A Charlotte restaurant poked fun at Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper this week after Tepper visited the establishment prior to last week’s 2024 NFL draft.
Outside the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille, a sign reads, “Hats off to the new Panthers,” in reference to an encounter Tepper had with the restaurant’s staff:
Swung by before work to snag a pic today pic.twitter.com/7XyQMsF5pi
— David Scott (@DavidSc17628255) May 1, 2024
Tepper saw a sign outside the restaurant last week that read, “Please let the coach & GM pick this year,” prompting Tepper to stop in and have a discussion about it:
Panthers Owner David Tepper just stopped inside to have a word with the owners about the sign out front. This is not a joke #Panthers pic.twitter.com/SYI0AyOlk4
— Brock Saturno (@Bsaturno9) April 25, 2024
At the start of the video, Tepper is seen removing a hat from the host’s head, and the new “hats off” sign is a clear nod to the encounter:
‘LET THE COACH AND GM PICK’ 🏈: Surveillance footage captured the moment @Panthers owner David Tepper walked into a Charlotte restaurant after a sign was put up prior to the NFL Draft.
Full story: https://t.co/tYPhlekttU pic.twitter.com/tc0eihPAkT
— WBTV News (@WBTV_News) April 26, 2024
While that action could have been viewed as confrontational by some, the Charlotte Observer‘s Alex Zietlow reported that Tepper was “friendly” with the staff.
Tepper has been the Panthers’ owner since 2018, and over the past several years, he has gained the reputation of being a hands-on owner.
While that can be a positive in certain situations, he has also had a great deal of blame thrown in his direction by fans and reporters for some of the decisions that have been made in relation to the franchise.
In the wake of the Panthers using the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft on Alabama quarterback Bryce Young, speculation ran wild regarding the notion that then-head coach Frank Reich preferred Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud, only for Tepper to push for the selection of Young.
In November, Tepper denied the rumors, telling reporters that taking Young was a choice shared by many within the organization:
“Just the way our processes go here, I’ll just answer this really plain. In all those decisions, whether it was [hiring] the head coach, whether it was [drafting] Bryce, I don’t really vote on those decisions until the last piece, OK? So those decisions are made by … the football people.
