so I've got to ask.. is it worth it being a fan of this team?

[strato]

Tepper has just never been acceptable to me.

Not important to list every reason, but the experience of being  fan is degraded year after year.

[hepcat]

Due to other life obligations I haven’t watched more than 5 minutes of Panthers football this season including preseason. I’ve only caught a few highlights and a piece of the second quarter of the Saints game. In the end it’s just a game, a distraction, and it’s better to just focus your energy on your family and the things that bring you joy. No need to get upset. Yes, it’s terrible what this man from Pittsburgh has done to the team we all love but, in the end we have no control over it. He will continue to increase his net worth by shaking down the taxpayers to renovate the stadium and using it for soccer and other events. The Panthers are now just the league punching bag and that will not change until the current owner is long gone

[Waldo]

I'm just watching it burn at this point. I want it to get better but I don't 5hink it will. Watching bad things happen to the people the helped bury this team is all I really have left. It's why I don't feel for any of the people that willingly signed up for this. The guys who's hands are tied I am more prove me wrong at this point.

[45catfan]

I've been too invested with the team, not so much now, but in the past.   I would hate to give all that up over a sh*tty owner.  I mean, Snyder finally sold the Washington team and that fan base hated him.  I figure that fan base just casually stuck it out until brighter days came around.  It's not like they started from scratch with all new fans when ownership changed.

So yes, I've turned into of those dreaded fair weather fans, for now.

[MHS831]

I am a fan from the GM perspective, so this team is still a challenge to me.  I did not expect wins this year, and I still expect Bryce to be pulled at some point unless he gets better.  Canales said something to the effect, "Bryce is our QB and we will continue to work on his improvement."  I am certain that they have a time table, that they want to make sure that Canales has had time he needs.  Many teams make a move but their season is toast either way. 

Meanwhile, Stroud looks like the real deal.  Tepper got rid of coaches and front office staff, let 2 WRs from last season go while bringing in an X, drafting a future X or Z, and drafting a TE.  We upgraded tremendously at RG, LG, and C.  We still suck.  There are only 2 parts to this problem left--Bryce and Tepper. When Tepper admits his mistake, Bryce is gone the next day. 

Empty seats don't boo.  However, we wear white a lot at home and the visiting team wears their colors and brings their fans--they buy $200 tickets online for $30 from PSL owners, and there will be a day when people simply give up and stop renewing their seat licenses. Hearing cheering when visiting opponents score or force a turnover is worse that booing.  Tepper knows this, and his love for Bryce is not going to withstand humility on that level.

Edited September 16 by MHS831

[DeSim]

After sticking with them, I’m going to shed a tear when this team finally turns it around…whenever that’ll be. 

[AggieLean]

I can’t let them go completely, but I don’t devote as much time and energy as I once did. It’s just not fun anymore. It’s not fun, and there doesnt seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel.
 

I used to dream of the day that my daughter and I would be in the endzone, and have Cam or whoever was the QB, hand my daughter a football. Never got that opportunity. Cam didn’t last, and the batch of QBs we’ve had in here since have been boring and not really good. We live in Atlanta, so I think she’s going to be a Falcons fan. The Hawks and Dream already have won her over. Couldn’t sell her on the hornets. 

[Mage]

I might not care as much as I used to, but I will always be a Panthers fan.  

And you know, I get the frustration, but the best thing I did was immediately accept the team was garbage after the first quarter of Week 1.  I have found our beatdowns entertaining and look forward to it.  I know that sounds bad, but I'm serious.  Just stream Redzone on your computer so you can have good football on  and soak in the history you are watching unfold.

 

[travisura]

I'm way past the point of letting results bother me. I tune in to see how the team performs in different scenarios, and also if you don't really watch the games then how can you justify posting strong opinions on here?

[cardiackat88.]

I have taken a job in Tampa and fully plan to take my son to Raymond James to watch them play this year.

I am moving back from 10 years worth of overseas work and football Sundays will be like a brand new experience for me.

[UNCrules2187]

I don't think I will ever stop following the team. Maybe not as zealously as I did in the past, but even now I spend way too much of my time during the season on this team. I won't lie, I was cautiously optimistic going into this season, but that probably reflects more on me (I'm always optimistic going into every season), but my expectations have been severely downgraded. I don't think this team will go 0-17, but if this team can get even 3 wins it will be a miracle.

I think the toughest thing is that from day 1 of Tepper's ownership, there has never seemed to have been any semblance of a plan to build this team. It's been one moon shot after another and holdovers left and right. When Tepper fired Rhule and decided he didn't want to promote Wilks to the full time job (which I was against at the time, but my god, could this franchise use him for some tone setting right about now), he should've completely cleaned house in the coaching staff and front office. He didn't, fired Reich, and again didn't clean house. Canales will get a minimum of 3 years IMO just because Tepper knows the optics of his tenure, but if (when?) Canales is fired, I hope to god it's a clean sweep in the coaching staff and front office. It sucks to be this down on a hire 2 games into the season, but it really feels like the whole operation needs to be detonated and rebuilt from the studs up. 

Edited September 16 by UNCrules2187

[MHS831]

Think of the void on the roster from our past 6 drafts or so--remember, we lost Moore and got less (Bryce).  Moore was a first rounder who is now in his prime, as is Burns.  Brown was on the sideline, another first rounder.  We still have Legette,  Ickey and Thompson, two still developing and the other past his prime. I nearly forgot Horn because he has played in less than half the games.  First and second rounders are the core of a building process, and where are our second rounders?  TMJ? Mingo?  Greg Little?  Gross Matos?  Chinn?  In my view, we have sucked in the second round.  Of course, Brooks will be good in 2025, we hope.  This means that our GM determines how good we are.  I personally liked Morgan's draft (not sure about Legette) but time will tell. 

[Brooklyn 3.0]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

At what point do you just let go?

Why would you hang in there?

You don't have to "let go" or "hang in there". Just don't treat the NFL like you used to. Watch RedZone, don't watch one week, etc. You can still keep in tune with what the Panthers are doing without being invested. It's just a game afterall.

[CPcavedweller]

1 hour ago, rayzor said:

At what point do you just let go?

Why would you hang in there?

You don’t let go of your fandom, you just stop scheduling activities around the ability to watch/attend games. 
 

I watched every game that Jimmy Clausen started, waiting to see if Fox would give Armanti a shot, which he never did. 
 

I watched the entire game yesterday hoping to see Andy Dalton come in. Every new drive, I’d chuckle, or scoff, when Bryce came back out. 
 

The pinnacle for me was the “little jump pass” comment. It’s so bad I can’t look away. I don’t have any feelings about the outcome of the game, but the Panthers are so bad right now it’s hard to turn away. 
 

Seeing Adam Theilen almost throw his helmet down, seeing Diontae Johnson shake his head after every play and show zero emotion after a catch, seeing everyone sort of just tip toe around Bryce, is worth it. But they realize the same thing that we do, it isn’t Bryce’s fault that he’s 5’10 and it isn’t his fault that coaches won’t bench him. 

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