CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Long, long before the Panthers announced Christian McCaffrey would be traded to the San Francisco 49ers, there was a crystal ball that predicted it happening in the form of a misprinted hoodie.
Josh Zielinski found the fortune-telling garment. It was so strange at the time, he took a video, which has since been posted to social media.
“As you can see, I’m wearing a Christmas sweater and a mask. It was a different time. Christmas time last year. We’re up in Buffalo, New York by the way," Zielinski said.
He said he found it in the backroom of a store that sells coats.
“Where they have stuff from previous seasons, older merch,” he said. “It will be stuff for like, minor league baseball teams from Alabama and all these kinds of things. And I’m looking, and I just see some oddball stuff. It’s like an Atlanta Braves logo in the front and on the sleeve, it says Washington Capitals. Like this is some weird stuff."
But the weirdest thing was still in the pile waiting to be found.
“I’m shifting through it while my wife is looking for a coat. I’m like oh, look at this, it’s only $5. It’s a Niners hoodie and I go, oh, because Christian McCaffrey plays for the Niners, right?” Zielinski said laughing. “Of the weird off-brand things that were in there, it was the biggest mismatch. You clearly know who the Niners are, and you clearly know Christian McCaffrey plays for the Panthers. The color schemes don’t even line up. It’s like the gold and the red and they mixed it with the turquoise and black. I don’t know how this happened. But it ended up in this bin.”
When the trade was announced, Zielinski posted the old video online. His friends kept asking if he bought the hoodie, but: “I’m like, no, I didn’t buy it. I’m not a fan of the Panthers or the Niners. I’m a Bills fan. But it was five dollars. I remember that.”
For all the fantasy football players out there, there was one more future prediction in the box.
“Well, it’s funny. We’re Bills fans and everything. And there’s always rumors about Odell Beckham Jr. coming out and playing for the Bills. So, I wrote to my wife: hey, I think there was a Bills Odell one in there wasn’t there?”
