He also played for three seasons for the Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars of the United States Football League (USFL), where he won two championships in 1984 and 1985.

[1] While growing up in Long Branch, New Jersey, he loved to tag along with his older brother and play pickup football games with the bigger boys.

He was a three-time NJAC First Team All-Star and was named the New Jersey Collegiate Writers Defensive Player of the Year for three straight seasons (1978–1980).

[3] Fred Hill, who coached Mills at Montclair State, said that many pro scouts loved his tape, but when they heard he was only 5'9", they lost interest.

Conventional wisdom at the time held that middle linebackers had to be at least six feet tall to see over opposing offensive linemen and scan the field.

He found a job teaching photography and assisting the football coach at East Orange (N.J.) High School.

He called an old friend, Carl Peterson, general manager of the Philadelphia Stars of the United States Football League, and suggested that he give Mills a look.

He was a member of the vaunted "Dome Patrol," the stellar linebacking corps that led a ferocious Saints defense in the early 1990s.

In a 1995 game against the New York Jets, Mills stepped in front of a Bubby Brister shovel pass and took it 36 yards for a touchdown, sealing the Panthers' first win in franchise history.

[8] Mills played 12 seasons in the NFL and recorded 1,319 tackles, 20.5 sacks, 11 interceptions and four touchdowns while starting 173 of 181 games.

His plea to "keep pounding" in an emotional speech before the Panthers' victory over the Dallas Cowboys later became the name of a fund to sponsor cancer research programs and an official team slogan.

Though Carolina was not the designated home team for Super Bowl 50, the tradition remained a part of the game, with the drummer being Panther fan and Charlotte native Stephen Curry, the star point guard for the four-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors.