Richardson goes to a funeral

[Panthro]

Last week, after the Panthers lost at home to Atlanta, longtime season-ticket holder R. Bruce Rognon, 71, of Pinehurst, N.C., was walking from the stadium to his car. Rognon collapsed. He died of a heart attack. His memorial service was Saturday in Pinehurst, and Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who did not know Rognon, got in his car and drove the 80 miles to the service. "He [Rognon] never missed a game,'' said Richardson. "The least I could do was go to the service and pay my respects. These fans are amazing. They do more than invest their money. They invest their time and emotion, and they buy into your team. It is such a sad thing for the family.''

I love that he got it in his car and drove to the funeral of a man he didn't know.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/12/19/Week15/index.html#ixzz1gzcURbni

Mods...lock it if it's a dupe

[PantherBrew]

I saw that too.

Pretty cool.

[Cape Fear Cat]

Say what you will about JR, but I have always thought he was a classy man, and a true gentleman in the classic southern mold. I'm glad our Panthers have him at the helm.

[OneBadassCat]

Nothing but class

[JungleCat]

I agree with all the above. It was a classy move.

[CatMan72]

This must be the man I saw them doing CPR on as I left the stadium, sorry to hear he didn't make it... RIP.

Classy move by JR... what other owner in the NFL would do this?

[Tarheels23]

This is one of the reasons why I love this man, and have no problem expressing it on a message board.

[PhillyB]

damn. thats awesome.

stuff like that resonates with players as well as fans... it's these sorts of things that make jerry so well respected by the guys that play for him.

[mwright350]

Classy thing for him to make the trip to the funeral. Good for him.

[Lumps]

That was nice of him, JR seems to be a good guy and also seems to understand the fans well.

[SCP]

I thought Panthro was a mod? Friggin BS if he isn't. Need somebody that can look out for those of us with above average 40 times. I'm calling shenanigans.

[SCP]

Oh yea, props to JR. Organization is class from top to bottom. I'm one of the people that received a call from Danny Morrison last year. Not many organizations would do that.

[Clicheking]

Straight class.

[TNPanther]

Any other owner would've been like, "Ah, I have more important things to do." Not Jerry. As much as we call him out for being cheap and too business-minded, he is truly a model of class and integrity. Cheers to Big Cat.