David Tepper has come in for scathing criticism since becoming Carolina Panthers owner. From never having a winning record to the drink-throwing incident, Hunger Games culture, and everything in between, it's been a horror show from the moment he bought the franchise from Jerry Richardson for a then-record $2.275 billion.
However, perceptions are changing.
Tepper is staying in the shadows, letting the football people run the operation, and giving the project time. There's no more hogging the spotlight. Instead, the Panthers are working with a collaboration and purpose not seen throughout his ownership tenure before.
It's a huge positive. The Panthers might not have much on-field growth to show for this newfound approach from Tepper, but there is a genuine plan in place. More importantly, the billionaire hedge fund manager is willing to allocate patience to the project and is reportedly not meddling at all.
David Tepper's improved approach is taking the bad publicity elsewhere
That's not the case with others around the NFL. A recent report from The Athletic centered on New York Jets owner Woody Johnson mercifully dethroned Tepper as the league's most dysfunctional owner.
The revelations from Dianna Russini, Zack Rosenblatt, and Michael Silver that went in-depth into the chaos under Johnson were astonishing. It had everything. Some of it was scarcely believable, but recognizable at the same time. It also had similarities to the report from Russini and Joe Person on Tepper's mismanagement of the Panthers around this time last year.
Perhaps the most laughable part of the lengthy piece centered on Johnson nixing a trade for prolific wide receiver Jerry Jeudy because his Madden rating was too low.
"[Joe] Douglas told the Broncos that [Woody] Johnson didn’t want to make the trade because the owner felt [Jerry] Jeudy’s player rating in “Madden NFL,” the popular video game, wasn’t high enough, according to multiple league sources. The Broncos ultimately traded the receiver to the Cleveland Browns. Last Sunday, Jeudy crossed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the first time in his career. Another example came when Johnson pushed back on signing free-agent guard John Simpson due to a lackluster “awareness” rating in Madden. The Jets signed Simpson anyway, and he has had a solid season: Pro Football Focus currently has him graded as the eighth-best guard in the NFL."The Athletic writers on Woody Johnson
This is as bad as it gets. Something not even Tepper has been accused of during his fumbling of team affairs. Having a say in personnel is one thing. Johnson's reported stance is entirely different in the most perplexing way.
Tepper is staying out of the limelight for this exact reason. There are very few instances throughout NFL history of hands-on owners having success. From Jerry Jones to Dan Snyder, it's a who's who of ego-maniacs and people wanting absolute power regardless of whether it brings success or not.
The Panthers were heading down the same path with Tepper. He could easily go back to his old ways, but the noticeable presence of stability represents a refreshing change of pace for now.
And who knows, perhaps Tepper will have a wry smile to himself with all the bad publicity going somewhere else for once.