you got the same guys back why would it be any different? Olsen said. But in the NFL, every game is different, every season is different. There are so many moving parts that go into whether you have success or not.He said the natural human tendency is for a team to rest on its laurels -- something he said the Panthers cant afford to do.If we think were going to just show up week one and rattle off 14 wins in a row like we did last year just because were the same guys in the same uniforms you are going to find yourself in a bad spot, Olsen said. Its just not the way this league works.---Online: AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP-NFL Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. Hersey Hawkins Jersey . Capitals head coach Adam Oates said Ovechkin was injured in the first period against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday and clarified it was not a head injury. https://www.cheapthunder.com/1401h-luguentz-dort-jersey-thunder.html . Perhaps Carroll was so prepared for a break because he believes there is very little the Seattle Seahawks need heading into the off-season. "I dont see anything that we need to add. We just have to get better," Carroll said. Paul Westphal Jersey . -- Arizona knocked off some quality opponents, rolled over a few overmatched ones and grinded out victories even when things didnt go so well. Eddie Johnson Jersey . Louis Cardinals. Victorino is batting sixth and playing right field after missing two games because of back tightness. Auburn coach Bruce Pearl felt like a winner two days before his team even plays its first game.The Tigers assured themselves one of the nations top recruiting classes when the early signing period began Wednesday. It is headlined by No. 17 prospect?Austin Wiley, whose parents both starred for Auburn, and includes four-star prospects Davion Mitchell and Chuma Okeke.This class is historic, said Pearl, who is trying to bounce back from an 11-20 mark in his second season with the Tigers. It started with Austin Wiley, about a year and a half ago, committing to us prior to his junior year.He had offers from everywhere, but he wanted to be an Auburn man.Wileys mother, Vickie, was an All-American for the Tigers. His father, Aubrey, was a star rebounder.But Austin could have gone anywhere in the country, Pearl said. More importantly, he wanted to lead even before he got here. He knew that his verbal commitment might attract others.Now hes going to come here and add to the history and legacy of his father.Wiley, Mitchell and Okeke sent in signed letters of intent on the first day prospects are allowed to do so. Some of the biggest names in this years class have yet to make their decisions.Unlike in football, where signing day usually represents the finish line, it is merely the starting line in college basketball. The early period doesnt end until Nov. 16, and some will wait to see how things shake out at other schools before signing a letter of intent in the spring.In other signings around the country,?Notre Dame?coach Mike Brey signed 6-foot-6 guard?D.J. Harvey Jr.?from Bowie, Maryland, to play for the Fighting Irish next season.Harvey averaged 15.4 points, seven rebounds and four assists last season as a junior at DeMatha High School, the same school Brey attended and where he later taught and coached.Brey said he has been recruiting Harvey for three years, describing him as athletic and a strong shooter with a great stroke. Brey said Harvey is becoming a better passer.Also on Wednesday, LiAngelo Ball signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at UCLA next season, along with fellow high school seniors Jaylen Hands, Jalen Hill and Cody Riley.?Elsewhere, the early period provides some barometer for where schools are in their recruiting efforts:DESERT SWARM: Top-ranked prospect DeAndre Ayton, a 7-footer from Hillcrest Academy in Phoenix, leads?Arizona?coach Sean Millers star-studded class. Miller was expected to land letters of intent from three more top-100 recruits in Brandon Randolph, Ira Lee and Alex Barcello, and hes in the running for five-star swingmen Lonnie Walker and Brian Bowen, top guard Hamidou Diallo?and big man Brandon McCoy.ddddddddddddPAC-12 POWER: Arizona might top the early returns, but its conference as a whole has been tearing up the recruiting trail. Oregon landed five-star guard?Troy Brown Jr.,?despite overtures from Kansas, Georgetown and Alabama, while five-star forward?Michael Porter Jr.?headlines a five-deep class at Washington.Porter will be joined on coach Lorenzo Romars floor by four-star guards Jaylen Nowell and Daejon Davis, St. Louis-area forward Mamoudou Diarra and North Carolina guard Blake Harris.CHAMPS RELOAD: Villanova coach Jay Wright?has reeled in 6-foot-6 forward?Jermaine Samuels, who appears tailor-made to replace senior Josh Hart. Wright also hooked Dhamir Cosby-Roundtree, a somewhat undersized post player from Philadelphia, who had offers up and down the East Coast.Villanova is also in the running for Walker and Philly guard Quade Green.BLUEBLOODS HUNTING: Duke has only one commitment in Georgia guard Alex OConnell, Kansas has one in Dallas guard Marcus Garrett?and Kentucky has yet to land its first commitment for next year.That might sound ominous for now, but just wait until things shake out.The Blue Devils are in the mix for top-10 prospects Wendell Carter and Gary Trent Jr., who some believe could be a package deal, along with top-100 players Matt Coleman, Kevin Knox and Mohamed Bamba. The Jayhawks are pushing hard for guards Collin Sexton and Trae Young and forward Billy Preston.The Wildcats are also coveting Young, a 6-foot-2 guard from Oklahoma, while five-star prospects P.J. Washington and Nick Richards are expected to sign letters of intent with Kentucky later this week.BIG TENS BEST: Illinois coach John Groce has started what could be a make-or-break season by landing a four-man class headlined by St. Louis-area forward Jeremiah Tilmon -- though its unclear when he will sign his letter of intent.Michigan State hopes the combination of Jaren Jackson and Xavier Tillman is only the start of another talented class in East Lansing.They played together on the same AAU team. They kind of fit together, Spartans coach Tom Izzo said of his two new power forwards. And were not done. Hopefully, we can add one, two, maybe even three more, but we have a great base, a base people want to play with guys like this.Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. ' ' '