Two years after disgraced owner Jerry Richardson sold the Carolina Panthers, his statue outside bank of America Stadium is coming down.
Richardson sold the Panthers after being accused of racist and sexist behavior, but his statue outside the stadium was kept up. Not anymore, as WSOC’s Joe Bruno reported from the scene that construction workers were preparing to remove it.
BREAKING: The Jerry Richardson statue is coming down. Charlotte DOT is about the close the road near Bank of America Stadium to allow the work to happen pic.twitter.com/WBagBz2i2p
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) June 10, 2020
In a statement, the Panthers said that they were moving the statue to prevent it from being debased or taken down by others.
We were aware of the most recent conversation surrounding the Jerry Richardson statue and are concerned there may be attempts to take it down. We are moving the statue in the interest of public safety.
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) June 10, 2020
When David Tepper bought the Panthers, he said that he was contractually obligated to keep the statue where it was. Given how serious the misconduct was, Tepper is probably more than happy to use the current state of affairs as reason to get it out of sight.
