Carolina Panthers offered playoff memento … for a fee (Photo)
By Phil Watson
The season ended Saturday night for the Carolina Panthers and the team offered players the chance to keep their jerseys from the playoffs. For a price.
If it’s true there is no free lunch, there is also apparently no such thing as a free jersey.
There was a message on the whiteboard in the Carolina Panthers locker room Saturday night after their 31-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.
Players have to buy their own jerseys? RT @SteveReedAP: Note inside Panthers locker room to players on white board. pic.twitter.com/TDlUwM3Za9
— Lindsay Gibbs (@linzsports) January 11, 2015
On one hand, it makes sense—jerseys and helmets aren’t cheap, if what fans pay for them retail is any indication. On the other hand, it does seem to come off as sort of chintzy on the part of the Panthers. But as New Orleans Saints wide receiver Kenny Stills explained:
@linzsports @SteveReedAP we pay for EVERYTHING.
— Kenny Stills (@KSTiLLS) January 11, 2015
The NFL minimum salary started at $420,000 for rookies this season. At the NFL Shop, an authentic customized NFL jersey retails for $294.95 (and a player’s jersey would be, by definition, customized with name and number). SidelineMVP.com, meanwhile, lists authentic Riddell Proline helmets at $192 each.
So just shy of $500 for the pair.
Probably kind of pricey for a fan making $7.15 an hour. For a professional football player who got a $23,000 check as a division champion playing in a Divisional Playoff game (per nj.com)? Probably not as big a deal.
H/T Lindsay Gibbs
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