CPCarolina Panthers

Franchise history

The Carolina Panthers were awarded to the Carolinas as the NFL's 29th franchise on October 26, 1993, one of two expansion teams (with the Jacksonville Jaguars) added for 1995. Founding owner Jerry Richardson, a former Baltimore Colts wide receiver who built his fortune in fast food (Hardee's), became the first ex-NFL player to own an expansion franchise. The Panthers chose their name and black, Carolina-blue, and silver color scheme through a fan-input process, playing their inaugural two seasons at Clemson's Memorial Stadium while Charlotte's new downtown stadium (opened 1996 as Ericsson Stadium, later Bank of America Stadium) was finished.

Under coach Dom Capers, Carolina became the fastest expansion team in NFL history to reach a conference championship game, losing the 1996 NFC title game to Green Bay in just its second season. A late-1990s decline followed, but coach John Fox rebuilt the roster around a punishing defense and quarterback Jake Delhomme, reaching Super Bowl XXXVIII after the 2003 season, a narrow loss to New England. The franchise's high-water mark came in 2015: MVP quarterback Cam Newton led a 15-1 team to Super Bowl 50, where Carolina fell to Peyton Manning's Denver Broncos.

Off the field, Richardson sold the team in 2018 to David Tepper following an NFL investigation into workplace misconduct allegations, ending 24 years of founding ownership. The Panthers have since cycled through several coaches and struggled to return to sustained contention, though the black-and-blue Panther has remained a fixture of the modern NFC South alongside Atlanta, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay.

Sources

• Pro Football Reference
• Wikipedia - Carolina Panthers
• Wikipedia - History of the Carolina Panthers

Runner-up finishes (2)

• Super Bowl XXXVIII - 2003
• Super Bowl 50 - 2015

See the full super bowl champions list for the winner each of these years.