Football

Panthers to wear all-black for Jan. 12 playoff game

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers announced Wednesday they will wear all-black uniforms for their Jan. 12 Divisional Round playoff game.

The popular black-on-black uniform will make its playoff debut after being worn twice in the regular season.

The uniforms won the title of "Greatest Uniform in NFL History" last summer in an online voting contest on NFL.com.

"It's sweet," defensive end Charles Johnson said. "Anytime we wear the all-black, it's all good."

The team lost to Denver when they first wore the black jersey, black pants combination in 2012. They beat the Jets this season while wearing the uniform.

Check out a slideshow of Panthers in all-black here.

Read more from Panthers.com on the all-black uniforms, here.


Playoff tickets sold quickly


Tickets for the Panthers playoff game at Bank of America Stadium went on sale at 10 a.m. Wednesday.

The Panthers sent out a tweet shortly after that said tickets were sold out in three minutes.

A representative for the team said that the team put up 7,000 tickets for sale to the general public.

"That's exciting. It really is. It speaks very well to our fans and the support we've gotten all year. They've been outstanding," said head coach Ron Rivera.

Tammy Cromwell said she still can't believe the tickets sold out in three minutes and that she ended up being able to buy two.

"I told my husband it was meant to be," Cromwell said. "We were supposed to be there, because there are thousands and thousands of people trying to do the same thing that didn't get through."

Read more on how fast the tickets went here.


Panthers coordinator to interview with Redskins


Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera said defensive coordinator Sean McDermott will interview for the Washington Redskins head coaching position this week.

Rivera said the Redskins called Tuesday to ask permission to speak with McDermott.

The Redskins are looking to replace Mike Shanahan, who was fired Monday after a 3-13 season.


Panthers' Greg Hardy awaiting big payday

Greg Hardy knows he made a big impact with his late-season flurry of sacks.

"It's huge," he says.

The Panthers' defensive end will become an unrestricted free agent in March and is set up for one healthy payday.

Hardy had eight sacks in his final three games and tied a Carolina franchise-record with 15 sacks this season. He had 24 sacks in his last 25 games. Four of those sacks came Sunday against Atlanta, helping the Panthers (12-4) win the NFC South and a first-round bye with a 21-20 victory.

He wants to sign a long-term deal with Carolina, but is fine if the team uses the franchise tag on him. Franchise tag numbers haven't been released for 2014, but last year it was $11.175 million for his position.

"I would love a franchise (tag), man," Hardy said.  "Add another year on my career. ... Another year to be in Carolina just to get them a chance to get their fiscal responsibilities in order so we can be here forever like Steve (Smith) and a lot of other guys."

"One year to get the bank right," he added. "One year to get the team right. Another championship."
  
The Panthers will be tight under the NFL salary cap next year, and have other pressing issues, including whether to give quarterback Cam Newton a contract extension.