The Carolina Panthers and owner David Tepper have made headlines this week for firing their head coach, Frank Reich, just 11 games into his tenure. Sitting at 1-10 through 11 games, the Panthers have the worst record in the NFL. Tepper’s frustrations were clear during a recent press conference, but the Charlotte Observer’s Scott Fowler was “frozen out” from asking Tepper questions.
Fowler has been a sports columnist at the Charlotte Observer since 1994. Recently, he wrote a column regarding Reich’s dismissal, saying that Tepper “didn’t fire the person who is most responsible for this long run of chaos at Bank of America Stadium: Himself.”
Later, Fowler took to X (also known as Twitter) to share he was at the press conference where Tepper addressed the media regarding Reich’s firing and wasn’t called on to ask a question despite sitting in the front row with his hand raised high. “Felt like it was purposeful,” Fowler added in his post.
What shocked Fowler about this is the fact that the two have had a cordial working relationship over the years since Tepper took control of the franchise. “He was hailed as something of a savior… Just because Tepper was accessible, we all liked him right away. And you know what? I still like him as a person,” Fowler told Awful Announcing during an interview.
However, Fowler also noted that the two aren’t on the best of terms at the moment. “Today, we’re not on good terms at all. He ghosted me at this press conference. It seemed very purposeful.”
