Former wideout Jerry Richardson didn’t start a single game in his two-season NFL career. Richardson had a mere 15 receptions across his two regular seasons with the Baltimore Colts.
A short stint as part of the NFL betting markets was not the last of Richardson in professional football, however, as he returned to the league as owner of the Carolina Panthers.
The former flanker remained in charge of the Panthers for over two decades, but off-field controversy brought an abrupt end to his time with the franchise.
Richardson ultimately sold the Panthers to David Tepper following the 2017-18 NFL season.
How Much Is Jerry Richardson Worth?
Jerry Richardson was the richest NFL player ever. According to Statista, Richardson had a net worth of around $2 billion, which works out at around £1.5 billion. His net worth was over three times that of any other former NFL player, including Roger Staubach, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and Aaron Rodgers.
Success in business enabled Richardson to become the first former NFL player to own a team since George Halas.
Richardson’s earnings during his playing career were insignificant compared to his net worth at the time of his death in 2023. He took an underwhelming professional football career and turned it into a phenomenal amount of wealth.
Carolina Panthers Sale
In December 2017, Sports Illustrated reported, “At least four former Panthers employees have received 'significant' monetary settlements due to inappropriate workplace comments and conduct by owner Jerry Richardson, including sexually suggestive language and behavior, and on at least one occasion directing a racial slur at an African-American Panthers scout.”
Almost immediately, it was announced Jerry Richardson was intending to sell the Carolina Panthers at the end of the 2017 season.
A statement released on the Panthers website did not include any reference to the allegations or investigation.
Instead, Richardson said, “There has been no greater mission or purpose in my life than to have brought an NFL franchise to Charlotte. The obstacles back then were significant and some even questioned whether our community could or would support professional football. But I always knew that if given the chance, The Carolinas would rise to the occasion.
“And you have. The team has become an integral part of the community. The stadium is in the best condition since the day it opened. And we have played in two Super Bowls…
“While I will no longer be team owner, I will always be the Panthers Number One fan.”
The news came as a surprise to many around the NFL, including Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
Jones said, “I’m very sad. Jerry is one of the really, really, really outstanding men of football that I've ever met, and I really admire him. I know that he made it the old-fashioned way. He worked for it. He took what he made in a short time in pro football and turned it into a great business and then used that to get the Carolina franchise. So he's a great story."
David Tepper won a competitive period of bidding to purchase the Panthers from Richardson for a then-record $2.2 million in May 2018. Richardson was fined around £2 million for workplace misconduct in June of the same year.
After promising to bring a Super Bowl to Carolina, Richardson was never able to deliver, despite the Panthers featuring in betting for the Big Game on two occasions.
Statue
The Carolina Panthers’ minority ownership parties gifted a statue to Jerry Richardson for his 80th birthday in 2016. Standing at 13 feet tall, the statue featured Richardson in a suit with two black panthers either side of him. It was placed outside Bank of America Stadium.
When Richardson sold the team to David Tepper, there was an obligation for Tepper to keep the statue in place despite discontentment from many fans given Richardson’s misconduct. The George Floyd protests in 2020 led the Panthers to remove the statue.
In June 2020, a spokesperson for Richardson said, "He's turned the pages. He's moved on. The statue is not his focus.''
According to former Panther Tre Boston, Richardson prevented players from taking part in protests during the American national anthem in 2016. Boston, following the removal of the statue, gave an interview to NFL network.
“In 2016, I saw a world that, even with peaceful protesting, didn’t understand and was not willing to listen. Looking back, it was hard times because we were screaming back then about how we need help, how we wanted to help the community and show we are one.
“It’s tough when you hear from the top down, ‘people come to watch football and get away from that stuff.’ You get open-end promises, then weeks go by and nothing gets said or brought up. They did what they wanted.”
He added that a lot has changed in Carolina.
“It’s not like that anymore and they promised me it wasn’t like that anymore when I came back. I had plenty of calls saying they appreciate what I’m doing and want to help and even Tepper [called] to say he appreciated how I was out there with the guys, and it is a 180 from what they used to be.”
Business Ventures
Jerry Richardson paired with Charles Bradshaw, a former Wofford quarterback, to open the first Hardee’s franchise after he retired from the NFL. Using the money he received for winning the 1959 NFL championship, Richardson worked with Bradshaw to develop an empire.
Richardson co-founded Spartan Foods. He was also the CEO of Flagstar, one of the largest food service companies in North America. Flagstar provided over 100,000 jobs across 2,500 restaurants, while Hardee’s had almost 6,000 locations as of February 2016.
Renowned for being a hands-on business owner in the food industry, Richardson was much less involved when he became the first owner of the Carolina Panthers in the 1990s. He retired from Flagstar a couple of years into the Panthers’ existence and made a point of being detached from the team.
After firing George Seifert in 2001, Richardson didn’t take questions from the media for almost a decade.
One of the few times he spoke on behalf of the team was when he refused to re-sign Greg Hardy following domestic violence accusations.
Speaking to ESPN at the owners’ meeting, Richardson said, "Who's call would you think that would be? We do the right things."
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Alamy*
