CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The message came in a three-word text: "They signed me."

That’s how Greg Kragen, who in 1995 was a 33-year-old nose tackle playing for the first-year Carolina Panthers, learned on Saturday that his 24-year-old son, Kyle, had been signed by the same organization following a rookie minicamp.

"Oh, my gosh! I wanted to cry," the elder Kragen said by phone from the San Francisco Bay Area, where he is the defensive line coach for Foothill College.

That the message came in a text naturally made Greg, 55, feel old. Texting was in its infancy when he was the 18th player selected in the '95 expansion draft, a process in which each NFL team had to make six players available to Carolina and Jacksonville.

But what really made Greg feel ancient was seeing pictures of Kyle, a former linebacker at California, on the Carolina practice fields. That's because in the background he saw trees that were seedlings when he began his final stop in a 13-year NFL career.

"Those things were huge," Greg said with a laugh. "I was, 'Wait a second! Time has gone by.'"

In many ways, this is like watching a replay of Greg's time in the NFL.

He was undrafted out of Utah State in 1984 when signed by Denver. He was released, but invited back the next year to begin a stint of nine seasons -- including a trip to the Pro Bowl in 1989 and three Super Bowls -- with the Broncos.

Kyle (6-foot-3, 255 pounds) was signed by the Broncos a year ago as an undrafted rookie. He was released after a brief stint on the practice squad and invited two weeks ago for a tryout with the Panthers.

Greg, who has slimmed down considerably from his playing weight of 267 pounds, only hopes his son's career turns out as well as his did.

"You know the deal," Greg said. "When you’re No. 90 on a 90-man roster, you’ve got a long way to go."

Making the roster at linebacker, where Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson comprise one of the best units in the NFL, will be particularly tough.

But the Panthers are looking for depth there and Kyle knows from his dad's experience that odds can be overcome.

"I just wish he’d given me a bit more athleticism," Kyle said with a smile.

'Good luck'

There wasn’t the typical father-son advice as Greg drove Kyle to the airport for his journey to Carolina.

"Pretty much it was, 'Good luck,'" Greg said. "That’s about all I could say. Just the odds are so stacked against you, so there’s nothing you can do."

Greg never was a man of many words. Neither is Kyle, who spent seven years in Charlotte when his dad was a player and then a member of the sponsorship marketing team.

His mantra also is the same as his dad's.

"He’s always preached working hard, always be in control of my efforts," Kyle said. "Preparation and effort."

Greg knows his son doesn't have the great athletic skills of a Kuechly, Davis or Thompson. But what he likes in him is the same thing coaches like.

"I just see a good football player," he said.

Sometimes that’s not enough. Greg knows that.

"I remember [former Denver coach] Dan Reeves saying the first day in training camp that you can’t worry about what somebody else is doing or other guys at your position are doing," Greg said. "All you can worry about is yourself."

Trip down memory lane

Greg spent part of Tuesday digging through a storage unit for a picture of Kyle standing in front of his Carolina locker.

"It’s just things like that I want to see now," he said.

Kyle didn’t spent a lot of time at the stadium. His most memorable moment came after his dad's final game, a 30-18 loss to the Rams that came the season after the team reached the NFC Championship Game in its second year of existence.

He remembered hearing then-head coach Dom Capers give the postgame speech.

"I didn’t realize how cool the experience was until I grew up and realized what I was exposed to as a child," Kyle said.

Greg hopes his son stays with the team at least long enough to appreciate the heat and humidity of training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

There was one particularly brutal day in '95 when Greg's Carolina career almost ended before it began. He went to one knee, leading to a heart-to-heart with Capers about whether he wanted to retire.

He continued, that year scoring the first defensive touchdown in team history when he returned a fumble 1 yard at Chicago.

He has no regrets.

"I really hope he gets to go to Spartanburg and get a little bit of that punishment. That would be good for him," Greg said. "It’s a heat you wouldn’t understand until you’ve been there."

'Didn’t want to jinx him'

Greg told only one member of the Carolina organization -- David Monroe of Panthers.com -- that Kyle was coming for a tryout.

"I didn’t want to jinx him," Greg said.

Most of the focus of the rookie camp was on another son of a former NFL player, first-round draft pick Christian McCaffrey. His dad, Ed McCaffrey, was a star wide receiver for Denver.

Kyle went about his business without any fanfare, one of the things his dad likes most about him as a player.

"He's just always kind of kept his mouth shut and played," he said.

That, Kyle definitely got from his father. How far that will take him remains to be seen.

For now it has created a feel-good moment that makes the three words Greg received in a text more memorable than you can imagine.

"My response was, 'That’s awesome!'" Greg said. "I didn’t put any cuss words in there. I deleted them in my head.

"But oh, my gosh! It’s crazy seeing him in the same uniform."