Carolina Panthers · Franchise era 1 of 4
An expansion team arrives early: the Carolina Panthers story
Franchise era
1995—2001
An expansion team arrives early
Carolina Panthers
The story in one sentence
Carolina won its division and reached the 1996 NFC Championship Game in only its second season before the original core receded.
The second season reaches the NFC title game
Sam Mills, Kevin Greene and Wesley Walls gave the era its recognizable core.
Its ending created the conditions for cardiac cats.
Timeline
How it unfolded
The foundation
The franchise context
Carolina reached a conference championship in year two, then built two different Super Bowl teams around defense, physical running and quarterbacks with sharply different styles.
1997-01-05
Divisional Round: Dallas Cowboys vs Carolina Panthers
1997-01-12
Conference Championship: Carolina Panthers vs Green Bay Packers
After 2001
What came next
John Fox's physical team won three road playoff games in 2003 and pushed New England to the final seconds of Super Bowl XXXVIII.
The core