Contrary to popular belief, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper is not ruling with an iron fist.
In his latest edition of “Football Morning in America,” NBC Sports’ Peter King gave us an interesting little nugget about the passer-needy Panthers and their billionaire chief. As part of the “What I’m Hearing” section of his column, King notes that Tepper has not made his team’s crucial hunt for a quarterback an autocratic one.
He writes:
Carolina owner David Tepper has not been overbearing in the QB-search process. I can hear it now: You’re giving us a sanitized version of this to get on Tepper’s good side. Uh, I’ve never met the man. I could care less about buttering up David Tepper. I’m just telling you the real stuff.
Head coach Frank Reich also told us that stuff recently, during last Thursday’s episode of NFL Players: Second Acts. When asked by host Charles Tillman if Tepper is heavily involved in adding specific players, Reich said the following:
“No. He’s looking and hearing everything. He’s, obviously, a brilliant guy—brilliant enough to know, hey, let Scott [Fitterer] and I handle that. But he’s involved in it. He wants to know. And, in particular, I think he’s involved in all the numbers and the cap and the contracts and how everything’s set up. I think he has his hands on all that.”
Whether it be through Reich or Fitterer, the Panthers have made their intentions of sticking to a collaborative approach rather clear throughout the offseason. And although Tepper is desperate to turn his franchise around into a winner, he knows well enough to let the football people make the football decisions—even when it comes to the No. 1 overall pick.
