Carolina Panthers fans start petition to force David Tepper to sell team

When it rains, it pours, and the Carolina Panthers’ miserable 2023-24 season continues to unravel in the worst way possible. Now, fans are calling for the owner to sell after some embarrassing behavior last weekend.

The team bottomed out on the field, losing their latest game 26-0 to a spiraling Jacksonville squad to fall to 2-14 on the year and clinch the No. 1 overall pick. Except, that pick does not belong to Carolina since they traded it to Chicago, along with several other premium picks, to draft Bryce Young last spring, who had a very up-and-down rookie season alongside the worst roster in pro football.

Young could still prove a worthwhile investment, but it’s fair to say he hasn’t hit the runway in a sprint, and the history of great QBs suggests that even rookies will flash elite upside.

So you have the worst team in the NFL who won’t even reap the rewards of the top pick since they harvested an immense amount of future assets to lock down a QB that looks anything but certain through one year. Obviously, the lost picks hurt what Carolina can build around him, too.

It’s just not a great spot for owner David Tepper, and his frustration literally spilled over the balcony of his owner’s suite during the Jaguars loss when he was videotaped shoveling the remainder of his beverage out the window of his suite and into the stands, where the liquid landed on fans.

Such a gross act by the head of the entire franchise met immediate consequences, as Tepper was blasted on social media all weekend, fined $300,000 by the NFL, and now has Panther fans calling for him to sell the team.

According to the Charlotte Observer, a petition has been passed around asking to remove Tepper as the owner and over 500 fans already inked their signature. Here is that report:

“More than 500 Carolina Panthers fans have signed a petition to remove David Tepper as the team’s owner after he was filmed throwing what appears to be the contents of a drink into the stands from his suite at EverBank Stadium.”

Ultimately, fan pressure is the only real way to get Tepper to sell. An NFL owner has never been ousted from the league, although it is possible with a 3/4 vote from the other franchise owners. But Tepper’s act, while pretty disgusting, is nowhere near horrid enough to actually justify the NFL stepping in to force a sale, especially after he apologized and accepted his fine with no issue.

Unfortunately for the petition-signers, David Tepper will almost certainly remain the owner as long as he chooses, or until he passes it on to whoever he wants.