Richardson had a unique style of dealing with players, but generally was well-liked by those who played and coached under him. His survivors include his wife Rosalind and two of their three children Mark and Ashley. CHARLOTTE, N.C (AP) Jerry Richardson, the Carolina Panthers founder and for years one of the NFL's most influential owners until a scandal forced him to sell the . Nicole and I extend our deepest condolences to Rosalind, the entire Richardson family, and their loved ones. A year after Carolina was awarded a franchise, in 1994, Richardson spoke to The Observer about what it was like to be an NFL owner. I dont have any hobbies. "The Carolina Panthers are a testament to his extraordinary and tireless dedication to the community.But his league-first attitude as seen through his leadership of numerous NFL committees, including the Stadium Committee and Management Council Executive Committee, helped pave the way for a series of public-private stadium partnerships throughout the country, and collective bargaining agreements that continue to support the growth of the game. Cleveland Browns vs New Orleans Saints weather report: What is the temperature at FirstEnergy stadium? If he succeeded, he would become only the second NFL owner ever to both play in the league and own a team the other being George Halas. He chaired the labor committee during the 2011 lockout before owners and players agreed on a 10-year collective bargaining agreement that ended the longest work stoppage in NFL history. Sister-in-law never calls her late husbands sister and is dismissive of her grief. Fox said from the NFL combine in Indianapolis. NFL+ gives you the freedom to watch LIVE out-of-market preseason games, LIVE local and primetime regular season and postseason games on your phone or tablet, the best NFL programming on-demand, and MORE! All other NFL-related trademarks are trademarks of the National Football League. He was incredibly gracious to me when I purchased the team, and for that I am thankful. "His generosity will benefit future generations," Wofford athletics director Richard Johnson said. Jerry Richardsons contributions to professional football in the Carolinas are historic, current Panthers owner David Tepper and his wife Nicole said in a statement. Richardson was . Richardson didnt play much for Baltimore. It revealed that Richardsons assistant would escort female employees to Richardsons office and then leave. The promise came close to coming true during the 2003 season. Richardson is survived by his wife, Rosalind, son Mark and daughter Ashley Richardson Allen. Wofford offered Richardson a partial scholarship worth less than $300, and he took it. Id call it sticking to your convictions.. The statue now resides in an undisclosed storage facility. I've been told a lot of things.". Darin Gantt. It was a stormy night, she said then. The braver players like linebacker Kevin Greene and Delhomme would call him Big Cat. He was Mister Richardson to nearly everyone else in the building at Bank of America Stadium, with many shortening that name to simply Mister when referring to the team owner. As with other captains of industry, Richardson's name adorns a number of buildings throughout the two states, but few places carry it as proudly as his alma mater. Jon Richardson died of cancer in 2013. But his work was hailed in league circles as a member of the league's stadium committee, and one of commissioner Roger Goodell's close circle of trusted voices. Richardsons catch came in the horseshoe end of Memorial Stadium, where the rowdier Colts fans congregated. Winthrop actually couldn't have welcomed someone better for their future, despite the fact that she probably appeared to be just another student at the moment. But Richardsons reputation took a tremendous hit when he announced he was selling the Panthers on Dec. 17, 2017, the same day Sports Illustrated reported that four former Panthers employees received significant monetary settlements due to inappropriate sexually suggestive language and actions by Richardson. Richardson died. After purchasing the Panthers, Tepper said he was "contractually obligated" to keep the statue of Richardson, flanked by two panthers, outside of the downtown Charlotte stadium that Richardson built. . "I didn't know Mr. Richardson very well at all,'' Olsen said. Stephanie & I were saddened to learn of the passing of Jerry Richardson, Rivera said on social media. But before he could ride around those games and bask in the adulation of having brought the NFL to the Carolinas, he had to deliver them. CHARLOTTE Jerry Richardson, the founder of the Carolina Panthers, passed away Wednesday night at age 86. Will Buffalo Bills' Nyheim Hines be fined for 'Santa's Helpers' elf cleats during Chicago Bears Christmas tie? The team said that "moving the statue is in the interest of public safety." The following month the NFL fined Richardson $2.75 million for alleged workplace misconduct. He married Rosalind Sallenger Richardson. The Panthers defeated the Buccaneers 21-14. But when you get to some of them, the word moves fast to the rest of them.. People had said it was 150-to-1, 200-to-1. In 2000, wide receiver Rae Carruth, a former first-round draft pick, was convicted on a murder conspiracy charge in connection with the drive-by shooting death of his pregnant girlfriend. Jerry Richardson entered Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, after completing high school in Fayetteville, North Carolina. "I didn't pay any attention to it. Charlotte had already become a professional sports town with the arrival of the NBA's Hornets in 1988, but those were the days when the city struggled to build an identity as anything other than a regional outpost, still confused with Charleston, S.C. or Charlottesville, Va., and years from becoming a national banking center. How could you ever forget that? Richardson said in the 1995 interview with The Observer. . While Richardson seldom held press conferences even during the early seasons of the Panthers franchise, his public appearances became far less frequent in his later years. Jerry Richardson's Wife, Marriage & Relationship Richardson is married to Rosalind Sallenger Richardson. But as he stepped back from some of his day-to-day work with the team, his influence within the NFL remained large. Richardson is survived by his wife, Rosalind, son Mark and daughter Ashley Richardson Allen. The statue had become controversial following the workplace misconduct scandal that served to oust Richardson from his ownership of the Panthers and complicate his legacy. Jerry Richardson Net Worth. Too grueling. He still holds the school's single-game record for receiving yards (241 against Newberry in 1956), as well as records for touchdown receptions in a season (9) and career (21). Richardson served on several high-level owners committees, playing a key role in labor negotiations with the players union. Could the Cowboys look at a running back in first round again? Playing for the Browns that day was offensive tackle Mike McCormack, whom Richardson would later hire as the Panthers first president. The Panthers were the first team to employ the concept, and the influx of cash was crucial to privately financing what was then known as Carolinas Stadium. That kind of production earned him Associated Press Little All-America honors in 1957 and 1958, and in 1959, he was drafted by the Baltimore Colts. He went on to make his fortune in the restaurant business, becoming chief executive officer of Flagstar, the sixth-largest food service company in the country at the time. Chad Reuter provides a stock report from Indianapolis. Nicole and I extend our deepest condolences to Rosalind, the entire Richardson family, and their loved ones. He and I spent a tremendous amount of time talking about his vision for what the Panthers could do for the Carolinas. Ive always told him he came into the world with a streak of lightning.. Although Richardson once promised the Panthers would win a Super Bowl "within 10 years" of beginning play in 1995, they never did. The team said that moving the statue is in the interest of public safety. It has never returned. Foxs greatest success came in 2003, when a team with Jake Delhomme at quarterback and young stars like Steve Smith at wide receiver and Julius Peppers at defensive end made an unlikely run to the Super Bowl before losing on a last-second field goal to the New England Patriots, 32-29. Richardson pulled down an 8-yard pass from Unitas for his first NFL touchdown in a 38-31 loss to Cleveland on Nov. 1, 1959. While hitchhiking with some Wofford friends at Pawleys Island, S.C., during the summer of 1957, he met a Winthrop student and former Florence High cheerleader named Rosalind Sallenger. Category: Richest Business. A native son who was shaped by the region, his . NFL and the NFL shield design are registered trademarks of the National Football League.The team names, logos and uniform designs are registered trademarks of the teams indicated. "With the arrival of the Panthers in 1995, he changed the landscape of sports in the region and gave the NFL fans here a team to call their own. The team reached the Super Bowl in the 2003 and 2015 seasons, but lost both times. On game days, he'd ride around Bank of America Stadium in his golf cart, greeting fans and taking pictures, relishing the moments. And during Richardson's tenure as owner he always made sure the NFL logo instead of his team's was at midfield of Bank of America Stadium. After he had a heart transplant in Charlotte in 2009, Richardson lived for 14 more years. Too brutal.. Info. A new home for Michael Thomas? "The odds against us were huge. Jerry Richardson got his heart transplanted in the year 2009. But his fourth-quarter, 12-yard TD catch from Unitas gave the Colts a 21-9 lead in a game they would win 31-16. I said, Yes sir, it did. He said, thats a good thing everything will be OK. And then he hung up the phone.. He went on to make his fortune in the restaurant business, becoming chief executive officer of Flagstar, the sixth-largest food service company in the country at the time. Entering the last preseason game before final cuts, Richardson and Michigan States John Lewis were battling for the final receiver spot. "The NFL community is deeply saddened by the passing of Jerry Richardson," commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement. Jerry Richardson, the former Carolina Panthers owner who sold the team amid accusations of workplace misconduct, and his wife Rosalind have donated $5 million to Charleston's International . With the Colts, he roomed with quarterback Johnny Unitas, and caught a touchdown pass from the Hall of Famer in the 1959 NFL Championship Game. Richardson died peacefully Wednesday night at his Charlotte home, the team said in a statement. That concept was iffy enough that well-known oddsmaker Danny Sheridan gave Charlotte 50-1 odds of getting an NFL team in 1989. Richardson ended the 59 regular season with seven receptions and three touchdowns, but saved his most memorable play for the title game against the New York Giants (the Super Bowl did not yet exist).