Statue of Jerry Richardson

A statue of Jerry Richardson was installed outside Charlotte, North Carolina's Bank of America Stadium in 2016.[1] Richardson, the former owner of the National Football League's Carolina Panthers, was involved in a controversy involving allegedly sexist behavior prior to selling the team. The statue was removed from Bank of America Stadium in June 2020 for fear it would be destroyed by protestors.[2]

Statue of Jerry Richardson
ArtistTodd Andrews
Year2016 (2016)
SubjectJerry Richardson
Dimensions3.96 m (12 ft. 10 in)
ConditionRemoved
LocationCharlotte, North Carolina, U.S.

Background

The statue was a gift to Richardson, the founding owner of the Carolina Panthers, during his 80th birthday, given by the team's minority ownership partners.[3][4] It stood 13 feet tall outside the north entrance of Bank of America Stadium, depicting Richardson in a suit holding a football and flanked by two life-sized black panthers with green eyes.[1]

When the U.S. national anthem protests started back in 2016 in response to police brutality, it was reported by numerous Panthers players such as Tre Boston that Richardson prohibited his players from joining the protests.[5][2] After Richardson was forced to sell the team after the 2017 season following racist and sexist remarks made to team employees in light of the Me Too movement, David Tepper, the new owner, was forced to keep the statue up as a "contractual obligation" of purchasing the Panthers, much to the chagrin of many fans. However, it was taken down and stored in a hidden place by Panthers management in 2020 in light of the George Floyd protests.[6][7]

Despite no language indicating the fate of the statue, it has been reported that the Panthers organization does not intend on restoring it. Richardson himself also reportedly "moved on" before his death and said that the statue "is not his focus", according to his spokesperson.[8] Boston later commented that the removal of the statue was "best for the community".[1][5]

See also

References
  1. Fowler, Scott (2020-06-10). "Carolina Panthers take down statue of team founder Jerry Richardson at BofA Stadium". Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on 2020-06-15. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  2. Newton, David (2020-06-10). "Panthers move Richardson statue as precaution". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-11. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
  3. Jones, Jonathan. "Tepper's honeymoon phase: stadium, soccer, statue". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 2020-06-30. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  4. Bernstein, L. Jon Wertheim and Viv. "Exclusive: New details on allegations against Panthers owner Jerry Richardson". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on August 15, 2020. Retrieved Aug 12, 2020.
  5. Canova, Daniel (2020-06-10). "Carolina Panthers remove Jerry Richardson statue outside Bank of America Stadium". Fox News. Archived from the original on 2020-06-21. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  6. Ruiz, Steven (2020-06-10). "Why the Panthers are removing the statue of former owner Jerry Richardson from their stadium". For The Win. Archived from the original on 2020-06-22. Retrieved 2020-06-20.
  7. Carolina Panthers [@Panthers] (2020-06-10). "We were aware of the most recent conversation surrounding the Jerry Richardson statue and are concerned there may be attempts to take it down. We are moving the statue in the interest of public safety" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. Newton, David (2020-06-11). "Jerry Richardson has 'moved on' from statue". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 2020-06-23. Retrieved 2020-06-20.

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