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NFL notebook: Tepper's purchase of Panthers official

[July 10, 2018] The sale of the Carolina Panthers from founder Jerry Richardson to new owner David Tepper is complete, the team announced on Monday.

Tepper, 60, was approved unanimously as the team's new owner at the league's meetings in May. The founder of hedge fund Appaloosa Management L.P., he has a net worth estimated by Forbes at $11 billion and bought the Panthers for $2.275 billion, the largest sum ever paid for an NFL franchise.

"I am thrilled to begin this new era of Carolina Panthers football and am humbled by the overwhelming excitement and support for the team," Tepper said in a statement. "...Winning is the most important thing both on the field and in the community, and I am committed to winning a Super Bowl championship together. I look forward to being part of the Panthers' family and to supporting this flourishing region."

The team also announced Monday the resignation of chief operating officer Tina Becker, who worked for the Panthers for 19 seasons and ran the club since December, after Richardson stepped away in the wake of workplace misconduct allegations.

--Former first-round pick and ex-Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew reportedly was arrested early Monday morning in Pittsburgh, with police alleging he punched a police officer three times in the chest.

According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the 33-year-old Pettigrew was charged with two counts of aggravated assault, plus theft of services and public drunkenness.

Pettigrew, who last played in the NFL in 2015, was booked after an alleged dispute with a limousine driver upon being dropped off at approximately 3 a.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. After he reportedly refused to pay a $97 fare, the driver called police from the hotel lobby. Pettigrew apparently did not identify himself to authorities when asked, finally acquiescing after being threatened with a Taser.

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David Tepper, founder of Apploosa Management, speaks during the Sohn Investment Conference in New York May 4, 2015. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

--Dallas Cowboys cornerback Marquez White has been charged with second-degree aggravated assault with a deadly weapon stemming from an alleged road-rage incident that occurred in October, according to multiple reports.

An indictment against White was handed up on June 7, and White was arrested June 15. He is free on $7,500 bond.

In a statement on his Instagram account, White, 23, said he was driving on the Dallas North Tollway in Plano, Texas, on Oct. 20. An "aggressive driver" yelled racial slurs and threats at White before reaching for his glove box, the player said, prompting White to flash a legally owned gun. The other driver reportedly followed White home and notified police. White said responding officers did not arrest him that day, but he found out later that a felony arrest warrant had been issued and then turned himself in.

--Field Level Media

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