The Carolina Panthers lost a good man. Danny Morrison, the team’s president, announced last week that he is leaving.
Panthers owner Jerry Richardson rarely appears in public, and those public appearances become more rare every year. As a result, the face of the franchise’s business side has been Morrison.
These might be little things to some of you. But they’re not.
Morrison, 63, shook hands and remembered names. He’d encircle the Wofford practice field the Panthers used for training camp. Morrison once served as athletics director there.
If a fan was interested in talking, Morrison talked. He was always gracious, always humble and always carried a vat of iced tea. And if you wanted to know the restaurants the tourists aren’t told about at Isle of Palms, you went to him.
Even though the temperature at training camp always seemed to be 92 degrees in the shade – if there were shade, I mean – Morrison never sweated. I take that back. He sweated when he ran the steps at Gibbs Stadium.
Morrison didn’t sweat football decisions. He didn’t make them. He ran the business end of the Panthers. He worked to make fans feel good about their decision to invest their money and emotion on the team. He’ll be missed.
Tom Sorensen is a retired Charlotte Observer columnist. Sign up for his newsletter, and follow him on Twitter: @tomsorensen
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