The story of the Carolina Panthers’ season has been cinematic in its arc. Under the harsh glare of public scrutiny, the now Super Bowl-bound squad had to play together on the field, week in and week out, in order to disprove the haters -- using that external negativity as its motivation to perform every time it stepped under the bright lights of a given stadium.
Ask anyone in the franchise, and they’ll say it was a collective effort. Cliché as the line may sound, owner Jerry Richardson backed up the sentiment this week when the team announced that Richardson will foot the bill for every single member of the organization to attend Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7.
“Mr. Richardson understands that this memorable season would not have been possible without harmony and a complete team effort,” Panthers president Danny Morrison told the Charlotte Observer on Tuesday. “This is not unprecedented as he also provided an opportunity for the Panthers staff to travel to the 2004 Super Bowl in Houston, Texas. It’s an incredibly gracious gift.”
This commendable gesture on the part of Richardson is part of a long line of nice deeds done by Carolina this year. Along with the team giving touchdown balls to young fans every home game, quarterback Cam Newton has spent much time working with members of the community, supporting the people of Charlotte through regular acts of community service just as the people of Charlotte support him on the gridiron every down of every game.
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