Panthers

The Panthers head into another NFL season chasing the version of themselves that showed up in 2015, when a 15–1 regular season and Cam Newton's MVP campaign carried Charlotte to Super Bowl 50.

The club exists because the NFL wanted a team in the Carolinas, and in 1993 owners handed the expansion franchise to Jerry Richardson's ownership group. Two seasons passed before the Panthers took the field, opening in Clemson, South Carolina, while Charlotte finished building what is now Bank of America Stadium. Richardson ran the team until 2018, when David Tepper bought it after the NFL opened an investigation into workplace misconduct.

Two NFC Championships mark the high points, 2003 over Atlanta and 2015 over Arizona, alongside seven division titles. The rivalry that matters most runs up Interstate 85 to Atlanta, close enough that people call it the I-85 rivalry, and it dates back to the franchise's very first game in 1995, an overtime loss to the Falcons. "Keep Pounding," the phrase that still opens games at the stadium, traces to linebacker Sam Mills.

Julius Peppers went into the Hall of Fame in 2023 wearing a Panthers cap, the clearest sign of how the franchise's identity has run through its defensive line as much as its quarterbacks. What Charlotte has never had, through Dom Capers, John Fox and Ron Rivera's long coaching tenures alike, is the Lombardi Trophy itself.