It’s been a slow week for the NFL, but the lack of buzz is no justification for creating something out of nothing.
The Twitter bot came across a video of Nicole Tepper, wife of Panthers owner David Tepper and the Panthers’ chief administrative officer, making draft room remarks earlier this year.
The clip itself doesn’t reveal much, and that’sIt was the first time I saw the owner’s wife helping him choose picks.And yet sites like Athlon Sports continue to push embarrassing clickbait headlines like, “Fans Can’t Believe Video of NFL Owner’s Wife Helping Draft Picks.”
“Many people have doubts “It’s traditionally the role of football operations officials for the owner’s spouse to be involved in such important decisions,” the article explains. (By “many are questioning” it means “uninformed, lost fans are venting their anger on Twitter.”)
Watch the clip again: she barely says anything.
The fact that a multi-billion dollar football enterprise is owned and operated like a mom-and-pop food truck isn’t unique to the Panthers — it’s one of the fundamental facts that makes every team other than the Packers so appealing — and, frankly, Nicole Tepper is just as entitled to a say in football personnel matters as her husband is, simply because she has enough money to buy a team.
Owners of NFL teams (outside of the Packers) can do whatever they want when it comes to hiring family members, and if the goal is to keep the team in the family, it’s crucial to have someone else involved who will take over from the person writing the checks and taking the helm.
The only option is to sell the team when the person can no longer continue, which is what Ralph Wilson’s family did with the Bills and what Pat Bowlen’s family was ultimately forced to do with the Broncos.
If Nicole Tepper outlives her husband, she’ll likely run the team, much like Georgia Frontier did for decades with the Rams (during which time Frontier oversaw the construction of “The Greatest Show on Turf”). So why isn’t she involved now?
Really, what’s more concerning? The owner’s spouse making irrelevant comments in the draft room? Or the owner’s apparent record of micromanaging the team, including (by all appearances) pushing Bryce Young onto the front office and coaching staff? (Nicole is clearly Recommended by CJ StroudSo maybe she should lead the team now.
And when Nicole Tepper stopped off at a local restaurant, she was upset because a sign in front of the establishment said something that upset her, so we’ve yet to find any video of her throwing a drink at a fan or knocking someone’s hat off.
The bottom line is this: Anyone making a big fuss about the clip of Nicole Tepper’s comments is displaying their own ignorance about how things work.
Or maybe they know exactly how things work, but are not going to turn down the opportunity to pander to those who believe women should not be involved in football in any capacity.
