On January 15, 2013, the owner of the NFL football club, the Carolina Panthers, Jerry Richardson, addressed the media in Charlotte, North Carolina. Richardson, the man who founded the Carolina Panthers and was for many years among the NFL’s most powerful owners before a scandal forced him to sell the club, has passed away. He was 86. Richardson passed away peacefully at his Charlotte home on March 1, 2023, according to a statement from the club.
Who Was Jerry Richardson?
Jerry Richardson, the founder of the Carolina Panthers and, until a scandal forced him to sell the club, one of the NFL’s most powerful owners, has passed away. He was 86.
According to a statement from the club, Richardson passed away peacefully on Wednesday night at his home in Charlotte. When Richardson acquired the expansion Panthers in 1993, he became the first former NFL player to own a club since George Halas of Chicago.
Richardson, a former teammate of Johnny Unitas, played in the NFL for just two seasons before deciding to enter the restaurant industry. Unitas caught a touchdown pass for the Baltimore Colts in the 1959 NFL Championship Game victory over the New York Giants. He opened the first Hardee’s in Spartanburg, South Carolina, not far from Wofford College, using the money from his championship prize.
About His Career
He continued to succeed in the eatery industry, rising to the position of chief executive officer at Flagstar, the sixth-largest food service organisation in the nation at the time.
The native of Spring Hope, North Carolina, spent years trying to convince the NFL to locate a team in the Carolinas. Ultimately, he was successful thanks to an innovative plan to finance a new stadium by selling permanent seat licences.
NFL To The Carolinas
In 2018, Richardson declared that bringing the NFL to the Carolinas was his life’s greatest goal. The Panthers started competing in 1995, and Richardson rapidly transformed Carolina into one of the league’s premier teams while rising to prominence in the NFL. Richardson was a major player in labour negotiations with the owners while serving on a number of high-level owners committees.
But on December 17, 2017, the day Sports Illustrated reported that four former Panthers employees had received sizeable financial settlements as a result of Richardson’s inappropriate sexually suggestive language and actions, Richardson announced he was selling the Panthers, severely damaging his reputation. He allegedly called a squad scout a racial epithet as well.
In May 2018, he sold the club to hedge fund owner Tepper for a then-NFL-record $2.27 billion. The NFL fined Richardson $2.75 million for suspected workplace misconduct the following month. Richardson never formally responded to the accusations made against him.