\u2014 NFL (@NFL) September 22, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n In 2018, reports surfaced<\/a> that Steph was part of a group that was trying to buy the Panthers from former owner Jerry Richardson. While the group that he was part of at the time ultimately wasn\u2019t successful, Steph hasn\u2019t ruled out trying to get an ownership stake again down the line if the opportunity presents itself.<\/p>\n \u201cIf it makes sense,\u201d Steph told The Athletic. \u201cIt\u2019s not on my life plan right now, but it is something that, with the right opportunity, the right partner, I know Dave Tepper\u2019s running the ship right now. At this point, I guess the long story short, yes, but who knows what\u2019s down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n The Currys will be locked in on Saturday when the Panthers (8-8) take on the Bucs (7-9) again with the division crown \u2014 and a playoff berth \u2014 within their grasp. Like so many fans of so many other teams, cheering for their hometown team is personal because of what it means to their family.<\/p>\n \u201cOnce you leave,\u201d Seth said, \u201cthat\u2019s a part of home.\u201d<\/p>\n Dell Curry was a popular member of the Charlotte Hornets for 10 seasons, even winning Sixth Man of the Year in 1994. When the Panthers came into existence the following year, he bought season tickets so that Steph, Seth and daughter Sydel could start going to games with him and his wife, Sonya.<\/p>\n \u201cI had six (tickets) originally,\u201d said Dell, one of the original PSL-owners as a Panthers season-ticket holder, in a recent phone conversation. \u201cI\u2019d take the whole family, and I\u2019d let the kids alternate and invite a friend to every game.\u201d<\/p>\n Dell, originally from Virginia, grew up a Miami Dolphins fan while many of his friends were fans of the then-Washington Redskins. He said he immediately became a fan of the Panthers once they came to town, and the experience reminded him a lot of when he was a player for the expansion Hornets and the impact they had on the Charlotte area.<\/p>\n For Steph, he saw the early challenges for a new franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember in \u201995, they were playing in South Carolina, before the stadium was built in downtown Charlotte,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve been a lifelong fan ever since.\u201d<\/p>\n Going to Panthers games was a way for Dell to bring his family together during the fall.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just to create those memories,\u201d Dell said. \u201cThe NFL is a day of the week, and I knew getting my kids involved and taking them to games and enjoying that experience on Sundays \u2014 I was hoping that it would leave lifelong memories of having that car ride, being able to have some quality time and that whole deal.\u201d<\/p>\n Both Steph and Seth remember those initial drives down to Clemson for the first season and how the bond grew even stronger between team and family as they continued going to the Panthers games in Charlotte. Seth, who, after more than a decade in the NBA, finally joined up with Steph on the Warriors this season, said what he remembers most wasn\u2019t just the games \u2014 it was all the moments that surrounded them.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you go to the stadium, you can\u2019t really park in the stadium,\u201d Seth said. \u201cSo, those 20-minute walks to the stadium, leaving the stadium, walking away, you kind of get those emotions back after some bad losses or the (team\u2019s) few good wins. Just hanging out as a family, walking the streets, feeling the energy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily all the games; it\u2019s more those (moments). When you go to football games, it\u2019s a full afternoon; it\u2019s not like basketball (where) you go for a night, three or four hours. It\u2019s tailgate, pregame; it\u2019s like a full Sunday event. Just those full memories of spending time \u2014 mainly bad memories (of losses), but it\u2019s a few good ones.\u201d<\/p>\n The relaying of that memory brought a smile to his father\u2019s face.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad he said that,\u201d Dell said. \u201dBecause part of my PSLs (personal seat licenses), I get parking to the games with my tickets, but it was in a parking deck, and we were kind of shielded from the rest of the fans. So, I would buy a parking pass from a buddy of mine who owned a printing company \u2014 it was a 10- or 15-minute walk, but we walked by people tailgating. We stopped and got bratwursts. So, I\u2019m just thinking to myself, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s create the entire experience other than just parking in the parking deck and getting to the seats really quick. I want them to see how everybody, not only us, but the average fans, enjoy Sunday.\u2019 So, I\u2019m glad he remembers that. I spent a little cash for that experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Steph still remembers his lightning-strike fan moment: the first time he ever saw the Panthers on the field in Clemson in 1995.<\/p>\n \u201cThe very first game,\u201d Steph said. \u201cI was six probably at the time. And from there, going to games, we used to sit behind the Panthers\u2019 bench in the top of the lower bowl. Tailgates. The walk into the stadium, just being a fan.\u201d<\/p>\n As Dell made those walks each week to the stadium, he could see his sons\u2019 bond built through the shared devotion to their favorite football team. Whatever back and forth was happening between Steph and Seth, it would stop on their way to the Panthers game.<\/p>\n \u201cNo doubt about it,\u201d Dell said. \u201cIt\u2019s those few hours where you could be together. Everybody\u2019s wearing kind of the same gear, dressed in that black and blue and teal, the Panthers\u2019 colors. That was a big deal, what we were gonna wear to the games.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, yeah, it was an easy day, an easy time. No bickering, no fighting. Everybody knew we were going to have a good time. We were going to cheer for our team and have a great day.\u201d<\/p>\n Each Curry brother had their favorite Panther. For Seth, it was the receiver who helped put the team on the map in the early 2000s and led the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance in 2005: Steve Smith Sr.<\/p>\n \u201cSteve Smith all day,\u201d Seth said. \u201cA little guy but very good. I liked seeing him get in fights and mix it up on the field. That was my guy. It was funny. I used to run into him at the YMCA. He used to play basketball a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n For Steph, it was the man who helped build the foundation for the team from the beginning. The linebacker who defined the \u201cKeep Pounding\u201d spirit that has been a bedrock of the organization and who tragically died from cancer in 2005: Sam Mills.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, knowing his life, and the tragedy of his illness and what he stood for as the first guy that had like a sense of pride representing the city in football,\u201d Steph said. \u201cAnd the first one in the (Panthers) Ring of Honor. And the inspiration behind \u2014 his tagline was, he was the one that came up with \u2018Keep Pounding.\u2019 And the drum that we beat and all that stuff, so he was kind of like the original Panther that created a legacy there. So, it meant (a lot) to see how much he cared about the franchise and the city and all that.\u201d<\/p>\n Dell said that it is hard to tell whether Steph or Seth is the biggest fan.<\/p>\n \u201cThey played football. They liked football. They understood it,\u201d Dell said. \u201cSo, it\u2019s hard for me to tell who\u2019s the most favorite. I knew they all enjoyed the experience because they all knew the schedule, and they all knew what Sunday we were going to Panthers games.\u201d<\/p>\n Dell said that the Panthers remain a big topic of conversation in the family text chain.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, they stay up with them,\u201d Dell said of his kids. \u201cThey\u2019re fully aware. On the text last week, I don\u2019t know which one of them replied, \u2018Huge game!\u2019 So, they\u2019re aware of what\u2019s going on, no doubt. Steph\u2019s been here to beat the drum, to keep pounding, and when the Super Bowl was in San Francisco, that was a big week for us. So, they are very up to speed of what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n \n Steph Curry pounds the Panthers \u201cKeep Pounding\u201d drum before Super Bowl 50. (MediaNews Group \/ Bay Area News via Getty Images)<\/p>\n After starting with six tickets, Dell has dropped down to two now that his children have grown up, moved away and started families of their own. But each time he gets to his seat inside Bank of America Stadium, he sends a picture and a message to his children inside the family text chain.<\/p>\n \u201cI often text all three of my kids a picture from my seats,\u201d Dell said. \u201cSaying, \u2018Let\u2019s Go Panthers!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a devotion that has been palpable for the Curry family as the Panthers go through the emotional highs and lows of their own playoff push this season. Prior to a Nov. 24 win over the Utah Jazz, Steph interrupted his pregame workout routine in the Warriors\u2019 weight room to watch the Panthers game against the San Francisco 49ers, which took place in nearby Santa Clara. His cheers from behind the curtain after the Panthers made a big play broke through the calmness inside the Warriors\u2019 locker room a few feet away.<\/p>\n Steph beamed in the same locker room a couple weeks later, on Dec. 12, the night after the Bucs blew a late two-touchdown lead to the Falcons and gave the Panthers a chance to take hold of the division. He wore the look of disappointment walking through a tunnel inside Moda Center in Portland a few days later, before a Dec. 14 loss to the Trail Blazers, after the Panthers lost to the New Orleans Saints on a last-second field goal.<\/p>\n While both brothers are loyal fans, Steph, the more outgoing of the pair, is more locked into what\u2019s going on day to day \u2014\u00a0especially when the Panthers are playing on the same day as a Warriors game and team staffers can see the focus he has on how the Carolina game is unfolding.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not the one that\u2019s following the newswire every single day,\u201d Steph said. \u201cBut I try not to miss a game.\u201d<\/p>\n The Curry brothers still try to get back to Charlotte to see a game every once in a while, but the NBA schedule makes that tougher during the season. Steph tries to catch the Panthers on the road, as evidenced by his appearance in Las Vegas<\/a> last year to see a game. He still remembers the first time Jake Delhomme, Smith and the rest of the Panthers made the Super Bowl (XXXVIII) for the first time in 2004, when the brothers were still playing for Charlotte Christian School.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/GettyImages-1172398658-scaled.jpg\")
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