Here’s what happened when David Tepper ran into a Panthers superfan Sunday
A video of a Carolina Panthers superfan’s encounter with owner David Tepper before Sunday’s game in Jacksonville went viral on social media.
It was filmed before Tepper created a firestorm by tossing what appeared to be the contents of his drink into the stands — for which he was fined $300,000 by the NFL.
The superfan’s video has nearly 2 million views as of Tuesday afternoon via several social media accounts.
David Tepper did a really bad thing Sunday. No excuses, but before Drink-Toss Gate, the Panthers’ owner acknowledged a fan who says he has been to every game in a dismal 2-14 season that will finally end on Sunday.
pic.twitter.com/Qpcf2UmbrV— Langston Wertz Jr. (@langstonwertzjr) January 1, 2024
Jeremy Parrinello, 36, goes by “Big Friendly Panther” on Twitter/X and Instagram, and he wears a colorful mask and a Panthers jersey during games.
And here’s his version of what happened Sunday after Tepper spotted him near a tunnel, pointed to him and walked over. Parrinello had a sign, referring to the Panthers’ record, that read “2-13. I never missed a game!!!”
“I was yelling at him,” Parrinello said, “and he turned around and saw the sign. He said, ‘I recognize you from Miami.’ I said, ‘Tep, we’re not getting any better.’ And he said ‘Make sure you show up when we’re 13-2 and not 2-13, like now.’ I told him we haven’t 13 wins in quite a few years. I said ‘I’m not holding my breath.’ That’s when he walked away.”
Parrinello moved to Charlotte with his family from New York in 2001, when the Panthers were 1-15. He said he became hooked on the team just two years later, when the Panthers finished 11-5 and eventually played the Patriots in the Super Bowl.
“It was a thing,” Parrinello said. “Mint Street was flooded with blue. I was overtaken by it. We weren’t always great back then. My first season here, we were horrible, and we’re horrible now. But keep pounding. That’s it.”
Parrinello graduated from Myers Park High in 2006 and has never lost his love for the Panthers, whether they were division champs, like they were from 2013-15, or if they are suffering through six straight losing seasons, like now.
He’s a PSL holder, even though he lives in Florida, where he runs a business that allows him to often travel back to the Carolinas.
“I usually go to all the home games and the preseason games, and most years, I’ll do three to five away games,” Parrinello said. “But this year, being we got the No. 1 pick (in the draft) and the new coaching staff, I bought into (coach Frank) Reich and all those guys, and I said I’ll go to every game.”
He also frequented practices, something he’s done for years. Parrinello said many players recognize him and have signed the signature mask he wears at games.
When the Panthers played at Miami earlier this season, he made sure to get tickets by the tunnel where the players enter and exit the field.
“I thought maybe if the players saw a familiar face, they would be like, ‘Somebody still supports us,’” Parrinello said. “That was my whole concept. But it didn’t turn out as well as expected.”
No, the Panthers have the worst record in football and one last game Sunday at home against Tampa Bay. Parrinello will be there as usual.
And who knows, he may run into Tepper again. He said the two have briefly spoken at several games this season.
“I think it was genuine when he came up to talk to me (Sunday),” Parrinello said. “I’m not a fan of Tepper. I feel like he’s in it for the money aspect of owning a team and not building a winning culture. That’s the hard part. It seems like every year we’re starting a new four-year program...I get a real Jerry Jones feeling from Tepper and that’s not how we want our owners. We want a (Jerry) Richardson style. More a man of the people and let the coaches and scouts do their job.”
Parrinello still has hope Carolina can get back to playing winning football. He’s just not sure how long that will take.
“It’s rough for us fans,” he said. “We got to (Bank of America) stadium and it feels like an away game (with more visiting fans than Panthers’ fans). The team’s not performing, the stadium is overrun and tickets are going up. It seems like the entertainment we get is declining since (Tepper) became the owner. At least he hears it from somebody he recognizes over and over, and sees where it’s not just one or two people feeling that way.”
