David Tepper, the owner of the Carolina Panthers, was fined $300,000 by the NFL “for his unacceptable conduct” after he was caught on video throwing a drink at Jaguars fans from his luxury box on Sunday.
The NFL told the public about the punishment in a statement on Tuesday.
The NFL fined David Tepper, owner of the Carolina Panthers, $300,000 today for the bad behavior he showed at Sunday’s game in Jacksonville, according to a statement. “Everyone who works for the NFL is expected to always act in a way that shows respect for our fans and makes their team and the NFL look good.”
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Additionally, Tepper issued a statement through the Panthers showing “regret” for his actions. He didn’t say sorry.
The message says, “I care deeply about this team and feel bad about how I behaved on Sunday.” “If something went wrong, I should have let the security at the NFL stadium handle it.” I follow the NFL’s code of conduct and agree to be punished by the League for my actions.
The event happened at Jacksonville’s EverBank Stadium on Sunday during the Panthers and Jaguars game. Someone in a box next to Tepper’s caught it on video. Tepper is seen in the video getting angry and throwing his cup’s contents out the window of his box. He then slams the cup against a bar and walks away from the camera.
Outside the box, a Jaguars fan gets up from his seat and climbs up to look out the window. That’s where the video ends.
The Jaguars beat the Panthers 26-0, which dropped the Panthers to a league-worst 2-14 record. The video was allegedly asked about by Jaguars security. It’s not clear what happened with that review, if anything.
After the game, Tepper didn’t say anything about what happened, and the Panthers wouldn’t say anything through a spokesman. In a statement, the NFL said they were aware of the film but wouldn’t say anything else at the time.
The NFL and Tepper both said the same thing on Tuesday, which was the first time either side had done so since Sunday.
The NFL’s stance on personal conduct holds owners to a higher standard.
The NFL’s personal conduct policy says that members, including owners, can’t do things that “harm the integrity of and hurt public confidence in” the NFL.
From the first sentence of the policy on personal conduct:
People who play in the NFL are not allowed to do things that hurt the league’s reputation or the public’s trust in it. These people work for the NFL, NFL Films, NFL Network, the league office, players, coaches, other team employees, game officials, and any other NFL company.
The policy goes on to say that owners must follow more rules.
“Ownership and club or league management have traditionally been held to a higher standard and will be subject to more significant discipline when violations of the Personal Conduct Policy occur.”
He bought the Panthers in 2018 for 66 million dollars. He bought the team from the original owner, Jerry Richardson. Richardson sold the Panthers after a report said he had harassed women and people of color while he was owner.
Since Tepper took over more than five years ago, the Panthers have not made the playoffs or had a winning record. Also, they won’t have the first pick in the draft in April because they gave the Chicago Bears their first-round pick last year in exchange for the pick to pick quarterback Bryce Young.
