Jump to content

  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

team investor johnny harris interview

panther4life

By panther4life,
in Carolina Panthers

Recommended Posts

panther4life Community Regular

panther4life

Posted
Posted

http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/panthers-37463-bros-richardson.html

CHARLOTTE — Like many others in the Carolinas I thought one day Jerry Richardson would pass the torch to his son Mark as the next generation owner of the Carolina Panthers.

I’m pretty sure Jerry Richardson always felt that way, too.

That’s why Tuesday’s announcement (see story here) came as such a shock to everyone close to the Panthers and was greeted with a collective, “What? You’ve got to be kidding me. Why?”

When Mark Richardson resigned as team president, and Jon Richardson as stadium president, it shook the Panthers to the very core and left fans and PSL owners alike wondering about the future of franchise. Combined with Jerry

Richardson’s recent health problems fans and the absence of explanation in the press release issued by the team, fans were thinking the worst.

Why did they resign?

Are the Panthers moving?

Are the Panthers selling?

Those thoughts crossed my mind, too.

But while Mark and Jon have left the Panthers, Jerry has shown no such inclination.

Addressing the team’s investors as a meeting Tuesday morning, Jerry was committed to the Panthers future in Charlotte and appeared to be “strong as a bear” and well on his way to a full recovery just seven months after heart transplant surgery, according to Johnny Harris, a member of the team’s partnership group.

“The thing that surprised me was how invigorated he was,” said Harris, one of the 16 members of the group. “He was committed to dealing with this operations change. He’s the same guy I invested in with when he began a hamburger business and the same guy I invested with when he began a football team. It’s pretty clear that the Big Cat is feeling good and is back in charge.”

Harris said Richardson still plans on heading up a new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and its players union in the coming months, just as he did earlier this decade. And the challenge ahead, proceeding without his sons involved in the day-to-day operations of the team, seems to have reinvigorated the 73-year-old Richardson, Harris said.

“You could have put him in a (football) game today,” Harris said. “When Jerry is presented with a challenge he’s the best leader there is.”

Harris said Richardson made it clear he’s committed to moving on and winning a Super Bowl. And on the football side of things everything remains the same.

“The doctors are confident in his ability to lead and the NFL is continuing to leave him in position to negotiate with the players union,” Harris said. “So we are very comfortable that Jerry is the right man for the job. The team isn’t leaving Charlotte. The team is not for sale and there is no interest in moving the team.”

Bottom line: The Panthers are staying — for now.

The big question — the one nobody wants to ask — is what will happen to the Panthers after Jerry Richardson is gone and there’s nobody there to hand the baton to?

That will play out in the future — hopefully a very long, long time down the road.

But I have a feeling the Panthers will never leave Charlotte. The investment group is committed to staying and the city is too much of a gold mine. In the meantime fans can rest assured that the team is in good hands, and that the Big Cat is back in charge.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Montsta Rising Star

Montsta

Posted
Posted

Hmmm so a fan and a PSL owner aren't necessarily one and the same? Interesting.

No, they are not the same. A PSL owner has in all likelihood tens of thousands of dollars invested into a license to buy season tickets for seats at a stadium that could conceivably no longer be where the Carolina Panthers play football in this scenario. So while I consider myself a huge, bleeding blue Carolina fan, my only investment in the team is a few grand in jersey's and memorabillia. If they sold or moved the team, the PSL owners could get f***ed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
User Name Explorer

User Name

Posted
Posted

I'll have to admit, I'm totally confused with what the hell the Richardson's have to do with the Panthers staying in Charlotte...

Still one of the best (pretty much payed for) stadiums, still a great fanbase (in house and viewership), no where close to a struggling team, why any talk of the team moving?

My gosh, why are we so needy? Charlotte is a solid mid market, we may have a feeling that we lack competitive respect, but I'm pretty darn sure the NFL LOVES our market, why would they want to move? LA? there's way better candidates for that.

Most of y'all probably have the same mindset as I, but I just can't see why the Richardson boys choosing to do other things, have instantly spurred some talk of a team sale, and move.

HUH?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jangler Newbie

Jangler

Posted
Posted

Why in their right mind would they move? The stadium is 70% sold out before tickets even go on sale with the PSL's. This isnt amount moving the team this is something in the office or family move.

I agree, but with the way people freak out over a bad preseason the same might be happening with PSL owners. No, they need to get it out there and make it very clear that the team is not going anywhere.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gman was right Newbie

Gman was right

Posted
Posted

As a PSL owner I know I sure as hell am concerned about the teams future in Charlotte. I know if I owned this team I would have packed up and left a long time ago and took the team to a city where they actually apreciate football since they dont apreciate it here in charlotte. This news should have all true panther fans concerned. Granted there is only a handful of us but still we should be concerned.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Squirrel Collaborator

Squirrel

Posted
Posted

As a PSL owner I know I sure as hell am concerned about the teams future in Charlotte. I know if I owned this team I would have packed up and left a long time ago and took the team to a city where they actually apreciate football since they dont apreciate it here in charlotte. This news should have all true panther fans concerned. Granted there is only a handful of us but still we should be concerned.

Except for one thing football is a business and as long as they are making a profit here they wont move.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • kungfoodude
      C Mc. Gotta love this guy!!

      By kungfoodude · Posted

      TBH, these are the kind of players that get weeded out of professional sports pretty quickly. Also, CMC is not that guy. There is zero indication that he isn't competitive. 
    • kungfoodude
      Teddy Checkdown in trouble

      By kungfoodude · Posted

      I like the free agency. It actually helps basically all schools across the board. Pretty much only ancient HC's and/or HC's that haven't been able to adjust have been complaining about the free agency. Your fortunes can be made or broken every offseason. It's not like before where a bad recruiting class or two meant multiyear purgatory.  I will never understand all the bellyaching about the NIL. If you want to talk about what ruined college athletics, it has been naked greed. Conference expansions for TV revenue, ever skyrocketing AD and facilities costs and now the attempts to permanently ruin the postseasons(football and basketball).  All the kids did was get a very well deserved piece of a very, very, VERY broken pie.
    • tukafan21
      Scourton isn't signed (& apparently it's a thing)

      By tukafan21 · Posted

      Nobody is saying they don't count against the cap, because yes, they technically do count against the cap as it's money the team is paying and it needs to be accounted for. But what you're not grasping it seems is that if a player gets $10 million guaranteed in their contract, whether they get literally $0 as a signing bonus or $8 million as a signing bonus, it doesn't change the overall cap hit of the contract, because cap hits are about the guaranteed money, not how much is paid up front. The only thing that how much is paid up front changes, is how the cap hit can be spread out amongst the years. So yes, technically there could end up being a slightly bigger cap hit in year 3 and 4 due to a bigger signing bonus, but if that is the case, it also means there will be a lesser cap hit in years 1 and 2 than there would have been with a smaller bonus.  But over the length of the contract, the size of the signing bonus has literally zero affect on the overall cap hit of the contract, because THAT part of it is 100% about the guaranteed money and nothing else.
×
×
  • Create New...