New Panthers ownership will need 75% of fellow NFL owners' approval to move the franchiseGETTY IMAGES
While there will not be a stipulation that the Panthers remain in Charlotte as part of their eventual ownership change, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell yesterday said that he "expects the league’s owners to prefer that outcome," according to Person & Peralta of the CHARLOTTE OBSERVER. Goodell: "That will clearly be the intent of our ownership." Patriots Owner Robert Kraft said that the 75% of NFL owners needed for relocation approval "might be too high a bar" for new Panthers ownership -- if that owner "even wanted to move the franchise." Kraft: "I’d be very surprised if someone would try to move that team." Goodell: "All of us and the owners believe Carolina is a great market, a market we’d like to stay in. We hope that the franchise owner that is eventually selected will have that view." Meanwhile, Kraft said Panthers Owner Jerry Richardson has been a "great partner." He added, "I came into the league the same time as Jerry Richardson. He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever met. He’s a wonderful guy. He’s been a great partner and the way I know him he’s a classy, wonderful guy" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/1). Panthers TE Greg Olsen said of the sale of the team, "Guys are interested to see how things play out. Who owns the team, who buys the team, is that going to be something that happens in the spring, is it going to be lingering into the offseason in the summer, possibly the fall?" He added, "There's a lot of questions that need to be answered and we don't get brought in." Olsen said, "It was a bittersweet season. Mr. Richardson, we understand everything but he means a lot to different guys in a lot of personal ways. I know what he did for our family in our toughest times and he's done that numerous times with very little fanfare. Guys in the locker room have strong feelings for him so it is a little bit of a tough situation" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 2/1). Panthers LB Luke Kuechly said Richardson was "good to a lot of guys on the team, good to a lot of people in the Carolinas." He added, "We're going to miss having him around" ("PFT," NBCSN, 2/1).
RICHARDSON INVESTIGATOR HIRED : In Charlotte, Joseph Person notes the NFL has hired independent investigator Mary Jo White to "look into allegations of sexual and racial misconduct" against Richardson. White has played a "prominent role in a couple of high-profile NFL investigations." She led the league's internal investigation of the Saints' Bountygate scandal and more recently "consulted for the league during its investigation" of Cowboys RB Ezekiel Elliott. Goodell announced White's latest appointment during yesterday's address (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 2/1). ESPN's Adam Schefter said by the time investigators "figure out what did and did not happen" with Richardson, the franchise will probably be sold and "out of his hands." Schefter: "How are you going to discipline somebody who doesn't own that franchise anymore?" ("NFL Live," ESPN, 1/31).
