CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Twenty-four hours after new Washington Redskins coach Ron Rivera unloaded Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman from his roster, he unloaded more than 1,000 items he accumulated in nine seasons with the Carolina Panthers.
Only this time it was for charity.
Rivera and his wife, Stephanie, held a yard sale on Saturday at the Humane Society of Charlotte with the entire $30,237 raised going toward a new campus and research facility for one of their favorite charities during their time in the Queen City.
Approximately 3,000 people stood in line for the opportunity to purchase everything from one of the countless T-shirts Rivera had made with inspirational and promotional slogans to the military paraphernalia he acquired working with the USO of North Carolina to the shoes he wore on the sidelines.
Former players Luke Kuechly, Greg Olsen and Cam Newton also contributed items to help the Humane Society reach its goal of $15 million needed to build what vice president of philanthropy Dona Stucker called a facility in a “real bad state of disrepair.”
Even Rivera’s dogs, a full-blooded golden retriever named Tahoe and Sierra, a mixed-breed adopted from this shelter, contributed to the fundraiser with leashes, collars, dog beds and even a dog crate.
It was reminiscent of the annual garage sale former Minnesota Vikings coach Bud Grant held for years.
“I didn’t realize how much stuff we actually had,” Stephanie Rivera said while holding onto Sierra’s leash.
Neither did Ron Rivera, who admitted it was tough deciding what items to keep and what to sale. Among those were items from his first win in 2011, first playoff win in 2014 and win in London this past season.
“This is kind of our swan song, our last opportunity to really say thank you one more time,” Rivera said.
Rivera was fired with four games left in the 2019 season. He left with two NFL Coach of the Year Awards, a 76-63-1 record that made him the winningest coach in Carolina history and what he called “a lot of stuff.”
Fans began lining up for that stuff hours before the noon start. Steve Osment and his family drove five hours from Richmond, Virginia, to participate in the sale.
They didn’t leave disappointed, buying three hats, a toboggan, a sweatshirt, a jacket, a dog bed, a cat bed, tennis shoes, dress shoes and a belt Osment said “I’ve been needing for the past year.”
“We’ve always loved Ron,” Osment said. “We just adopted a dog from a shelter. We like what he’s doing. For everything he’s been to the community and team, we love him and always will love him.”
Rivera, 58, talked a little football before the gates opened. Regarding the release of the 32-year-old Norman, who was also released under him at Carolina in 2016, the coach said that was made in an effort to get younger.
Regarding whether quarterback Cam Newton, rehabbing from Lisfranc surgery, will remain with the Panthers in 2020, Rivera said, “I just know a healthy Cam, I would never bet against him.”
Regarding the retirement of middle linebacker Luke Kuechly at 28, the release of Pro Bowl tight end Greg Olsen and other roster moves by new Carolina coach Matt Rhule, Rivera said: “It’s kind of the turn of the era. Now it’s a time for the new regime to come in and build it their own way.”
Rivera’s focus this day was on raising money with a sale that was spawned by a conversation between Stephanie and Tammy Reid, the wife of
PITTSBURGH — Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph is calling Myles Garrett’s assertion that he used a racial slur a “bold-faced lie,” and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is supporting his quarterback.
“1000% False,” Rudolph tweeted after Outside the Lines aired a new interview with Garrett after the NFL reinstated the Cleveland Browns defensive end. “Bold-Faced Lie. I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur. This is a disgusting and reckless attempt to assassinate my character.”
1000% False.
Bold-Faced Lie.
I did not, have not, and would not utter a racial-slur.
This is a disgusting and reckless attempt to assassinate my character.
— Mason Rudolph (@Rudolph2Mason) February 15, 2020
In the interview with ESPN’s Mina Kimes, Garrett said Rudolph used the slur as he was being sacked with eight seconds left in the Thursday night game on Nov. 14.
Tomlin, though, strongly supported his quarterback in a statement issued Saturday morning — an unusual move for a coach who rarely speaks publicly in the offseason.
“I support Mason Rudolph not only because I know him, but also because I was on that field immediately following the altercation with Myles Garrett, and subsequently after the game. I interacted with a lot of people in the Cleveland Browns organization — players and coaches,” Tomlin said in the statement.
“If Mason said what Myles claimed, it would have come out during the many interactions I had with those in the Browns’ organization. In my conversations, I had a lot of expressions of sorrow for what transpired. I received no indication of anything racial or anything of that nature in those interactions.”
Rudolph’s agent and attorney, Tim Younger, said the “defamatory” statements by Garrett exposed him to “legal liability.”
“We waited to hear the entire interview,” Younger said. “Garrett, after originally apologizing to Mason Rudolph, has made the ill-advised choice of publishing the belated and false accusation that Mr. Rudolph uttered a racial slur on the night in question.”
Garrett, who was reinstated by the league Wednesday after a six-game suspension, made the accusation against Rudolph during the interview with Kimes that aired Thursday night during SportsCenter.
“He called me the N-word,” Garrett told Kimes. “He called me a ‘stupid N-word.'”
In the interview, Garrett blamed Rudolph for starting the fight that led to $732,422 in fines and the discipline of 33 players, and said Rudolph used the slur as he was being sacked by Garrett.
Rudolph initially engaged with Garrett on the ground, and then charged at him after Garrett forcibly removed Rudolph’s helmet. Then, Garrett hit Rudolph over the head with it.
“I don’t say the N-word, whether it’s with ‘a’ [or] ‘er.’ To me, personally, [it] just shouldn’t be said, whether it’s by family, friends, anyone,” Garrett told Kimes. “I don’t want to use it because I don’t want [people to] find that appropriate around me for anyone to use.
“When he said it, it kind of sparked something, but I still tried to let it go and still walk away. But once he came back, it kind of reignited the situation. And not only have you escalated things past what they needed to be with such little time in the game left, now you’re trying to reengage and start a fight again. It’s definitely not entirely his fault; it’s definitely both parties doing something that we shouldn’t have been doing.”
Rudolph was fined $50,000 for his role in the incident. He appealed the fine, but it was recently upheld, a source told ESPN.
The Steelers and the Browns were also each fined $250,000.
Garrett first alleged Rudolph used the slur in an appeals hearing with the NFL in an effort to get his suspension reduced, ESPN previously reported. Garrett later said he never intended for the accusation to become public, but said, “I know what I heard.” At the time, an NFL spokesman said the league “found no such evidence” that Rudolph used the slur.
Rudolph strongly denied the allegation in November and called it “totally untrue.”
“I couldn’t believe it,” the quarterback said Nov. 24. “I couldn’t believe he would go that route after the fact.”
