There’s no test for becoming an owner. No exam. No personality evaluation. No assessment of whether the person will be a good owner or not a good owner.
There’s only one factor: Can you come up with the money?
It’s a basic reality for every fan base. You’re stuck with the owner, and in many cases the owner is simply the person who came up with the money — or a family member of that person.
Few owners spend their lives in football. Few owners know what they’re doing when it comes to football decisions. Many owners who made billions in some other line of work believe they’re good enough, smart enough, and will work hard enough to make magic happen again.
David Tepper is the current example of the NFL owner most out of his element and least willing to admit it. He made billions playing money games. He thinks those skills will allow him to win plenty of football games. They don’t and they won’t.
He’s too involved. He’s trying too hard. He’s caring too much. He’s too impulsive. He’s too impatient. And Panthers fans are the ones who have to deal with it.
Maybe he’ll learn. Maybe he’ll grow. Maybe he’ll mature as an owner. Maybe he’ll hire a coach and get out of the way. Maybe he won’t put a thumb on the scale when it comes to picking a quarterback. Maybe he’ll just be a glorified fan who (like all fans) rolls with the punches and (unlike any other fan) counts the money.
Panthers fans can only hope he’ll figure it out. Tepper went to Carnegie Mellon, so we know he’s smart. (I did, too. So there’s that.) But he’s not emotionally intelligent. He’s not a people person. He adds stress and strain to the workplace with his presence, his demeanor, his words, his reactions.
And he either doesn’t know it or he doesn’t care.
Maybe it’s too late for him to change. If so, Panthers fans are going to have to wait a long, long time for things to improve.
