How The Carolina Panthers Made History By Rick Grantham At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The Carolina Panthers is based in Charlotte, North Carolina and is a member of the National Football League (NFL), representing both North and South Carolina. They are one of the four teams playing in the South Division of the National Football Conference (NFC). The Panthers began playing as 1995 NFL expansion teams, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Panthers uniforms are colored black, blue and silver. They play at the Ericsson Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A lucky start

Merely two years since the team was instituted, they won in their division and qualified to compete at the playoffs in the 1996 season. Never had any other expansion NFL team were able to achieve success that early. The year before, they won seven games—the most number of wins by an expansion team. Panthers owner and founder Jerry Richardson was awarded a new NFL franchise in 1993, the first one after 1976 (when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks were given a franchise).

The worst season

The 2001 NFL season was a disaster for the Carolina Panthers. In fact, it was their worst year. They would go down in history for having the most consecutive losses in NFL record, losing 15 straight games and finishing with a 1-15 record. Two seasons later, under the wing of head coach John Fox, they were able to reverse their fortunes and finished the regular season with an 11-5 record. They continued on to the playoffs after winning the South Division Title of the National Football Conference and went on to compete at the Super Bowl XXXVIII against the New England Patriots. They could have won that season but four seconds on the clock, their chances of winning were undone by the Patriots’ Adam Vinatieri who kicked a 41-yard field goal leading to the Panthers’ defeat.

A close call

Dom Capers, former Pittsburgh Steelers Assistant coach, was the Panthers’ first head coach. In their first season in 1995, they lost their first five games but recovered pretty well during their last 11 games, winning seven games in all, thanks to Panthers receivers Willie Green and Mark Carrier. The Panthers defeated the San Francisco 49ers, which was the defending league champion during that time—again, the first ever instance in NFL history for an expansion team. In 1996, the Panthers proved its professional status yet again by winning 12 games in the NFL and getting the North Western Division Title in the NFC. At that time, the Panthers had put together an impenetrable team including running back Anthony Johnson and quarterback Kerry Collins; Pro Bowl linebackers Lamar Lathon, Kevin Greene, and Sam Mills, which made up the the second-best defense in the NFC; Placekicker John Kasay who converted 37 field goals on a league record; and league’s top kickoff returner Michale Bates who averaged 30.2 yards per return. Dom Capers was named coach of the year. After defeating the Dallas Cowboys during the playoffs, the Panthers lost to the Green Bay Packers who went on to become that season’s Super Bowl Champions.

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