NFL pressured Panthers owners on team name, uniform colors
NFL to Richardsons in ’93: Call your team the ‘Carolina Rhinos’; rhino skin ‘a natural version of football pads’
This article appeared in the Oct. 23, 2019, edition of the Charlotte Ledger, a morning e-newsletter focused on local business news. Sign up for free here:
A lot of people around Charlotte have probably never seen Roar magazine, the official publication of the Carolina Panthers that is mailed to season-ticket holders. And after this month, they’ll really never see it, since the Panthers are ending the print publication for good with the current issue.
The final edition is notable, though, for its focus on the founding of the franchise — and it includes some details from the early 1990s that seem never to have been previously revealed.
For instance, the magazine includes an interview with Mark Richardson, the former Panthers team president and son of founding owner Jerry Richardson, who confides that the NFL sought to pressure the team on its colors and mascot:
There were concerns raised within league circles about the nickname Panthers. A team nicknamed the Panthers and one whose color scheme was predominantly black might have appealed to street gangs and reflected poorly on the NFL. Around the same time, a team with the same nickname, the Florida Panthers, began play in the NHL in 1993. They were owned by Wayne Huizenga, who also was a co-owner of the Miami Dolphins.
On July 12, 1993, the NFL sent a letter to the Carolinas’ ownership group suggesting an alternative nickname. The following are excerpts from the letter. …
“To offer you some alternatives, enclosed are 13 comps for a potential Carolina Rhinos. If the creature is not native to the Carolinas, then neither is the Lion (or Tiger) to Detroit, the Bear to Chicago, the Ram to Los Angeles, etc. The rhino is a large, powerful creature, fierce when provoked with a skin that is almost a natural version of football pads.“
“We never wavered off of the Panthers, even though we had pressure to,” Mark affirmed. “They wanted us to minimize the black and they wanted us to consider a different nickname. At the end we said, ‘We’re paying $140 million, so we ought to be able to name the team what we want it to be and have the colors that we want to have.’ In the end, they agreed.”
Whew.
