David Tepper is on a quest to be the worst owner in the NFL
When former Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder was drummed out of the NFL, everybody seemed to breathe a collective sigh of relief. His expulsion was years overdue for a number of reasons, including for driving a once-proud franchise into the ground.
It now looks like the void left by Snyder has been filled by Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. While harassment and impropriety — which seemed to be commonplace during Snyder’s tenure in D.C — aren’t evident in Carolina, Tepper is showing in other ways why he could be the worst owner in the league.
Let’s start with the area that’s typically the most important to fans: team success. Since Tepper took over the Panthers in 2018, the team hasn’t had a winning season. The best they’ve done in that timeframe is win seven games twice, and their overall record is an ugly 31-68. This ties the Panthers with the New York Jets for the worst mark in the league.
Most true fans can take losing. They can even take several years of losing — if there seems to be some sort of plan in place to eventually stop the losing. This is another area in which Tepper has failed miserably. In those six seasons, the Panthers have had six coaches. Three of them were fired by Tepper midseason. He also axed two general managers.
Tepper also can’t seem to help himself when it comes to making decisions about players. While he may have been a hedge fund whiz, putting a competent football team together doesn’t seem to be his forte. One of the most glaring examples happened before the 2023 draft. Tepper was apparently so enamored with Alabama quarterback Bryce Young that he decided to trade star receiver DJ Moore and two first-round picks to the Chicago Bears so Carolina could take him with the first pick.
In his first two years, Young has struggled immensely, while C.J. Stroud — who the Panthers could’ve drafted — seems to be a star on the rise for the Houston Texans. Even worse, the Bears were able to draft quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 overall pick from Carolina.
Need more reasons why Tepper is the worst? How about the time he threw his drink on Jacksonville fans when they celebrated a Young interception? What about when he found out a restaurant in Charlotte put a placard out front before the draft that said “Please let the coach and GM pick this year” and he actually went down there to confront the owner?
And how about now, with Tepper wanting Charlotte to supply $650 million to fix up Bank of America Stadium and keep the Panthers in the city for another 20 years? For the renovation, Tepper would put up $150 million of his own money. That may seem like a lot until you find out that his net worth is more than $20 billion, making him one of the richest people in the world.
While teams with bad owners can sometimes overcome their horribleness and have success — the Knicks are a recent example — it may be a while before fans in Carolina have anything to cheer about.
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