Panthers owner DAVID TEPPER, just hours prior to Thursday’s NFL Draft, stopped by a local restaurant “to inquire about a sign outside the venue” critical of his draft history, according to Alex Zietlow of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Tepper entered Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, which is just a couple miles away from Bank of America Stadium and located off the same road, due to a sign reading, “Please Let The Coach & GM Pick This Year.” Employees at the restaurant indicated that Tepper “was friendly when he walked in.” Restaurant owner MATT WOHLFARTH, a Panthers PSL owner since the inaugural 1995 season, put the sign up earlier this week. He was not in the restaurant when Tepper stopped, but he said Tepper “sounded a bit more on the joking side” during his visit. Wohlfarth: “This is not really an attack on anyone or anything. This is me expressing frustration because, believe it or not, I actually lose more of my income when the Panthers lose than he does.” This was not Tepper’s first stop at the eatery after seeing a critical sign. A message in mid-January read, “Meddling owners never win. Run from JERRY JONES.” Wohlfarth: “He was sorta pissed off about that one” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/26).
RIGHT ON BRAND: In Charlotte, Scott Fowler writes Tepper’s stop at the restaurant is “another incident that makes him look silly.” Fowler: “Why doesn’t somebody -- his wife, his PR people, his business associates -- stop him when he’s about to do something like this?” Similar to the drink he threw at a Jaguars fan during a late-season game, “not much real harm was done here except to Tepper’s reputation.” Fowler: “Under different circumstances, this might even be seen as hilarious. … But after Rock Hill, Eastland, all of the various employees who left under mysterious circumstances, the 2-15 NFL-worst record last year, the ‘no NFL playoffs’ in the six seasons since Tepper bought the Panthers, the three head coaches in three years at Tepper’s Charlotte FC Major League Soccer team -- that ship has sailed” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/26).
