The Carolina Panthers’ owner David Tepper got caught up in a recent game-day scandal after tossing a drink at a Jaguars fan. The NFL swiftly reacted, levying a hefty $300,000 fine on the billionaire without a flinch. But here’s where things got more complicated: for a man with a net worth of $20.6 billion per Forbes, it just constituted a paltry $1.77 for an average American.
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Business analyst Darren Rovell was the first one to report this projection on X (formerly Twitter). However, fans soon found themselves in a split as they took to the comments to share their two cents. Some ardently believed that David Tepper got off easy, while others argued that this penalty was plenty to make an example out of the Panthers owner.
While others posed the rhetoric of how much of a fine can affect a billionaire, an interesting suggestion came up. A ‘This Won’t End Well’ handle on X proposed a suspension rather than a fine to penalize him. He wrote, “What a joke. Suspend him or don’t pretend to penalize him.”
Clearly, there was frustration amongst fans who thought mere monetary fines could not deal with high-profile individuals like Tepper. A fan who felt the fine was particularly low wrote, “Should have been way more.”
A fan quipped, calling it a ‘1 dollar’ fine for him in the comments. He remarked, “This like fining me 1 dollar.”
An interesting take suggested a different perspective on the problem, wanting to reverse roles for consideration. He noted, “If the roles were reversed, the fan would be banned from the stadium for life. This punishment by @nflcommish is weak. Sure, it was a cup of liquid, but the standards are higher for an owner. As a % of income, players get fined more for wearing the wrong game socks.”
A rather enthusiastic fan proposed transferring the amount to the victimized fan. He asserted, “Now give that money to the fan he threw the drink at- that my friends would be a good final resolution!”
In hindsight, the Panthers owner won’t probably mind the hefty fine at all. After moving to New Jersey in October 2020, he boasted to a state senator that he would be contributing $120 million in taxes. This sure says why the majority of fans were neither impressed with the penalty nor his soggy apology.
Rash Behavior by David Tepper is a Window Into His Tenure
Delving deeper into the matter, an important fact that hits is the disastrous season of the Carolina Panthers in 2023. Their new low came last Sunday with a shutout 26-0 beatdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars. They averaged 2.3 yards per play and only reached 100 yards in the fourth quarter. And it’s safe to say fans aren’t happy with both the team and the management.
Yahoo Sports writer Charles McDonald explained it best by highlighting how there have been constant changes in the coach’s lounge and the QB room since Tepper took over in 2018. The team also holds a dismal record of 31-67 during his tenure. McDonald further noted that the Panthers owner might not face severe consequences for actions such as the recent drink-tossing, but it sure speaks volumes about how he might have acted behind the scenes.
Yet, Panthers fans have residual hope, clinging on to a high draft pick that might break their seven-year-long playoff drought. Bryce Young might not have brought the result the Cardiac Cats coveted, but they sure should double down on their investment and structure the offense better than the current season. As they have already fired Frank Reich mid-season, perhaps a coach like Bill Belichick, who might bid his goodbyes to the Patriots, could finally make them a formidable Super Bowl contender.
