Panthers settle failed practice site for $100M
A federal judge approved a bankruptcy settlement of about $100 million Friday over Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper’s failed plan to build a practice facility for his NFL team in South Carolina.
The deal will turn the land and the incomplete steel shell of what was supposed to have been the team’s new headquarters over to the city of Rock Hill.
It’s estimated to be worth $20 million.
Tepper’s real estate company GT Real Estate Holdings will pay York County, which provided sales tax revenue for road improvements, $21 million, and $60 million will be split among the contractors who worked on the project before it was abandoned earlier this year.
All sides agreed to drop their current lawsuits and not file any other claims as part of the deal approved Friday by federal bankruptcy court Judge Karen Owens.
Tepper, a hedge fund manager who is one of the NFL’s wealthiest owners, and the Panthers announced plans for an $800 million practice facility, team offices, sports medicine complex, hotels and entertainment near Rock Hill in 2019.
Both local and South Carolina leaders cheered the investment, offering incentives and relishing getting a piece of the NFL team away from North Carolina and Charlotte, where the team plays its games about 25 miles away.
But after less than two years, Tepper’s company abruptly stopped work.
York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson and Solicitor Kevin Brackett continue to investigate Tepper and his company to see whether public money was misused on the project.
Jets
New York Jets coach Robert Saleh announced that Zach Wilson will start at quarterback Sunday against the Detroit Lions after Mike White was not cleared by doctors to play with a rib injury.
White started the past three games, but was twice knocked out of the Jets’ 2012 loss at Buffalo last Sunday.
X-rays at the stadium were clear and he finished the game, but CT scans at a hospital revealed a fracture to his ribs on his right side.
Seahawks
Seattle Seahawks receiver Tyler Lockett will undergo surgery to repair a broken bone in his left hand but the team is optimistic he could return before the end of the regular season.
Coach Pete Carroll said that there is no set timeline for Lockett’s return but there is hope the standout receiver may only be sidelined for a short time. Lockett was injured late in Seattle’s 21-13 loss to San Francisco on Thursday. Lockett has 78 catches for 964 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
Bears
Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is set to play Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles after missing a practice this week because of an illness, while former Steelers receiver Chase Claypool was ruled out due to a knee injury.
Fields missed the game at the New York Jets on Nov. 27. Fields needs 95 yards to join Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson as the only quarterbacks to run for 1,000 in a season. He also needs 64 to break the team quarterback rushing record of 968 set by Bobby Douglass in a 14-game season in 1972.
Claypool has 12 receptions for 111 yards in five games with Chicago.
Cardinals
Recently fired Arizona Cardinals assistant coach Sean Kugler has retained a law firm to investigate the allegations that he inappropriately touched a female security guard when the team was in Mexico last month for a game against the San Francisco 49ers.
Kugler hired the law firm of Shields Pettini, which said that it has filed a request for arbitration with the NFL in response to the Cardinals’ handling of the situation, which resulted in Kugler’s firing. The law firm claims Kugler was fired for “unsubstantiated allegations that he inappropriately touched a female security guard.”
The popular 56-year-old Kugler — who was the team’s offensive line coach and run game coordinator — had been with the team since 2019. The Cardinals were in Mexico to play the 49ers on a Monday night. The Cardinals said the incident happened on the Saturday before the game and he was sent home by the team.