14 hours Ago
Any public-facing job can be a challenging one from a personal perspective. The cruel prank calls that made the rounds during the NFL draft are an example of how fame can make you a target as much as an idol. Everything an athlete or an executive says and does in public can get put under a microscope, and one or two well-publicized moments might misrepresent who they are.
For the Carolina Panthers , the perception - right or not - is that team owner David Tepper has been a chaotic and destructive force around the team - a classic case of an owner getting too involved at the day-to-day level and the product suffering as a result. However, there appears to be an ongoing change here, as Tepper has taken a step back with the new regime, seemingly allowing general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales to do their jobs without intererfering. Asked about Tepper in an appearance on the Pat McAfee show on ESPN yesterday, Morgan said that Tepper is misunderstood and just wants to win.
Watch. You'll find no shortage of people in this business or any other who will say nice things about their boss when pressed, but for what it's worth it does seem like Tepper has chilled out a bit and is letting the football people run things. That step back has been rewarded.
While Morgan's first draft class had some iffy picks to be sure, he's had two strong free agent classes in a row and his work in the 2025 NFL draft has drawn near-universal praise. Hopefully Morgan can continue building on that - and if he can the Panthers will be back in the playfoffs sooner rather than later - Enjoy more free Panthers coverage with Carolina Panthers on SI - Panthers may have landed NFL draft's biggest steal no one is talking about Carolina Panthers had offers from at least 2 teams to trade up in Round 1 NFL insider drops accurate one-word verdict on Panthers’ 2025 draft class Travis Hunter shares praise for Panthers WR Tet McMillan on his podcast.
