The Panthers have an eventful history even though they’ve only played in 21 seasons. Their overall all-time record is exactly even with 175 wins, 175 losses and 1 tie, giving them a .500 winning percentage. They’ve made seven playoff appearances and have won six division championships. Their first division championship came in 1996, which was only their second season, showing that a team doesn’t need to exist for a long time to be good. The first division championship in 1996 was the NFC West title and the other five were the NFC South in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2014, and 2015. The Panthers are the first and only team to have won the NFC South back to back and have won more division championships than any other team in their division. They have been in second place six times, in the NFC West in 1997 and 1998 and in the NFC South in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2012. The Panthers have made four Conference Championship appearances in 1996, 2003, 2005, and in 2015. They’ve won twice, making it to the Super Bowl in 2004 and 2016. In 2004, they lost the Super Bowl to the New England Patriots, 32-29.
In 2015, the Panthers had their best season with a record of 15 wins and 1 loss. Also in 2015, the Panthers had 10 players selected for the Pro Bowl, which is a franchise record. Their worst season was in 2001 when they had only 1 win and 15 losses. Overall, they’ve had 6 winning seasons, 12 losing seasons, and three seasons where they won as many games as they lost. They will play the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50
The Panthers have had many talented players in their short existence. John Kasay, a kicker, holds the team’s record for career points with 1,482. Jake Delhomme is the all-time passing leader with 19,258 yards. Running back DeAngelo Williams is the rushing leader with 6,846 yards. Steve Smith, the team’s leading wide receiver, has 12,197 receiving yards. John Fox, head coach from 2002-2010, was the longest serving and also the coach that brought the team the most success. He has the most wins, but he also coached for the longest time. It’s not surprising that Fox took over as coach in 2002 after their disastrous 2001 season.
By: Erin Irish