Jerry Richardson’s statue back at the Panthers’ stadium? TV broadcast made an error
The Jerry Richardson statue outside of Bank of America stadium was removed in June, but it made an appearance during Sunday’s Bears-Panthers game.
Late in the first quarter, Fox used some stock footage of the stadium, and that B-roll prominently displayed the 4,500-pound statue of Richardson, who owned the team from 1993-2018.
A Fox Sports spokesperson told the Observer that the statue shot was a stock image that shouldn’t have been shown on the telecast.
“It was an unintentional error,” the spokesperson said.
The 13-foot statue, being held at an undisclosed location, was removed at a time when there were nightly social justice protests in Charlotte.
In September, The Observer’s Scott Fowler asked Panthers owner David Tepper about the statue’s removal.
“It was a safety reason at the time,” Tepper said. “If you remember the environment, every statue in the country was coming under attack. So, it just made sense from all standpoints to move that statue. And we made a fast decision. It was the right decision. And that’s why it was done.”
Later, Tepper was asked if he could see a scenario when the statue returned “once things were to calm down.”
Responded Tepper: “As far as a statue is concerned, I don’t think that things will ever be quieted down, OK? ... Nor should they.”
The statue, called “The Tribute” was presented to Richardson by his minority ownership partners in 2016 as an 80th birthday present.
Richardson sold the team two years later to Tepper shortly after Sports Illustrated published a story in December 2017 that alleged numerous instances of workplace misconduct, both of a sexual and racial nature.
This story was originally published October 18, 2020 at 3:04 PM.
