But it’s too bad, Talkers note, that the secret weapon ended up taking down one of Charlotte’s most-respected sports icons.

The Carolina Panthers shocked fans last week when they released the last of the franchise’s original players, kicker John Kasey. The move came after the team signed a new kicker, Olindo Mare, who had been booting for the Seattle Seahawks. Turns out, Mare and his wife have lived in a $1.2 million lakefront house in Mooresville for five years.

That home address put the Panthers at the top of Mare’s list when he became a free agent and — along with a change in the placement of the ball for NFL kickoffs — made the popular but weaker-legged Kasey expendable.

That’s one thing Talkers love about this place we call home. We just never know who might pull up next to us at a traffic light or sit down next to us in a restaurant.

Or, in this case, kick a legend to the curb.