The NFL is dead, drowned in a cascade of black, silver, white and Panther blue.
Sure, the Carolina Panthers lost Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara to the Denver Broncos, and the only things that looked dead in Levi Stadium that night were the offenses of both teams.
But, the disappointment in Carolina shouldn’t cause fans to forget what happened in Charlotte during the 2015 season. The hometown Panthers started writing an obituary in September that took several months to complete.
When it was done, the NFL – the “No Fun League” – was dead and gone, a thing of the past … at least for now. Most fans around the country enjoyed watching the death happen week-by-week, so who knows when, or if, it will be resurrected.
This season, Carolina, the executioners … the smile-a-minute, fun-and-run Panthers … became the new face of the National Football League, with appreciation from fans around the country, regardless of what happened in that last game in California.
The assassination was a full team effort.
For sure, quarterback Cam Newton got the most television time, running through and passing over hapless opponents, leaving them in his wake. To make it even worse, he smiled, laughed and had fun doing it. The ritual of young fans, many decked out in team colors, coming to the bottom row of the end zone, hoping to get a football from Newton after touchdowns, became a team trademark. A lot of footballs were lost that way.
Some folks in other cities didn’t care much for Newton’s grinning enjoyment of the game, but that happens when your team can’t keep up. Jealousy can be an ugly thing.
But, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player wasn’t the only one pulling the trigger and having fun doing it.
The offense baffled and often embarrassed opponents. Despite losing top receiver Kelvin Benjamin for the season in August, Greg Olsen (77 regular season catches) and Ted Ginn (10 regular season touchdowns) led an effective receiving corps. Jonathan Stewart pounded defensive lines and when he was injured, Cameron Artis-Payne got it done.
Offensive coordinator Mike Shula, whose father Don was head coach of two Super Bowl champions, used the team’s vast arsenal of weapons and tricks. He designed the offense to meet Newton’s unprecedented combination of size and skill.
On the defensive side, lineman Kawann Short led the team with 11 sacks, while linebacker Luke Kuechly led the team with 118 tackles, intercepted four regular-season passes and returned two picks for scores in playoff games. Nine Panthers’ opponents scored 17 points or less.
But, should anyone have been surprised when the Panthers turned out to be exuberant, emotional, flamboyant and fun-loving? After all, the head coach is Ron Rivera, a linebacker in Chicago for nine years, including the 1985 season when the Bears demolished the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, 46-10.
Talk about a team with personality, you might remember those Bears … defensive tackle turned fullback William “Refrigerator” Perry, unorthodox quarterback Jim McMahon, and the flashy all-time great runner Walter Payton. It was one of the more brash, in-your-face teams ever in the NFL. Rivera had nine career interceptions for Chicago and was the first Mexican/Puerto Rican to play on a Super Bowl championship team.
“He (Rivera) is real loose, real chill,” Panthers cornerback Charles Tillman told The New York Daily News in an interview the week before the Super Bowl. “The fact that he tells you, ‘Hey, keep your personality. We’ve got some crazy guys on our team; we’ve got some quiet guys on our team; we’ve got mellow guys on our team; we’ve got hyper guys on our team. But hey, be you. Be yourself.’”
As a coach, Rivera has built his reputation as a teacher, building winning teams around the strengths of his players. After taking over a 2-14 Carolina squad in 2011, he patiently did just that, recognizing his players’ strong points, adding to the team through trades and the draft, and developing the Panthers into the new face of the NFL … even if some fans didn’t like it.
The unpredictable, exhilarating, bone-crunching Panthers did us all a favor. They gave us one of the most full-of-fun seasons in football history. Who knows how long the fun will last, but at least for now …
R.I.P. “No Fun League.”
Hope you stay buried for a long time.