Here’s why it’s the right move for the Panthers to remove statue of former owner Jerry Richardson

Former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson had a long, and at times disgraceful, history. The Panthers are right in removing his statue.

Jerry Richardson was a receiver out of Wofford who was selected in the 13th round of the 1958 NFL draft by the Baltimore Colts. He caught a touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas in the 1959 NFL championship game, and then became a very rich man due to his involvement in several food companies — Hardee’s, Spartan Foods, and Flagstar. In 1993, he became the first owner of the expansion Carolina Panthers, who played their first season in 1995. He held that position until 2017, when a number of scandals had him selling the team to David Tepper at the end of that season.

A December, 2017 report from L. Jon Wertheim and Viv Bernstein of Sports Illustrated revealed that Richardson had settled several complaints of inappropriate behavior. Per the report, Richardson would ask his female employees to turn around so that he could admire their backsides and make comments such as, “Show me how you wiggle to get those jeans up. I bet you had to lay down on your bed to fit into those jeans. Did you step into those jeans or did you have to jump into them?”

At least four employees settled financial agreements with Richardson in exchange for their vows of silence.

Dec 17, 2017; Charlotte, NC, USA; Panthers owner Jerry Richardson watches his team during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. (Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports)

Perceived from the outside as a champion of diversity because of his selection of Cam Newton with the first overall pick in the 2011 draft and the hire of head coach Ron Rivera the same year, Richardson was also capable of contemptible instances of behavior in this realm as well. After selecting Newton, Richardson famously asked the quarterback, “Did you get crazy after the draft and go out and get any tattoos or piercings? Do I have to check you for anything?” He also directed racial invective at one African-American scout.

In a recent appearance on the “Rapsheeet + Friends” podcast with Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, former and current Panthers safety Tre Boston told the story of his desire to protest as Colin Kaepernick and others were back in 2016. As Boston put it, he was discouraged from doing so by Richardson himself.

“In 2016, we saw a world that… even with peaceful protesting with Kap, we saw a world that didn’t understand, and was not willing to listen or hear what we were trying to say,” Boston said. “It was hard times. We were screaming back then, ‘Help.’ We need help. How can we help out our community so that we’re one? And it’s tough when you hear from the top down that the people who watch football come here to get away from that stuff, even though we had protesting going on the day of the game. So, to hear open-ended promises — them telling us to do nothing, we’ll get you in the community. Then, the next week comes around, the week after that comes around, and nothing’s been said to you. Nothing’s been brought up to put you in the community. They did what they wanted.”

This has made complicated the presence of the statue of Richardson in front of the team’s home for games, Bank of America Stadium. A gift from the team’s minority owners on Richardson’s 80th birthday, the statue has stood less as a tribute to Richardson’s accomplishments, and more as hard proof of some very bad decisions on the part of the former owner. As those decisions have been made more and more public, the rationale for keeping the statue in place has been harder to excuse.

Except that new owner David Tepper was contractually obligated to keep the statue of Richardson, as Jonathan Jones of Sports Illustrated (now of CBS Sports) reported in 2018:

From the jump, it was made clear to all interested buyers this was non-negotiable. The statue—that two years ago those around Richardson claimed he didn’t even want—had become part of the deal. Although I was told during the process that the sale would be an auction to the highest bidder, Tepper reportedly had the lowest offer among the three finalists (though the billionaire was ready to cut a check any day and the other bidders were searching for financing). If you’re coming in with a lower bid and this statue is near and dear to the heart of the seller, is it worth rocking the boat?

The one exception to this obligation was in the name of public safety, which is the exception the team will use to remove the statue.

The effort to take the statue down was first reported by Joe Bruno of WSOC-TV in Charlotte, North Carolina:

And for anyone concerned about the state of the panthers in the statue, Jones is also on the scene.