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 Several media outlets had reported Rivera was going to be fired
after the National Football League's 2012 campaign with the Panthers
having posted losing records in each of his first two seasons in
charge.
The reports proved erroneous, and given his reprieve, Rivera
re-evaluated his approach. He began spending more off-field time
with his players, encouraged them to confide their gripes, and
succeeded in getting them to talk about their problems.
But more perhaps more importantly Rivera, who had earned a
reputation in his first two NFL seasons with Carolina for making
conservative tactical decisions, ultimately reconsidered his
game-day philosophy.
In the second game of the 2013 season the Panthers were up 20-17
with under two minutes to play and faced with a fourth-and-one at
Buffalo's 21-yard line. They could have closed out the game with a
first down.
Instead, Rivera opted for a field goal and Buffalo then marched down
the field for the game-winning touchdown.
It was a pivotal moment. Rivera decided to be bolder from that
point, and the rest is history. He has since earned the nickname
"Riverboat Ron" – a reference to the old American pastime of
riverboat gambling.
Of course, it hasn't hurt Rivera to have arguably the best, most
athletic quarterback in the league in Cam Newton, who has also been
with the team since 2011.
One thing Rivera and Newton, who will be up against the Denver
Broncos in the Feb. 7 Super Bowl, have in common is that both had
more than their share of skeptics.
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"Carolina Panthers going nowhere with Ron Rivera, Cam Newton,"
blared a headline on NFL.com in early 2013.
The result of the Super Bowl may not be life or death for Rivera,
54, whose real-life experiences last year included a fire that
destroyed his home and a brother dying of pancreatic cancer.
Nevertheless, victory would elevate him to an elite club with Mike
Ditka, Tom Flores and Tony Dungy as a Super Bowl winner as both
player and coach.
Rivera, a linebacker on the Chicago Bears team that won the Super
Bowl in the 1985 season, will instruct his team to adopt the same
attitude that Ditka instilled in his players three decades ago.
"One of the things coach Ditka emphasized to us was to enjoy the
moment," Rivera said.
"The moment doesn't come very often. It's hard. It's hard to get to
where we are right now."
(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Frank
Pingue)
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