Why did you become a Panther fan?

[Rise of The Hive]

I am from SC so it was easy.

 

Meeting The Big Cat at Hardees before also helped.

[B.BERSIN]

Thousands of people have asked me such question, how could you like THAT sport and why you become a Panthers fan?

 

2007 season, I saw a wallpaper of Mike Minter on the internet and I was shocked, I thought this man was so man you know, and the looks on his face when celebrating for a victory or play is so sweet. Most importantly, I like the jersey.

 

And the rest is history.

[teeray]

Pretty boring but I support all the local teams. As soon as we got the franchise I was all in

[DaveThePanther2008]

Growing up in North Carolina in the 60s and 70s it was the Redskins and Cowboys on TV.  My father from Baltimore was a Colt and Redskin fan.  My hero was Unitas so I was a Colt fan until that bastard Irsay took the Colts out of Baltimore.  I followed LT to New York since I was a UNC fan.   Once I heard Charlotte was in the running for a team. I have been a fan.  Once I walked into the Cathedral that is known as Erricson Stadium (now BOA) I knew this was my team.

 

I am crazy about this team.  I follow them year around like most of us here do. 

[carolina-chuck]

03' season week1: Delhomme to Proehl for the winning TD vs. Jags + that young thug that wore #89

[TheMaulClaw]

Born in NC.  Never lived in another state other then NC/SC.  This team represents not only the place I'm from, but also where all the people I love and my friends live.

 

Best uniforms.  Best region of the country.

 

I don't understand how someone can root for a team that doesn't represent where they come from.  I mean if the Panthers do well NC/SC do well. 

[OriginalPanther]

I was a 9ers fan growing up (don't hate me) but so was everyone else on my block. So I wanted my 'own' team and I jumped ship in 95 when the Panthers came into the league. I have been a fan since day one when they put the Panthers and Jaguars on the cover of Madden (so yes for all those that have jumped onto the bandwagon since Cam we have had a Madden cover). I've been loyal ever since, no regrets and I honestly believe that I am a fan of a great franchise that is on the verge of becoming a dynasty. Here is to another great year (possibly the first back to back winning seasons in team history). Cheers!

 

Keep Pounding!

[KSpan]

Grew up in Kansas City and just never liked the Chiefs.  I was 12 in 1995 and my mom said she'd buy me a new hat, and the Panthers had the coolest one at the sports store.  I talked to the clerk who told me the Panthers were a new team and I recognized some of the player names, so I started following the team right before the first season started... thought it was really cool to be on board from Day 1.  Been die-hard ever since.

 

 

[Meatloaf]

9 years and my grandfather takes me to clemson to see a football game. Never really watched football up until that point, all i cared about was the hornets and braves. But something that day got me instantly hooked...since then ive never missed a game!

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[RoaringRiot]

I always like these threads. My story is boring - I'm from Charlotte. I enjoy seeing how all of you not living in NC or SC have become Panthers fans. Sometimes it feels like there aren't any out there outside of Charlotte - it's nice to know that there are.

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[KendrickPanther]

Bob Christian scored 2 touchdowns and the Panthers routed the Jaguars in the Hall of Fame game.

[PandaPancake]

My dad never really had a team he cheered for and being in a military family we moved a lot. After he retired we settled in NC in 1992. I graduated in 2000, enlisted right after high school and never really thought about football. I was stationed in Hawaii and surfing twice a day. Fast forward to November 2001 we had been fighting the Taliban for almost two months and one of the squids somehow got a Panthers game on this tiny tv. I never thought I would see home again and it really hooked me after that

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[SIGCHI222]

I was born in Georgia and lived all over the country until 1980.  Called 8 different states home at one time or another before I turned 13.  Once arriving here, enough Falcon games were on TV for me to slowly pick them so that by the time I go off to college in "85, they are my team.  Never really felt right except that Bartkowski would usually whip the 49'ers ass once a year.  That was pretty cool.

Then, on November 5th, 1993, after boarding a military flight bound for Saudi Arabia with approximately 200 of my closest friends, Sgt. Winn calls for my attention in the row behind me.

At 30,000 feet he says, "Allen, check this out."  He then opens his shirt and shows me his military issued desert brown t-shirt has Panthers written on it in black magic marker.  He says, "You're in, right?"  I kind of smiled and said, "Sure.  Pretty cool, huh?"  The news of Jerry being awarded the team wasn't even 2 weeks old.  Sgt. Winn was from Sumter SC and knew I was, for all practical purposes, from Shelby, NC.

Sgt. Winn, was a really cool guy, probably 20 to 25 years my senior.  Always had a toothpick in his mouth.  Totally gray headed and a smartass and a hardass at the same time.  Acted like he liked me for some reason.  Always wanted to talk about the Braves or sports in general.  Reminded me of John Wayne.  Sumbitch saved my drunk ass and my buddy's drunk asses more times than I can count out of numerous altercations at the NCO club.  He was like our Dad...but cool.

 

To make a long story short, I came back to the states 7 months later, Sgt. Winn did not. 

 

I was there, in South Carolina, his home state, when the Panthers played their first (albeit not regular season) home game against Denver. 

 

Some 23 months after he asked me, "You're in, right?" the Panthers won.

 

Panthers for life.  KEEP POUNDING!!

 

[iamhubby1]

Started following the NFL when it first aired on british television in 1983.

Different teams shown every week, so didn't really follow a team liked Riggins and Darrell Green of the redskins

and Bo Jackson and Marcus Allen of the Raiders.

Decided to follow the Panthers the day the Frachise was announced - (luckily Jacksonville was granted later).

Used to follow the games on play by play on NFL.com.

Now usually get a stream of Panthers games if they are not on T.V. Don't like late games as we are 5 hours ahead

If you are 5 hours ahead, don't you know who wins before the game even starts? I bet you could make a killing with the bookies.

In other news. I was the Bar Manager at the Carolina Country Club in the early 90's. When JR came for dinner he would come to the bar and have a Makers Mark. We would talk about things until the wife came to get him. It got to be a habit. After dinner he'd have a drink and we would talk. He always remembered my name, and always treated me well.

He once asked me if I was a football fan, and who my favorite team was. I told him I grew up in Michigan and was a life-long Lions fan. That's when he told me he was trying to get a team, and asked how I felt about that. I told him that being a part of a fledgling team would be too cool. That getting in on the ground floor would be incentive enough to change my allegiances. He laughed and said he hoped everyone in both Carolinas would feel the same way.

So I feel proud to know I was one of the first people to know we were trying to get a team. Proud to consider JR a friend. And proud to say I am a Panther fan first, and a Lions fan second.