Rock Bottom of Panther Fandom

[Matthias]

I was born to be a Panthers fan despite them not even being a valid thought until 10 years later. No offense to out-of-state fans, but this is my state. This is my team. I take pride in them. I feel they are an extension of myself. They represent me abroad whether they know it or not.

I've been through it all. 1-15. 2-14. 7-9s. 8-8s. All of it. Every year. I've watched every game. I set up my whole week around watching us play each Sunday. I've lost jobs due to them not giving me Sunday's off or not allowing me to come in later so I could see our games.

And through it all, I've never been this disappointed in our team. I've never been more let down. When we went 1-15 or 2-14, we all had an idea we were going to be bad those years. At the very least, we didn't expect the playoffs or Superbowl.

This year, we did. And we had a right to. We finally, after 16 years acquired a franchise QB. We finished with 6 wins last year. We loaded up with talent at certain spots such as WR, that were long neglected. We even made trades. We signed some stop-gap guys, that at the very least, should've been good "plug and play" players to get us to our destination.

We had multiple team leaders come out and say "We're winning the Superbowl." We made it through training camp virtually unscathed.

And now this.

Week after horrible, lackluster, mundane, mediocre week. We don't beat teams we SHOULD beat, and we lose to teams that we shouldn't. We find new ways to lose each week. Our coach(es) is out to lunch while on the job. Our owner is Mr. Status Quo. An old-fashioned, dated, control freak.

And here we are again... Scrapping and scraping to figure out if we could still somehow make the playoffs if we get it together... Just like we do every year at this point (minus four)... But, we won't get it together. It's not being pessimistic, it's being factual. We never do and we never have - except for those four winning seasons.

We had high expectations. Possibly higher than ever going into a season. But, the problem is, we have a losing culture established that is in direct conflict with those or any other expectations we set as fans.

This is rock bottom. The ways we are finding to lose combined with the style in which we go about finding those ways is horrendous. Coming out unprepared each and every week with players and coaches now looking like they just come in to punch the clock and get paid. We obviously, know "everyone wants to win," but some don't know how, and they don't have the drive to figure out how.

Deflating. Depressing. Disappointing. Unacceptable. I am, always have been, and always will be a Panthers fan. I runs in my blood. I couldn't shake it if I tried, and I won't... But, I have never felt this low as a Panthers fan. I don't know where we go from here. So many questions, and no answers.

That is all. /rant

Don't get down. It's just a game. Imagine how Bills fans feel after losing four straight superbowls, and not making the playoffs in years. They just got through paying their QB a big contract, and gave Williams a hundred million dollar contract, and they look worse than they did last year. For me personally, even though my Panthers stink, my Gamecocks look to be ready for a run national title run in college! So I'm good there at least.

So get out and look at the things that really matter.

[stankowalski]

Good points, OP. While I will always remember the 1-15 season as the absolute lowest point for me as a Panthers fan, this year certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth...mainly because of expectations. The 1-15 year we kind of knew we were going to be bad, but if memory serves correctly we won our first game...against Minnesota (who was a good team that year I think). So we kind of got a jolt of positivity that quickly deflated as we went on to lose our next 15 games.

BTW...I'm starting to side with the people that think we need a major change in upper management. I mean you need look no further than New Orleans to realize how good or bad a team can be just from coaching.

[shelbypanther]

Would you rather be a Jaguar fan?

Hell no, Jacksonville is a poo hole. That'll be the team in LA soon anyway, not the Panthers as some want to believe.

No, i believe the evil bastard that owns the Panthers promised a Super Bowl within 10 years, along with a bunch of other horse poo. It is nice to see the fanbase finally waking up and seeing what a fake evil piece of excrement Richardson really is, right down to using his power and money to save his own life while pushing to the top of a transplant list, while letting some poor person, likely a Panther fan who never got to go to a game, die. He might even drop below the name George Shinn on the evil sports franchise owners list in Charlotte.

[Ka-Say What]

This was very well written, and very much sums up how I'm feeling as a fan. It's a very hopeless feeling; and, maybe I'm forgetting some of the lowest times as a Panthers' fan, but I too can't remember ever feeling quite as down on the franchise. I think it's because there are plenty of personnel pieces in place to have a very good team, but just enough gaps to make sure that will never happen as a reality. And the play-calling of the last two weeks...oh, the play-calling. It's 4th and goal on the one, and Cam drops back and rolls around to pass? Franchise spends $50 Million on the running game, and tbey don't trust that $50 Million to convert you a 4th and goal on the 1? Same with last week; you don't trust your running game to convert a 4th and 1 for you that can lock up the game? Ron Rivera needs a new profession. He’s a nice guy, but overmatched as an NFL head coach.

I remember looking forward to seeing the team play every week, with the possible exception of the darkest days of the Seifert Era. But, even then, that season felt like an anomaly. I don't like the long-term trajectory of the franchise, nor do I like the in-game decision making. That's very disillusioning for a fan who is trying his best to stay loyal.

I’m kinda worried that we're becoming the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NFL. Maybe it's just a matter of time before Cam Newton unceremoniously dumps us on prime-TV for the Miami Dolphins.

[i do agree with those that say to take a deep/breath and go outside, it's just sports. But some of us take a lot of pride in our hometown team, and want to see them succeed. It's disappointing when they don't. ]

[Proudiddy]

Don't get down. It's just a game. Imagine how Bills fans feel after losing four straight superbowls, and not making the playoffs in years. They just got through paying their QB a big contract, and gave Williams a hundred million dollar contract, and they look worse than they did last year. For me personally, even though my Panthers stink, my Gamecocks look to be ready for a run national title run in college! So I'm good there at least.

So get out and look at the things that really matter.

Being a hometeam/state guy, none of my teams are looking all that promising as-is lol. That being said, look at our history and imagine how awesome it would be to make it to the Superbowl four straight years in a row? It's exciting because it means you are dominant and have sustained success. We have NEVER had that. We have never been consistent. And now, we are trending downwards.

[stankowalski]

No, i believe the evil bastard that owns the Panthers promised a Super Bowl within 10 years

yeah...remember how we went to the NFC championship game in just our second season? I was actually believing we might could have an organization that builds dynasties...boy was I way off.

[Fiz]

The 2001 team competed in most of the games and was loaded with young talent that was finding its way....young talent that eventually became a core of the 2003, and even 2005 team

Uh that team finished last in offense and defense.

As far as young talent, I suggest you directly compare the rosters between 01 and 03.

There were some key players to be sure, but hurney and fox really overhauled that team.

I mean poo I watched Matt lytle start a game.

[Dont Check My Chicken]

Siefert and Fox left us with a losing mentality that brought us our worst losing seasons to date, but McDumbass, Chud and R&R have brought forth incompetence that breeds losing. Which is more frustrating? I agree with Proudiddy because the frustration is here and now AND because our expectations weren't at a level previously to be as crushing as they have been THIS season. The coaches need to grow up and Hurney needs to go!

[CarolinaNut]

Until Hurney goes i feel like this is what to expect...he just doesn't know how to build a team IMO

[Proudiddy]

Good points, OP. While I will always remember the 1-15 season as the absolute lowest point for me as a Panthers fan, this year certainly leaves a bad taste in the mouth...mainly because of expectations. The 1-15 year we kind of knew we were going to be bad, but if memory serves correctly we won our first game...against Minnesota (who was a good team that year I think). So we kind of got a jolt of positivity that quickly deflated as we went on to lose our next 15 games.

BTW...I'm starting to side with the people that think we need a major change in upper management. I mean you need look no further than New Orleans to realize how good or bad a team can be just from coaching.

Thanks Stan.

In terms of an individual season, it (2001) certainly was the worst. But, we were so close in so many of those games and lost them right at the end... And that team truly was young and didn't know how to close out games. It was so hard seeing all of the different ways we found to lose that season - unbelievable, in fact.

But, this season the expectations for most were moderate to high. We have a franchise QB, we have established talent on both sides of the ball, much more than we did in 2001 or 2010, and by all accounts we've heard up to this point, the players believed in Rivera. There was already a sense of complacency and "ho hum" about Seifert brewing at that point. He just felt disconnected. And up until recently, the fans still had a reason to believe in not only that the players would be better and the team improved, but that Rivera still had promising potential as a coach.

All of that combined with the cumulative effect of recent history/losing tradition, and this is crushing.

[AceMan]

[Nemesis]

Do you have season tickets and go to any of the games? the reason I ask is because part of our problem is the home team fans that attend the games.

To all the huddle fans that post remarks here and don't attend the home games and live close enough to go to the games,you are part of the problem and I think your opinion doesn't count.

[shelbypanther]

I have tickets for DEN, ATL and OAK in hand. I wish I had waited, they'll likely be dirt cheap on Ebay and Stubhub soon. :(

Fans can't really revolt and stay away due to investing megabucks into PSL's. If those fans defect en masse, then Jerry might wake up, but you will still have a core in the club seats that will come to games as social events and will line his pockets. Expect loads of Dallas fans, moreso than usual, in two weeks, loads of Peyton hillbillies from Ten-i-see after that, then massive amounts of Fowlclown fans up I-85 after that.

[Nemesis]

I have tickets for DEN, ATL and OAK in hand. I wish I had waited, they'll likely be dirt cheap on Ebay and Stubhub soon. :(

Fans can't really revolt and stay away due to investing megabucks into PSL's. If those fans defect en masse, then Jerry might wake up, but you will still have a core in the club seats that will come to games as social events and will line his pockets. Expect loads of Dallas fans, moreso than usual, in two weeks, loads of Peyton hillbillies from Ten-i-see after that, then massive amounts of Fowlclown fans up I-85 after that.

I suggest you sell your DEN,ATL and OAK tickets for $5.00 each so we can have more DEN,ATL and OAK fans attend those games in you place.The Panthers have very few loyal fans and I think you are a good example.