CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 03: A general view of the exterior of the stadium with the Jerry Richardson statue before their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
The Carolina Panthers are taking down a statue of team founder Jerry Richardson, but it’s not what you think.
Most owners of professional sports franchises in America erect statues of the players who left a mark during their time with a team. Michael Jordan’s statue sits outside of the United Center, Jackie Robinson’s statue is outside Dodgers Stadium, and Pat Tillman is immortalized outside University of Phoenix Stadium.
Jerry Richardson, the former owner and team founder of the Carolina Panthers, decided the person he wanted to erect a statue to commorate was himself. A 13-foot tall statue of Richardson standing between two Panthers was built outside Bank of America Stadium in 2013 in honor of his 80th birthday. But after seven years of brow raises and rolled eyes, the statue of Richardson is coming down.
It’s not, however, what you might be thinking.
Why are Carolina Panthers removing Jerry Richardson’s statue?
Richardson is hardly a sympathetic character in the story of the Panthers franchise. After an NFL investigation into the team that substantiated claims of sexual and racial misconduct, the team was sold to David Tepper in 2018.
Despite the investigation and its findings, and the team being sold to a new owner, Richardson’s statue remained in front of Bank of America stadium. It’s unclear when the statue will return, but all indications are that the removal is temporary.
According to the team, the removal wasn’t part of the wave of statue removals happening around the country, rather it was deemed a safety issue.
Whether that remains the case is yet to be seen.