Fans have spoken time and time again, winning is ALL that matters. Why cant owners get this?!

[PanthersUnited]

As cold and cynical as it may sound, it just has to be said. Us NFL fans care about one thing and one thing only, WINNING! A look back at recent history shows that any blow to a organization's bottom line in terms of dollars due to one of the players off field issues.

Call me cold but the ONLY thing I care about is my team winning period! A look back at recent history shows that fans just do not care about the trouble star players get into.

Take the Ray Rice incident, while the media was calling for Ray Rice's head, Baltimore Ravens fans had a different opinion as sales of Ray Rice jerseys surged following the incident. Take Michael Vick, what he did was completely inhumane, while his image and jersey sales fell initially, he came back with a vengenance when he signed with the eagles and fans rallied behind him.

Ben Roethlisberger? Same story, Ray Lewis?! He just went on to be the beat MLB of his generation and the face of that franchise for years, his charge? Oh just an accomplice to murder. I think we can all agree as Panther fans that we would give anything to follow in the footsteps of a team like the Ravens and their sustained success.

Even our very own Greg Hardy, it was reported that a ton of people wearing Hardy's jersey to the following game following his suspension.

So my question is this. If fans dont care, business is still good, whats the big deal?! Lets not pretend to be alter boys here. This is the NFL for me. I ONLY care about one thing and one thing only, WIN WIN WIN at all costs except for cheating.

I love this team with a passion but im sorry, Jerry Richardson is a damn moron if Hardy is found not guilty and for not briniging him back. He is not cutthroat enough to be a good owner. He is just too wholesome

[Anybodyhome]

What happens if Luke gets a speeding ticket?

 

What if Cam had been cited for wreckless driving in his accident?

[top dawg]

Hardy is gone. Give it up.

[Mr. Scot]

If you're okay with someone getting away with hitting or raping a woman or any other violent crime as long as they can win football games, you're not someone I have any interest in knowing.

Football is not more important than people's real lives.

[PanthersUnited]

If you're okay with someone getting away with hitting or raping a woman or any other violent crime as long as they can win football games, you're not someone I have any interest in knowing.

Football is not more important than people's real lives.

I am not ok with it, I'm simply saying that what comes of him not playing?! What gets fixed?

[Mr. Scot]

I am not ok with it, I'm simply saying that what comes of him not playing?! What gets fixed?

Oh right. Why should a guy like Ray Rice suffer any consequences just because he smacked a b--ch around, right?

I mean, this is football we're talking about

[MHS831]

I had a coach tell me one time, "I would rather lose with kids I respect than win with those I don't"  Winning is great, but if you have to sell out values and ethics to achieve it, it really means nothing in the long run.

 

This is based on a few erroneous assumptions:

 

1. That Jerry Richardson does not care about winning

2. That Greg Hardy is needed for us to win.

 

Wrong in both cases.  Mr Richardson knows his age, knows his heart situation.  Do you really think a former athlete would sit where he is sitting and not want to win?  What is his motivation now, Money?  Right.  He is nearly 80.  Do you think more money motivates him?  He wants to be buried with a ring on his other hand--one as a player, one as an owner.

 

Hardy had 1 dominant season where he tallied stats in bunches vs. weak opponents.  He wants to be paid as an elite DE, when, quite frankly, he isn't.  Ealy is already showing that the porch light is on, and many do not realize how much Horton improved.   I think Gettlemen wants another DE, but not to replace Hardy--to possibly replace Johnson.

 

We are fine on defense.  If you want to talk about winning, go to the other side of the ball and special teams.  That is where we can get better.

[Anybodyhome]

If you're okay with someone getting away with hitting or raping a woman or any other violent crime as long as they can win football games, you're not someone I have any interest in knowing.

Football is not more important than people's real lives.

 

The operative word is missing in your statement.... "accused"

 

[MHS831]

Oh right. Why should a guy like Ray Rice suffer any consequences just because he smacked a b--ch around, right?

I mean, this is football we're talking about

 

Correct.  The new NFL--win at all costs.  Beat your women, beat your children, beat the opponent.  Hang a banner.  That is what true fans want to see.

[Mr. Scot]

The operative word is missing in your statement.... "accused"

We're not just talking about Hardy.

Was Ray Rice's crime only 'alleged'?

[Cape Fear Cat]

As cold and cynical as it may sound, it just has to be said. Us NFL fans care about one thing and one thing only, WINNING! A look back at recent history shows that any blow to a organization's bottom line in terms of dollars due to one of the players off field issues.

Call me cold but the ONLY thing I care about is my team winning period! A look back at recent history shows that fans just do not care about the trouble star players get into.

Take the Ray Rice incident, while the media was calling for Ray Rice's head, Baltimore Ravens fans had a different opinion as sales of Ray Rice jerseys surged following the incident. Take Michael Vick, what he did was completely inhumane, while his image and jersey sales fell initially, he came back with a vengenance when he signed with the eagles and fans rallied behind him.

Ben Roethlisberger? Same story, Ray Lewis?! He just went on to be the beat MLB of his generation and the face of that franchise for years, his charge? Oh just an accomplice to murder. I think we can all agree as Panther fans that we would give anything to follow in the footsteps of a team like the Ravens and their sustained success.

Even our very own Greg Hardy, it was reported that a ton of people wearing Hardy's jersey to the following game following his suspension.

So my question is this. If fans dont care, business is still good, whats the big deal?! Lets not pretend to be alter boys here. This is the NFL for me. I ONLY care about one thing and one thing only, WIN WIN WIN at all costs except for cheating.

I love this team with a passion but im sorry, Jerry Richardson is a damn moron if Hardy is found not guilty and for not briniging him back. He is not cutthroat enough to be a good owner. He is just too wholesome

 

The difference is that Mr. Richardson has a sense of what is right and wrong, and the kind of people he wants to have associated with this team. I'm not saying I always agree with him, but I respect his position when it comes to the organization he leads. And while I have mixed feelings about the Hardy situation, in general I do agree that character matters. This was not Greg's first brush with conduct that painted himself and the organization in a bad light. Other than combat, I can't think of any other situation where the end always justifies the means (and in civilized societies, there are even limits to what you can morally do in combat, too). Football is a game, and one that exerts a great deal of influence on the fans who watch it - particularly young ones - whether we like it or not. The Carolina Panthers are owned by a man who expects a certain standard to be maintained by those who work for him. I hate to see Greg go, but his problems are of his own making, and I respect Mr. Richardson's position on the matter. With Dean Smith's loss today, I think it's easy to point out that winning and having good character are not necessarily mutually exclusive.

[LinvilleGorge]

What if you give Hardy a long-term, big money contract with lots of guarantees and he continues to have off-field concerns that lead to him being unavailable?  Now you have considerable cap space tied up in a player that can't help you on the field.  Sound familiar?

 

You assume that not re-signing Hardy is valuing PR/image > winning and honestly, I would tend to agree.  However, there's a decent argument to be made that the right decision to be made in terms of fielding a winning team is to let Hardy walk.

[Mol3m4n]

Personal lives and work shouldn't be affected by the same things anyways.

[Anybodyhome]

We're not just talking about Hardy.

Was Ray Rice's crime only 'alleged'?

 

I'm talking about Hardy simply because his case is pertinent to the discussion in that it has yet to be adjudicated.