A Carolina Panthers star is under fire after he and his entire team no-showed at a camp – leaving children and parents in the lurch and deeply disappointed.
Panthers wide receiver and reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year Tetairoa McMillan was advertised to be attending a camp at AC Reynolds High School located in Asheville, North Carolina on July 1.
However, when eager campers and parents arrived, no one was there. Not McMillan, nor anyone associated with the camp.
According to the Asheville Citizen Times, parents received e-mails telling them the camp had been canceled and their registration had been transferred to a different camp hosted by Panthers receiver Xavier Legette.
However, there were two problems: first, Legette’s camp was held in Charlotte – a drive of over two hours from McMillan’s camp site. Second, Legette’s camp had already taken place all the way back in May.
Other parents told the outlet they never received any kind of e-mail notification.
Carolina Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan is under fire for no-showing to a camp he was advertised to attend in Asheville, North Carolina earlier in July
Parents say they arrived at a school – only to find nobody there for the scheduled event
Their tickets were transferred to an event two hours away hosted by Xavier Legette (17), but many parents say they did not receive any form of notice informing them of the switch
While FlexWork Sports Management – the company advertising the camp – did not respond to the outlet’s requests for comment, a representative for McMillan said the camp had been canceled back in February.
The representative further added that McMillan wasn’t part of the event’s planning and had been asked by FlexWork to attend, but he was unable to do so.
More details were revealed to the outlet by Reynolds High School football coach Chandler Greer, who told the Citizen Times the school found out about the camp only when the flyers were posted.
Greer added that the school attempted to contact FlexWork, but never received a response. Moreover, Reynolds High attempted to inform the company that the field was not available due to state athletics rules barring access to facilities in a dead period in the North Carolina High School Athletics Association calendar.
‘This McMillan camp, we had no clue to anything going on about it,’ Greer told the Citizen Times.
A Facebook post from FlexWork on October 19, 2025 advertised the July 1 camp for boys and girls aged six to 16. The post promised the chance to ‘learn skills from Tetairoa’ as well as the chance to ‘get a pic with the star’ and ‘get swag.’ Those who signed up for the event say they paid $100 for tickets.
‘We’re really disappointed about the lack of information and communication,’ said Alyssa Kowalski, a South Carolina parent who brought her son.
‘You have all these children that are looking forward to seeing these players they look up to. It’s very unfortunate you’re letting their dreams go to waste.’
Representatives for McMillan say he was asked to attend the camp by FlexWork Sports Management, but the star couldn’t attend. They add the event was cancelled in February.
The player’s representatives say he had no say in the planning of the event as well
Parents were outraged by the cancellation of the event as many said they weren’t informed
Another parent, Jason Waldrup, told the Citizen Times that he received an email about the cancellation back in February – but that it was sent to his spam folder. Other parents he spoke to said they received the notice on different dates, with most of them arriving in late May.
When some parents accessed tickets on July 1, they noticed the information had been changed to the Legette camp on May 17. Waldrup says his tickets didn’t reflect this change and still listed the McMillan camp at Reynolds.
‘No one signed up for Legette in a different town, a different player on a different day in a different month,’ Waldrup said.
‘We all signed up for this camp on this day in Asheville. It’s bizarre that their policy would be we’re changing your whole setup … without asking if that’s what you wanted to do.’
Other parents took time off work and traveled to the city to attend the camp.
A similar camp hosted at Reynolds High on June 20 by RHS alum and Steelers running back Rico Dowdle went off without a hitch.
