Some of the most frequently-confused logos involve those of teams with various feline mascots. We’ve seen that a lot with the Florida Panthers and Carolina Panthers, despite them playing dramatically different sports. And while ESPN avoided that on Sunday NFL Countdown this week, they did manage to use the Carolina Panthers’ logo for a coaching-carousel segment discussing the Jacksonville Jaguars’ Doug Pederson:
You know it’s been a bad season for Jaguars coach Doug Pederson when even the Panthers are prepared to fire him. https://t.co/fZin2SiB73
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 5, 2025
As Maxwell Smart would say…
At least, unlike some of those Panthers‘ mixups, this one took place in the right sport. And the “that much” they missed by is only a 384-mile drive. But still, this adds to a long history of logo mixups. And it’s particularly notable to see it coming in a segment on a potential coaching change, where getting the team a coach is with right seems somewhat important for having any credibility in predicting if they’ll be fired or not. Granted, it’s not the pundits responsible for the logo selection, but this is still an unfortunate miss.
The Jaguars, coached by Pederson, are 4-12 this season, and are five-point road underdogs against the Indianapolis Colts Sunday. They went 9-8 in both of Pederson’s previous two seasons at the helm, making the playoffs in 2022 and winning a wild card game, but missing out last season. Meanwhile, the Panthers are also 4-12 this year, and are 7.5-point road underdogs against the Atlanta Falcons Sunday, but are led by first-year head coach Dave Canales. Unless ESPN’s graphics department knows something we don’t about their involvement with Pederson…
[Chapel Fowler on X]
About Andrew Bucholtz
Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.