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T he Carolina Panthers, an NFL professional football team, is a member of the National Football Conference South Division.The Carolina Panthers, representing both North and South Carolina was established in 1993, and joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1995 along with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Each NFL team had to offer up six players, then the Jaguars and the Panthers took turns choosing players. No NFL team could lose more than three players. Jacksonville had first choice. They alternated until both teams had 30 players. The selections made by the Panthers, excellent coaching, and training led them to their first Super Bowl appearance just eight years later in 2003. Super Bowl XXXVIII, against the New England Patriots was a nail biter. The game was tied until the Patriots field goal kicker, Adam Vinatieri came out with 4 seconds left in the game and booted a 41 yard field goal to win the game. Quarterback, Jake Delhomme, made the record book when he connected with Muhsin Muhammad with an 85 yard touchdown pass that holds the record for the longest offensive play in Super Bowl history. The Panthers also made it into the playoffs in 2008. In 1996, the Bank of America Stadium was opened in the uptown area of Charlotte, NC. It is an open-air, natural grass stadium, designed specifically for football.
Going into the 2010-11 season, the Panthers let go of 5 players in one fell swoop, most surprising of which was 7 year veteran, quarterback, Jake Delhomme. Delhomme signed with the Cleveland Browns for the 2010 season. Matt Moore, backup quarterback to Delhomme will more than likely take the starting quarterback position. In the 2009 season, he appeared in seven games, threw eight touchdowns, and two interceptions. He completed 60% of his passes. The other four released were defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu and Damione Lewis and linebackers Na'il Diggs and Landon Johnson. Among them they averaged eight years of experience and are 31.4 years of age. Monetary reasons and the decision to give younger athletes more of a chance to contribute to the depth of the team were cited as some of the reasons for the dismissals.
Carolina Panthers - 2011 NFL Schedule
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