Jerry Richardson has joined the ranks of Christopher Columbus, Edward Colston and Williams Carter Wickham. On Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers removed the statue of their former owner in front of their home at Bank of America Stadium.
Though the tremendously gaudy piece never should have been erected in the first place, kudos on the team for making the right decision to correct that mistake. That elephant-sized statue in the room, dedicated to a man accused of multiple instances of sexual and racial misconduct, was a sore spot for many fans anyway.
So, what happens next? While the Panthers have not disclosed whether or not the statue will return (it won’t), let’s conjure up some possibilities to replace it.
Here are four ideas to take the place of Richardson’s likeness in front of the stadium.
Steve Smith’s famous X-clown touchdown
If you ask any Panthers fan about their all-time favorite plays, “X-Clown” will be in the conversation.
Tied at 23 at the start of the second overtime in the 2003 Divisional Round, quarterback Jake Delhomme found a speedy third-year wideout 20 yards down the field. He made the catch and did the rest, leaving the St. Louis Rams defense in his dust for a game-winning 69-yard touchdown to propel the Panthers to victory in one of the greatest playoff games in NFL history.
That wideout was Steve Smith, who would go on to add many more memorable moments in his 13-year stay in Carolina. He’d win the triple crown of the position in 2005 (still standing as the last receiver to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns), rack up three All-Pro and five Pro Bowl selections while embodying the fighting underdog spirit of the franchise.
Smith, considered by some as the greatest player the organization has ever had, remains the franchise’s leading receiver in catches, yards and scores. Even though his divorce from the team was a messy one, Smith has since patched up the relationship and was inducted as one of the first members of the stadium’s Hall of Honor in 2019.
There would be few, if any, images more aesthetically-pleasing than Smith’s X-Clown being immortalized in brass, welcoming in fans while extending his arms upon reaching the end zone on that legendary touchdown.
Julius Peppers, North Carolina legend
Is there anyone more North Carolina than this man?
Born in Wilson County, about a three-hour drive from Charlotte, Peppers has bled Carolina blue from start to finish. He played his high school ball at Southern Nash Senior High School in Bailey, N.C., attended the University of North Carolina—where he’d become a unanimous All-American and even walk on as a member of the 1999-2000 Final Four basketball team—and was drafted by his hometown Panthers with the No. 2 overall pick of the 2002 draft.
“The Freak of Nature” played 10 of his 17 pro seasons in Carolina, finishing his career fourth on the all-time sacks list with 159.5. In addition to his college awards, topped by the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Lombardi Award, he went on to capture numerous NFL honors as a Panther, including two of his three career First-Team All-Pro selections, five of his nine Pro Bowl nominations, the Defensive Rookie of the Year award plus being named to both the 2000s and 2010s All-Decade teams.
After spending seven years away with stints in Chicago and Green Bay from 2010 to 2016, Peppers came back home to a warm and successful return for his final two seasons in 2017 and 2018. He retired as the franchise leader in sacks (97) and forced fumbles (34), and has made an even more lasting impact as a positive force in the North Carolina community.
Thomas Davis keeps pounding
“Keep Pounding” was born in 2004, when former linebacker and then defensive assistant Sam Mills gave an impassioned speech in the Panthers’ locker room prior to a Wild Card round matchup against the Dallas Cowboys. Mills, fighting intestinal cancer at the time, implored and inspired the players to commit to one another and fight on in what would become the franchise’s current mantra. Sadly, Mills lost his battle and passed away soon after in 2005. His words and his legacy, however, lived on.
No Panther since has embodied that rallying cry more than Thomas Davis. Davis, who has spent 14 of his 15 professional years in Carolina. What stands out is how Davis came back after tearing the ACL in his right knee on three separate occasions. Refusing to give up despite his devastating circumstances, Davis fought back and returned. Not only did he become the first player in league history to return from such a string of injuries, but he returned even better than he was before.
Davis played in 105 of the team’s 112 games from 2012 to his last season with the Panthers in 2018. He recorded at least 100 tackles in the first five of those years.
Davis went on to earn a First-Team All-Pro selection in 2015, a Second-Team All-Pro selection in 2013 and three Pro Bowl nods in his final three years there. More significantly, his crowing moment would come for his incredible work off the field, when he received the 2014 Walter Payton Man of the Year award.
Introduced in 2012, the “Keep Pounding” drum is now a tradition like none other in the sport. It’d only be fitting that Davis join a fellow linebacker in Mills as a statue outside of Bank of America Stadium, banging that drum which bears and honors that inspiring sentiment.
Cam Newton + Luke Kuechly = Something greater
We like the previous three options, this folks, is the one. Here’s why:
For starters, there hasn’t been two more impactful players in the history of the Carolina Panthers than Cam Newton and Luke Kuechly. Along with Newton being the franchise’s only recipient of the league MVP award and Kuechly being the franchise’s lone Defensive Player of Year winner, these two combined for 10 Pro Bowl selections, eight All-Pro distinctions, a pair of Rookie of the Year trophies and a countless number of organizational and league records.
Additionally, they were the two franchise pillars in what was the most prosperous run in team history. Thanks to their leadership from 2013 to 2015, the Panthers won three straight NFC South titles, also the first instance of the team clinching a playoff spot in consecutive seasons. They were both at the height of their careers in 2015, where they led the greatest Panthers team ever, a 15-1 juggernaut to the franchise’s second Super Bowl appearance.
Newton and Kuechly, like the men before them on this list, also used their celebrity and platforms to promote important causes in and around North Carolina. Both, whether it’d been publicized or not, devoted much of their time and resources to the community.
And, as powerful as all of that may be—the on-field success, the off-field contributions, the individual feats, the much needed closure it could provide both men (especially Newton)—a joining figure of these two fan favorites could represent something even more important that speaks to the current moment in the country.
Picture a statue of Newton and Kuechly out in front of Mint Street, embracing one another in full uniform – representing the power of racial unity and equality. These two men, one black and one white, came together to accomplish a common goal. A statue of Cam and Luke embracing would be a repudiation of the ugliness that defined Jerry Richardson’s exit and serve as a powerful reminder that there are much bigger things than football.
