GKS Contributor
Panthers attempt to plug hole is overshadowed by front office news
(CHARLOTTE, NC) After watching a soft defense the past few weeks, Carolina tried to address the issue by trading for DT Louis Leonard, the team announced Tuesday morning. Leonard, 6-4 and 325lbs, is a big body that played in 20 games for the Cleveland Browns over the past 2 seasons. He was acquired for an undisclosed draft pick and will compete with DT Nick Hayden for the starting job. The hole was originally created the first day of training camp when starting DT Maake Kemoeatu went down for the year.
However, that wasn’t the news du jour in Charlotte. In a development that shocked Panther fans media and the city of Charlotte, Carolina Panthers team president Mark Richardson and stadium president Jon Richardson, the only two sons of owner Jerry Richardson, unexpectedly resigned from the organization today. Since their inception in 1995, the Panthers have been known around the league as one of the more stable franchises with strong ownership and little turnover and unrest in the front office. Even more reason this news left the city of Charlotte scratching their heads for an explanation. With owner Jerry Richardson dealing with recent health issues, and now the resignations around mid-day Tuesday, sports talk phone lines lit up with speculation about the long-term future of the Panthers in Charlotte. However, Johnny Harris, a member of the Panthers partnership group, said the organization is “absolutely not relocating and is not for sale.”
It was understood by media and fans that Jerry Richardson would eventually pass the torch down to Mark and the Panthers would continue to be run by the Richardson family. With Tuesday’s news, that may no longer be the case and will open speculation that the team could have a new owner outside of the Richardson family at some point down the line.
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