A camera caught David Tepper appearing to throw a drink at a fan from his box seat Sunday in Jacksonville. The NFL has since levied a fine against the Panthers owner, whose reputation has taken some hits as of late.
The league fined Tepper $300K for “unacceptable conduct,” NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero tweets. While this is not exactly a needle-mover for the NFL’s second-wealthiest owner, it has brought him more attention during a stretch in which questions have arisen about the Panthers’ direction on his watch. Today’s news does, however, spare Tepper a suspension for his actions in Florida.
“All NFL personnel are expected to conduct themselves at all times in ways that respect our fans and favorably reflect on their team and the NFL,” the league said in a statement.
This incident, which came after a Bryce Young interception, comes at a key point on the Panthers’ timeline. Tepper fired Frank Reich after 11 games, doing so barely a year after he canned Matt Rhule in-season. Known for impulsive tendencies before the Reich ouster — the earliest a team has fired a coach since 1978 — Tepper has furthered that reputation this year. Reich admitted Tepper is a hands-on owner and said their midweek conversations veered toward the difficult side.
The Panthers are again looking for a new head coach, and Tepper’s actions — compounded by the Panthers’ decision to trade their 2024 first-round pick to move up for Young last year — have probably made their job less desirable. Tepper is widely viewed as the driver of the Panthers’ decision to draft Young over C.J. Stroud. A controversy about plans for a Panthers practice facility also emerged in 2022.
“I am deeply passionate about this team and regret my behavior on Sunday. I should have let NFL stadium security handle any issues that arose,” Tepper said in a statement. “I respect the NFL’s code of conduct and accept the League’s discipline for my behavior.”
After Tepper passed on removing Steve Wilks‘ interim tag, he assembled a staff that appeared to pull Young in different directions. Questions about which staffers have Tepper’s ear have also arisen during a turbulent Panthers season, one that has already clinched the Bears the 2024 No. 1 overall pick. Carolina axed QBs coach Josh McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley, reinstalling OC Thomas Brown as the play-caller — after Reich had reclaimed the reins — and giving Jim Caldwell more power. The Panthers have been unable to turn their season around, carrying a minus-171 point differential into Week 18. One more Carolina loss would match the 2001 squad for the most in a season in team history.
The Panthers are seeking another offense-oriented HC and preparing to make an aggressive push to hire Lions OC Ben Johnson, who spurned the team in 2023. It seems likely the next Carolina HC will be well-paid, due to Tepper’s wealth and the blows his reputation has sustained, but will they be able to compete with other HC-needy teams given the state of the franchise?
This guy can’t get out of his own way. Maybe NFL team ownership doesn’t suit him.
300k? Guess he won’t be able to go out for dinner this weekend
No problem. He will just pass that expense on to the fans back in Carolina.
Lmao that’s his breakfast membership money
That’s one hell of a New Year’s toast.
Tepper. More like Temper at this point. David Temper
Tepper?
I barely know her!
NBA forced the old LA owner to sell. NFL forced Synder to sell. Make this guy sell.
the NFL didn’t make Snyder sell. They actually backed him pretty regularly, even though he was the worst.
Donald Sterling was caught being a little racist. And Synder was caught up in a workplace sex harassment scandal. I doubt they’ll force Tepper sell cause he got into it with a fan.
If Jim Irsay can do stuff he’s done (duis caught with drugs) and still be an owner I’m sure Tepper has 8 more lives
I know they won’t make him sell. But freedom of speech is legal no matter the words. And yes the NFL was working hard to get rid of Dan. Gruden emails say that. They exposed Dan’s team for years. Feds were heavily involved to add pressure.
Not entirely true.
All freedom of speech means is the government won’t come busting down your door at 12am cause you said f the president or something on x or fb
Freedom of speech doesn’t apply to businesses / owners who can and will fire you if things you say hurt the brand. I think it’s stupid but there’s a reason players can get in trouble for things they said years ago on social media.
Freedom of speech =\= freedom from consequences
The LA Clippers owner was privately taped and those recordings were publicly released. And yes, you can say whom you hate or dislike. Dave Chapelle released a new concert 3-5 days ago ragging R’s, D’s, trans, handicap people, and plenty of other people. The R was former handicapped R politician. 100% perfectly legal.
The Clipper owner was expelled from the league because the league is 95% or so black. It was a bad look while being a horrible owner for decades & it was an easy veto. But his rights were 100% violated.
Jerry Jones public quote: Jim Trotter claims that when he questioned Jones on the issue of the lack of Blacks in NFL decision-making jobs, Jones’ response was, “If Blacks feel some kind of way, they should buy their own team and hire who they want to hire.”
Why wasn’t Jerry kicked out? The league is more powerful than 1 blowhard new owner. Tepper is awful and very bad for the league. The league has– on national video– a reason to demand he sells.
Jerry Jones wasn’t kicked out cause
1. You said someone claimed he said it not that he actually said it
2. If jerry jones did say those words it’s a common response say when someone questions your business practices “ don’t like it? start your own…. ”. That’s a pretty common response to a lot of things.
Far as sterling
His rights weren’t violated by state of California or the nba. Someone illegally filmed him sure as California is a 2 party consent state. But the league was well within their rights to force him to sell the team. Think they needed 3/4 votes to do so. The nba cba allowed it.
Under the terms of Paragraph 13 of the constitution, NBA owners also have the right, by three-fourths vote, to revoke ownership if an owner “fails to fulfill” a “contractual obligation” in “such a way as to affect the [NBA] or its members adversely.”
Gruden sent an email and got canned. Money talks in the good ‘ol NFL ownership club.
We all know Gruden’s email had CC’s from plenty of people on all 32 teams. But the storm just came back on DC and Gruden.
They actually forced neither to sell. With the Clippers Sterling was banned from the league and they couldn’t force him to sell. They got his wife to sell she took him to court and had him basically declared mentally incompetent due to age and dementia and sold the team. With Snyder it took congressional investigation into him to basically pressure him.
The lawyers will always ensure such procedures are costly and messy and at the end of the day, there is really no assurance that the replacement owners won’t in time, become a major headache for the league as well.
David Tepper is a clown and he has turned the Panthers franchise into a clown show. Between them and the Hornets, Charlotte is the laughing stock of professional sports in America.
Tepper’s boorishness extends to Charlotte FC, the MLS club that he owns and has gone through constant churn like the Panthers have.
Oh yeah, they’re already on their third or fourth coach. They made the freaking playoffs last season and he still fired the coach. Tepper is one of the worst, ugliest, most despicable creatures on the planet. And everyone knows it.
Between Haslam and now Tepper it should be clear that Steelers minority owners cannot be allowed to buy their own teams.
Goes very poorly.
A better punishment would have been a four/six game ban on Tepper attending games.
Well the Patty Mahomes clan has kind of made a name for themselves throwing beverages at fans…. water, Champaine, a bottle of water, just spray when they talk…
I would like to hear the translation on to this punishment.
No, the better punishment is making re-watch the Panthers entire season again on an endless loop.
Hey now. All he did is throw a drink at someone, not a grenade.
Ahh I did a glance at the title and thought it read “NFL Fires Panthers Owner David Tepper”. Got my hopes up for nothing, Jerry Jones wannabe he needs to sell
I had the same reaction. All joking aside, this was just so completely unacceptable that I couldn’t believe what I was watching. I knew that i shouldn’t have been shocked-people are all subject to the same impulses and all have propensity for bad behavior no matter their status or origin-but this type of act is just so completely out of bounds that I was, for the first time in a while, shocked. I mean, David Tepper, sitting close enough to a fan to even reach him was shocking enough…
Could you imagine, though, if the situation were reversed? What do you think would happen to that fan? Or if the fan even just did that to another fan? Do we think that he’d escape with just a simple fine? This type of conduct is bad enough for just a fan-but an OWNER? Come on, man. Imagine how Bryce Young feels being drafted into this franchise-terrible season, miserable environment, coach fired, GM likely next, and your boss’ boss is throwing drinks on people as you lose your way to a pick that another team owns. Imagine trying to “bounce back” from that as a rookie. That’s just not an enviable position. Tepper needs to let someone else handle this business before this gets worse, which it is likely to.
He makes it a lot easier to be a Falcons fan living in Charlotte.
They should fine him $300,000 more for being an incompetent owner as well
Isn’t being David Tepper punishment enough?
For Ben Johnson’s sake, stay away far away from Carolina and that inept owner. No amount of money is worth the nightmare and high blood pressures you’ll endure if u take that job.
Please, please, please….. Have Mr. Tepper hire Josh McDaniels and David Ziegler as a HC and GM couple.
This would clearly be must see TV.