David Tepper is still refusing to address serious questions facing the Panthers
Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper declined to speak on the record when approached at the NFL’s owners’ meetings on Monday.
While other NFL owners are talking to local media on the record, Tepper is not, and hasn’t addressed questions surrounding his team since December 2020.
Some NFL owners talk more than others, but the annual owners meetings are normally one of the rare times reporters can ask questions to the person in charge of organizations and get fans’ questions answered.
Monday, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson spoke to New York media for about 15 minutes. Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan was seen talking to reporters as they stopped him. Tampa Buccaneers owner Edward Glazer was scheduled to meet with the Tampa Bay media on Tuesday afternoon.
It’s unclear why Tepper, who also owns Charlotte FC, doesn’t want to speak. He did not say why, nor does he have to.
But since his last address to the media, a lot has happened within the Panthers’ organization:
▪ Carolina attempted to trade for former Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson despite 22 civil lawsuits pending against him from women alleging sexual assault and sexual misconduct.
The Panthers were among the final four teams who had a chance to land him, but he chose the Browns because they decided to fully guarantee his contract.
▪ Carolina stopped construction on their new state-of-the-art facility in Rock Hill because the team said the city was a year behind on its payments. The facility, which will be the largest in the NFL, was slated to open in 2023.
That is now in doubt.
▪ The Panthers finished with their third consecutive five-win season (one under Ron Rivera, two under Matt Rhule). The Panthers are 22-43 since Tepper became the team’s owner. After losing their last seven games of 2021, a lot questions were raised about Rhule’s job.
A Panthers owner declining to speak publicly about the team isn’t new. Jerry Richardson would rarely speak to the media when he owned the Panthers from 1993-2018, but that hadn’t been the case with Tepper.
While Tepper, who is a regular guest on CNBC discussing investing, has never had regularly scheduled press conferences, he has been available in the past on important matters, like when Marty Hurney was fired in December 2020. He also answered questions about former quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s standing with the Panthers at the time, indicating that they would likely look to upgrade the following season.
But that was the last time he spoke publicly about his team.
Panthers fans waiting for answers are going to wait again.
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 3:06 PM.
