Tepper joins elite club
Owners approve Panthers’ buyer unanimously
NFL owners on Tuesday kicked off their two-day spring meeting by unanimously approving multibillionaire David Tepper as new owner of the Carolina Panthers.
“The first thing I care about is winning,” Tepper said. “The second thing I care about is winning. And the third thing I care about is ...?”
Um, winning?
“You guys are smart,” he said.
Tepper replaces the 23-year-old franchise’s disgraced founding owner Jerry Richardson, who announced suddenly in midDecember — hours after an online Sports Illustrated expose contained shattering allegations against Richardson involving deplorable workplace misconduct — he was putting the team up for sale.
Tepper is the 16th of the past 17 successful principal bidders on NFL teams during the past quarter-century able to write a cheque for the entire sale price, according to Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based Sports Corp. Ltd., a longtime expert in the field of pro sports franchise sales and relocations. In other words, don’t bother applying to buy an NFL club anymore if you’re not a cashflush multibillionaire.
Reports said Tepper paid a North American pro sports franchise record of US$2.275 billion for the Panthers, for which he paid all but $75 million in cash.
Tepper, a 60-year-old Pittsburgh native, made his reported US$11-billion fortune as a hedge fund manager, after gambling the U.S. government would not let banks fail when the economy tanked in 2008. He bought investments and entities on the cheap and watched their severely depressed values skyrocket during the economic recovery.
Tepper, who since 2009 has owned a five per cent stake in the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, won’t officially become Panthers owner until July, he said. By NFL rule, Tepper must sell his minority stake in the Steelers in the interim.
Tepper was asked if he will keep the Panthers in Charlotte and what plans he might have for a future replacement stadium.
“What’s the name of the team? ... Carolina Panthers,” he said in his bombastic style. “It’s going to be the Carolina Panthers. There is a logical place for this team, and it’s Charlotte.
“As far as a new stadium? Again, you’re asking me too much (too soon).”
In a pair of awkward, illtimed exchanges meant to be funny, the mostly bald Tepper commented on the hairstyles of two veteran male NFL reporters who’d asked him questions: Ian Rapoport of NFL Network and Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer.
Making comments on the physical appearances of others, however playfully intended, was a bad look for Tepper, when the reason he was able to buy the Panthers this spring is, in part, because of inappropriate observations made of others’ appearances by his predecessor.
BORDER EXCHANGE
The NFL-CFL officiating exchange program is continuing for a third straight year.
NFL senior VP of officiating Al Riveron told Postmedia on Tuesday at the league’s annual spring owners’ meeting the crossborder swap of select officials already has begun for 2018.
Four officials from each league are attending the other league’s pre-season development meetings to discuss matters such as new rules, interpretations and fine points on the mechanics of calling plays. Then the four will work the other league’s training camps and pre-season games.
“I know our NFL officials are working CFL pre-season games (in June), but I’m not sure about regular-season games,” Riveron said. “And CFL officials are going to come down and work our pre-season games in August again, yes.”
Last year, six CFL officials went south, double the number from Year 1. Namely, second-timers Dave Foxcroft of Burlington, Ont., Justin McInnes of Edmonton and Dave Hawkshaw of Vancouver, plus first-timers Brian Chrupalo of Winnipeg, Jason Maggio of Burlington and Rob Hand of Hamilton.
Participating NFL and CFL officials learn about the other league’s rule book plus different on-field techniques and philosophies, such as the physical mechanics of best observing downfield pass plays.
The deepest positioned NFL officials are taught to backpedal, to never turn their back on the play. But CFL officials, to properly cover the longer, much wider field, have found they must turn and run at times, to speed up and stay on top of some plays.
“We like to keep the eligible receivers between us, so we have an angle from the front and the back,” Riveron said.