I am a stark believer in the theory that you don’t get to pick your favorite sports team, it picks you. I know this because if I could have picked my favorite team, it wouldn’t have been the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers were the worst team in the NFL last season, with a record of 2-15. The Panthers have not been better than painfully average since 2018, when they lost in the first round of the playoffs. This loss streak is a result of their owner, David Tepper.
If you follow football, you may know that Christian McCaffrey is on the San Francisco 49rs. You may also know that he is the best running back in the league. Tepper traded McCaffrey for what was essentially a bag of chips and a fountain soda compared to his value.
To double down on tragic trades, Tepper would later decide to make a trade for the 2023 draft’s first overall pick. He would give the Chicago Bears the Panther’s 2023 1st round pick and the 2024 1st round pick, which would become the 1st overall pick as a result of the Panthers being the worst team in the league this year. Tepper would also give the Bears a second round pick and DJ Moore.
DJ Moore was the Panther’s star wide receiver. When Tepper ‘intelligently’ decided to trade him away for a rookie quarterback, Bryce Young. As a result, this new quarterback has no good receivers to throw to and a paper mache offensive line. Of course the offense is going to implode.
Tepper traded away the Panther’s future for a quarterback who is arguably the same if not worse than the quarterback they could have gotten if they just waited to lose this season and took Caleb
Williams at pick number 1, but because of the trade, this year’s most valuable pick which would have been the Panthers’, is now the Bears’ pick.
Tepper also traded superstar defensive edge Brian Burns for a second round pick this year. The Panthers were given a trade offer for him a few years back for a couple first round picks and a second.
Tepper is the top reason why the Panthers are failing as a franchise, and has been accepted by the football community as one of the worst owners in football history.