ESPN’s Carolina Panthers reporter made a comment to receiver Xavier Legette during a locker room media session about his father despite knowing Legette’s father passes away in 2019Xavier LegetteXavier Legette is in his second season with the Carolina Panthers(Image: Getty Images)

The 2-3 Carolina Panthers will hope to build on the momentum from last week’s comeback win over the Miami Dolphins with a marquee matchup against the 2-2-1 Dallas Cowboys and their middle-finger-toting owner.

Ahead of the contest, second-year wideout Xavier Lagette, 24, was asked by ESPN reporter David Newton in the Carolina locker room if he was a Cowboys fan growing up.

“Yeah, when I was little. My Daddy was a Cowboys fan,” Lagette said in his familiar rich South Carolina — where he owned 14 horses — accent.

READ MORE: Josh Allen delivers frank message to Buffalo Bills teammates after New England Patriots lossREAD MORE: Jets players take drastic measure to fix ‘worst defense in the league’

Newton then added one more comment: “I take it he won’t be this week.” Lagette’s father, Anthony, died of a heart attack in 2019. Additionally, his mother, Anita, passed four years before after a long battle with cancer.

Lagette shot a half-passing glance in the direction of Newton before an awkward silence. Another reporter asked a question about the receiver’s return from injury, and the media session continued without a hitch.

Newton was swiftly panned on social media, with many popular aggregator accounts, such as Dov Kleima and ML Football, resharing the video, and others flocking to Newton’s comment section to express their displeasure. The reporter wrote about Legette’s family in a lengthy 2024 feature, referencing the death of both of his parents in the piece.

Legette returned from an early-season injury to post his best game of the campaign last week, catching two passes for 31 yards and a touchdown in the 27-24 win.

Content cannot be displayed without consent

He credited third-year quarterback Bryce Young for trusting him to make the difficult back-of-the-endzone catch. “For him to throw me that showed me that he believed in me,” he said.

Legette failed to total more than 150 receiving yards in each of his first four seasons at the University of South Carolina (including a redshirt campaign) before breaking out with 1,255 yards in 2023.

The Panthers selected him with the last pick of the 2024 first round. Legette contributed sparingly in his rookie season, catching 49 passes for 497 yards and four touchdowns for a porous Carolina passing attack.

READ MORE: Mac Jones can trigger bonus worth hundreds of thousands if he records four 49ers winsREAD MORE: NFL’s heaviest player cut for being too overweight on comeback trail at Buccaneers

After a poor first half, Panthers quarterback Bryce Young looked like a man reborn during and after the comeback. He completed 17 of his final 26 passes for 165 yards after two quick turnovers. When asked how he shrugged off the early mistakes, Young admitted he “was just focused on the next play.”

“We all have all the belief in the world. We believe in each other. There was no flinch from both sides of the ball. Being a part of that was special,” the former first overall pick added. ‘”There’s never been a lack of belief.”