CHARLOTTE -- With a playbook under one arm and a smile on his face, the Panthers' 2009 seventh-round pick glanced at the nameplate above his locker-room stall -- a small piece of plastic that proclaimed his entry into the National Football League.
"I've never seen an NFL locker room before," he said. "To see that last name and first name -- Captain Munnerlyn -- it's awesome."
Munnerlyn and his fellow rookies -- 27 in all -- could be excused for feeling a tad awestruck as they turned around a corner in the weight room and glanced in the Panthers' locker room for the first time as they arrived for minicamp Thursday.
"I've been to a couple of games before but I'd never been in the locker room," Munnerlyn said. "It's an awesome locker room."
Munnerlyn walked in, glanced up at the nameplate and took quick stock of the team-issue workout and practice gear that hung in his stall ... all the perks of being a pro football player. But with the benefits comes the burden -- a thick, black binder. His first pro playbook.
Welcome to the NFL, newbies.
MORE THAN A FEW ROOKIES will spend Thursday night studying. Come Friday morning, it's time to put away the notebooks and play.
"I saw (defensive line) coach (Brian) Baker and he asked me, 'Do you have your running shoes on?'" said third-round defensive tackle
"My adrenaline's rushing a little bit right now," said Irvin, who cut an imposing presence with his 302-pound, 6-foot-3 frame. "I'm kind of nervous, but excited at the same time. I'm just happy to be here and get things going."
A little nervousness isn't a bad thing. But some, like Munnerlyn, had no trepidations at all.
"No, not really, because it's football to me. I'm not nervous. It's just something new. I've got to get it down and get in my playbook and get the plays. I'm really not nervous. I'm just anxious to play football, anxious to get back out there on the field. I'll be ready to go."
Perhaps the most important part of Thursday's introduction to Pantherdom was getting the helmets and chin straps properly fitted. Above, fifth-rounder 
WHAT'S IN A NUMBER? Some rookies received the number they donned in college: quarterback
Most, however, had to change -- either by the fact that their number was taken or by league mandate, which dictates certain numbers for specific positions. Munnerlyn, for example, traded in the No. 1 he donned at South Carolina for a number 40 slots higher.
"When they told me I was No. 41, I was like, 'Hey, I was No. 1 in college.' Back at home (in Mobile, Ala.) we have a group of friends that we called 'The Fab Four.' All of us played in the secondary.
"My 'Fab Four' and 'No. 1.' I like it."
Irvin wasn't going to receive his college number for a different reason; No. 90 belongs to
Third-rounder Corvey Irvin shows off his new jersey. (PHOTO: ANDREW MASON / PANTHERS.COM)
"That's what they gave me," he said.
But he did know why the number is so signficant in Pantherdom.
"Mike Rucker," he said, referring to the longtime defensive end who racked up 55.5 sacks in nine seasons wearing No. 93. "It's a big number ... Hopefully it can be Corvey Irvin's number now."
