Ouch.
The New Orleans Saints knocked off the Carolina Panthers on Sunday to advance to the NFC’s Divisional Round. It was the third time in as many attempts this season the Saints got the best of the Panthers.
With that third victory this season came a brutal own by the Times-Picayune for Monday morning’s front page edition:
The Panthers current owner, Jerry Richardson, announced on Sunday, Dec. 17 he was putting the team up for sale after allegations of workplace misconduct forced the team to start an internal investigation just two days earlier.
Since then, the team named Tina Becker its chief operating officer. Becker has been with the Panthers for 20 years and controls the team’s day-to-day operations in her new role.
While allegations against Richardson surfaced Friday, details emerged in a Sports Illustrated piece that Sunday, forcing Richardson’s hand.
The story alleges there were sexually inappropriate comments directed at female employees:
Among those in heaviest rotation: Show me how you wiggle to get those jeans up. I bet you had to lay down on your bed to fit into those jeans. Did you step into those jeans or did you have to jump into them?
A racial slur directed at a former team scout is also mentioned:
Perceptions of casual racism hardened recently when, multiple sources told SI, Richardson directed a racial slur at an African-American scout for the Panthers. The scout left the team this year—but not, according to sources, before he sought the counsel of a Charlotte attorney who negotiated a confidential settlement on his behalf. Contacted by SI and asked if he wished to comment, the scout responded, “I’m not in a position to talk.”
In Richardson’s letter announcing the same of the team, he mentioned it wouldn’t be until after the completion of the season that the sale would occur.
The Times-Picayune saw this as an opportunity to take one last parting shot at the Panthers.