When I first heard about the Panthers firing their general manager days before teams go to training camp, I thought the question wasn’t going to be WOULD they be dysfunctional; but HOW dysfunctional?
Judging from the reactions of some former members of those teams under Gettleman, they might just be better off.
Ex-Panthers LB Jon Beason was traded away to the Giants in 2013, and he didn’t have the most flattering things to say about his time playing under Gettleman, in a telling interview with WFNZ:
“The way that the trade went down between the Giants and the Panthers when I moved on from the Carolina Panthers, it was done in a way that wasn’t classy,” Beason told CBS Sports. “I didn’t want to be the disgruntled player who’s saying this, saying that because he was traded. But at the end of the day, you’re a first-round pick, you played extremely well for an organization, you’re one of the key guys on the team, a new GM comes in and doesn’t even give you a handshake on your way out the door.
Beason goes on to claim Gettleman also challenged & disrespected his 2011 achilles injury. Listen to the clip, he begins the story around the 3:10 mark:
It doesn’t sound like Gettleman will be missed by much of anyone in Carolina.