With a unanimous vote in Atlanta Tuesday afternoon, NFL owners voted hedge-fund billionaire David Tepper into their exclusive club, making him just the second owner in Carolina Panthers franchise history and one of only a select few that can call themselves majority owner of an NFL franchise. And Tepper is certainly excited to be in that club, as evidenced by the glowing smile on his face and the first words out of his mouth during his introductory press conference.
“Listen, I’m thrilled about this. It’s more than fantastic, I guess.”
And with that sentiment, the David Tepper era of owning the Panthers has begun, closing the door on a sale process that began in mid-December when team founder Jerry Richardson said that he would be putting the team up for sale at the end of the season as allegations of workplace misconduct swirled and the NFL announced that it would be launching an investigation; with the five-month process that involved multiple bidders beginning to wind down, the team can begin to focus on what happens between the sidelines on the field – what a coincidence that the first organized team activity of the 2018 season was happening about 250 miles up I-85 from where Tepper would hold his press conference.
“I’m sure a lot of people are just ready for some closure, just ready for that transition to start, and I guess today is the start of that,” Greg Olsen, who inked a two-year extension with the team ownership in limbo last month, said after the practice session today. “This transition has been inevitable for a little while, since it was announced that the team would be sold. I just think for a lot of people in the building, players, [we can] just put all of this to rest. Move forward in the new direction that the team is going with.”
Whatever new direction Tepper takes the team in, it seems apparent from his short and sweet introductory press conference in which he joked with reporters about his hair – or lack thereof – and beamed with pride, that he will be a different type of owner than Richardson, who had not spoken to the media for some time and seemed content to allow head coach Ron Rivera to be the voice of the team – one direction that Tepper assures the team will not be going, much to the delight of Panthers fans around the Carolinas, will be to another location.
“What’s the name of the team? The Carolina Panthers. It’s going to be the Carolina Panthers. There is a logical place for this team, and it’s Charlotte,” said Tepper when the inevitable question about moving the team came. “It is the Carolina Panthers. That means this team has to have some kind of presence in the Carolinas. How many are there? That’s right, there are two; listen, Charlotte is the logical place for a stadium.”
“When this opportunity came up – listen, I think it’s a fantastic place with a great football tradition. I think it’s a great football area with good people. People make fun of me for saying it, but they’re just good people – I don’t know how to say it any other way than they’re like Pittsburgh people. I was very comfortable down there.”
Tepper, who will purchase the team for a reported $2.275 billion, is unsure exactly what the structure of his minority or local partners will be, and whether that even makes sense for the owner, the team and the community – but if he wanted to, Tepper could buy the team without partners, with Forbes estimating his net worth at $11 billion. The self-described “kid from the streets of Pittsburgh” is expected to make his mark on the Panthers as all owners do, but he will be careful not to move too fast or rush into any decisions, saying that he doesn’t know enough about the team to make any declaration right now, but that “you want to be very careful and move very carefully when you do anything.”
“He really seems like a football guy, having had five percent of the Steelers, so he’s been around it,” said Rivera about Tepper – the coach also said he’d made a formal presentation to all of the ownership groups about the football side of things over the past five months. “He understands it.”
“He’s got a sense and feel for football. He’s been around it. He owned a small percentage of the Steelers. So he’s got a feel. It was good, and I know eventually we’ll sit down and talk football and talk about this team.”
When it comes to football, it’s clear that Tepper only has his eye on one goal, yet another sentiment that will make Panthers fans giddy with anticipation for the Tepper era to begin.
“If I’m moving some place and we’re doing this in Carolina, the first thing I care about is winning. The second thing I care about is winning. And the third thing I care about is…”
He paused to let the media gathered respond in unison with the answer he was looking for.
“You guys are smart. You win in a lot of ways, and I don’t like to lose in any way.”
Let the Tepper Era begin.
