Rivera says no bitterness with Panthers; treating visit back to Charlotte as business trip

Ron Rivera has a big week ahead of him as he continues to prepare for the Carolina Panthers. Rivera, who spent nine seasons as a head coach for the Panthers, is heading back to Charlotte for the first time since being fired. Furthermore, his former quarterback Cam Newton signed with Carolina last week, which heightens the intrigue behind the game. It is their first time back in Carolina since being let go from the organization. But, for Rivera, he will not let his emotions get in the way of the job that he has to do.

“Well, I know as far as playing against them, it won’t be the same effect. But it’ll be back in Charlotte, that’ll be probably the bigger thing more so than anything else for me. Just because, again, as I said, the thing that I really appreciated about my time there were the people. That’s probably the bigger thing. Now, what I’m doing is I’m limiting my exposure to that. Stephanie will do all the visiting and saying hello to folks. Me, I’m pretty much going to try and stick to the mantra that this is a business trip.” – Rivera on the emotions of going back to Carolina on the visitor sideline.

It is just a business trip for Washington, if you let Rivera tell it. However, realistically, I tend to believe that competitors are always looking for an edge. What better edge to use than the organization that had given up on you, resulting in your mid-season firing? Again, if you let Rivera tell it, there’s no reason to be bitter about the situation. 

“No, there’s no reason to be bitter. I did the best I could. When it was time to move on, [Carolina Panthers Owner] David Tepper treated me with tremendous dignity and respect. He really did. He gave me an opportunity to say goodbye and I really appreciated it. What’s really kind of cool, kind of speaks to who he is. When we played him here, he did a Rivera Strong as well. I got a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s doing there right now, what they’re trying to do in terms of their rebuild as well. There is no bitterness. If there is anything, it’s just miss the folks in the friends we had in Charlotte.” – Rivera on if there is any bitterness with the Panthers organization.

It is certainly possible that Rivera may find his edge elsewhere; his tenure in Washington, at least record-wise, has not been good. So maybe Ron will find the added motivation through his team’s slow start as Washington tries to find themselves back into the playoff race.