Carolina Panthers fans FUME as owner’s wife was asked for draft input

Carolina Panthers fans fumed upon learning owner David Tepper’s wife, Nicole, was asked for her input while drafting players in April. 

On July 3, a video of Nicole joining team staff in the war room during the draft gained virality as she appears to chime in on their selections. 

‘He’s like: “Would you trade up for…”’ Nicole whispers in the clip as head coach Dave Canales looks on. ‘For the guy that I like, I said: “Yeah.”‘

Given the state of the team, who went 2-15 last season, fans reacted in outrage over the owner’s wife being asked which players she wants to draft. Meanwhile, fans from other teams trolled the Carolina fanbase over the clip. 

‘Damn. I thought my Cowboys were bad,’ one user wrote. 

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‘Poor Panthers fans lmao,’ another added. ‘Tepper is the new Dan Snyder.’ 

‘They are running out of new content to slander us with,’ a panthers fan commented while another said ‘Tepper needs to sell the team.’ 

‘This franchise is going to be a train wreck as long as Tepper is there,’ said a third. 

While plenty were not thrilled over Nicole’s involvement, some fans came to her defense, hitting out the apparent sexism. 

‘Why is this crazy,’ one user asked. ‘Because she’s a woman and men don’t think women should be allowed to work in sports let alone discuss sports.’

‘Ok, and men tell their wives everything,’ another wrote. ‘Why is this wrong? We’re all equal. They’ve been in this for a while. But not saying David is the best for this.’ 

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Tepper took ownership over the Panthers two years after appearing in the Super Bowl in 2016. Since then, the franchise degraded to an abysmal 31-61 record.

The Panthers selected WR Xavier Legette from South Carolina with the 32nd pick in the draft. They then took RB Jonathan Brooks, ILB Trevin Wallace, and TE Ja’Tavion Sanders in the second, third, and fourth rounds, respectively. 

In the later rounds, they selected CB Chau Smith-Wade, DT Jaden Crumedy, and LB Michael Barrett.

The picks will look to make an impact as their team hopes to get out of their slump behind one of the worst NFL records in history. This past season, they had a league-worst record of 2-15 and missed their sixth straight postseason.