The Carolina Panthers: The First Season of the Most Successful Expansion Team in NFL History

by Joe Menzer, Bob Condor

Experience the frustrations, controversies, crises, intrasquad squabbling, and - yes - triumphs that marked the debut season of the Carolina Panthers. Written with the cooperation of the players and the coaches, The Carolina Panthers is a frank, revealing look at how a team of rookies and seasoned veterans was shaped into a cohesive, dynamic, successful franchise. Along the sometimes bumpy but always intriguing ride, you'll encounter the chase for the franchise, including the efforts of owner Jerry Richardson to secure the team for the Carolinas; the challenges of assembling the team, hiring head coach Dom Capers, managing the draft and compiling a strong and financially viable roster; the struggle through a grueling training camp and the preseason contests; the heartbreak of the five losses that commenced the season; and the jubilation of the seven wins that defined the Panthers as the most successful franchise start in NFL history.
With preseason allegations of talking with a coach under contract, moans from established NFL teams that the expansion teak received unfair consideration in the draft, a fight for the starting quarterback position, the difficulties of playing in a college stadium and the effects of playing for weeks without a win, the Carolina Panthers faced odds that may have seemed insurmountable. But as this engaging work shows, the Panthers prevailed - winning fans, silencing critics and raising expectations for subsequent seasons.

282 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙁𝙇 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 has been out since 1996 and the first time I ever heard of this book was in Spring of 2025. Well, as they say better late than never. I'm glad I found out about this book and I'm glad I read it. The book was 266 pages of in-depth coverage on the 1995 Carolina Panthers that any NFL historian or historic Panthers fans should read. The two authors of this book spent a huge portion of their 1995 studying a team that deserved to have a book written about it. So many interesting stories in this book; stories on redemption, career revival, and more.  

I go way back with the Carolina Panthers. I remember the day July 29, 1995 like it was yesterday. That day I was at my uncle's house with my brother and cousin, and we all managed somehow on that busy for us to catch the Hall of Fame game between the Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. That game was the first ever real game played by the two expansion teams and it's a game I'll never forget even if it was a preseason game. And who knew 30 years later that I would read a book about that 1995 Panthers team.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙁𝙇 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 studied the Panthers franchise starting from the days when the organization was a mere idea in the minds of owner 𝐉𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬𝐨𝐧, his son Mark, marketing consultant 𝐌𝐚𝐱 𝐌𝐮𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧, and others to the spring 1996 Free Agency period.

The book starts off with how the franchise came to be which included the money it took to fund the team, the bank that helped the franchise become a reality, the hiring of coaches, the hiring of a General Manger, the scouting of future Panthers, a few stories dedicated to the 1995 Panthers expansion draft, a section on the preseason period of the '95 season, and then the best part of the book, pages 109 to 262 which chronicled the Panthers' regular season. Authors 𝐉𝐨𝐞 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐳𝐞𝐫 and 𝐁𝐨𝐛 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫 made it their business throughout this book to make sure that its readers understood the painstaking measures of building an expansion team.

One of the interesting stories in this book was that of wide receiver 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 who came to the Panthers via the 1995 Expansion Draft after spending the 1991 to 1994 seasons with the Detroit Lions (1991-1994) and then the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1995). This book gave you some backstories on the gregarious receiver which included his taking an English Literature class at Winthrop University during the Panthers' season (how he found time for that I couldn't tell you). That school was quite a distance (by car) from where the Panthers trained as well as where they played their home games at Clemson University's Memorial Stadium. He also was very serious about his Muslim faith which included his dutiful study of the Koran. Then there were the stories of Panthers Head Coach 𝐃𝐨𝐦 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 which included his keeping a journal of just about everything he ever did for much of his life as an adult as well as his serious attention to detail when it came to defensive concepts for his team (he kept a coffee table-thick binder on those concepts in his office).

One of if not the main thing I appreciated about this book was that in every chapter dedicated to a game in the regular season, the authors gave some back stories on the history (from past seasons) as well as the current state of the opponent that they played that week and then came the game summaries. With every game summary that the authors provided you got a good sense of where the team was at during different points of the season. Such as the time when the team was amidst a five-game losing streak, you knew that the team needed some major help from their offense and that their defense needed to learn how to keep leads and/or or stop opposing offenses from mounting comebacks.

Pros of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙁𝙇 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮: The book accomplished its goal of presenting how the 1995 Panthers earned the title of having the most successful expansion season in NFL history. There were stories on how the team was built from day one, behind the scenes happenings that hurt or helped the 1995 Panthers, there were game summaries of all 16 of the Panthers' games, backstories on some of the teams' key players and those who were apart of the team administration (head coach, GM, and team President), and more. Required reading for anyone reading this book: There was a three-page (pages 110-112) analysis on the release of running back 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 who was supposed to be one of the focal points of the teams' offense in '95.

Cons of 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙁𝙇 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮: It would have been nice if the authors of this book would have included a story or two or at least a mention of 1990 New York Jets First Round Draft pick/bust RB 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬. The former Penn State star actually played for the 1995 Panthers and gained 90 total yards rushing in his seven games of action. Thomas's under the radar existence on the '95 Panthers would have been an interesting side story; how he fit into the Panthers running back hierarchy, his lack of carries, and how he was trying to resurrect his career in Charlotte. But there was nothing in this book on him. Then again, maybe the writers felt that he wasn't important enough by 1995 to write about. Seven running backs played on that 1995 Panthers team and only 𝐃𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐞 and fullback 𝐁𝐨𝐛 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧 were discussed extensively (Moore) or discussed at all (Christian) in this book.

In conclusion, 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙖 𝙋𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙀𝙭𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙉𝙁𝙇 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 was an interesting read and an educational read. A book about a 7-9 expansion team doesn't elicit excitement for any football fan, even historical Panthers fans, but if you pick up the book and actually read it, you'll find that the book was well put together and was about more than how many games a team won or lost. Inside the book you'll see that 61 players (give or take), the Panthers coaching staff, and other Panthers employees came together during the 1995 season and put in the work to defy the expectations of their own fans, fans of other NFL teams, the national media, and more. I'm glad I brought this book and I'm glad I read it.