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Carolina Panthers maintain Papa John’s ties despite backlash against former CEO

After Papa John’s founder John Schnatter used a racial slur in a recent conference call, a number of sports teams have distanced themselves from the pizza chain, a longtime NFL sponsor.

The Carolina Panthers, however, are not one of those teams.

“We still have a relationship” with Papa John’s, team spokesman Steven Drummond told the Observer this week, declining to comment further.

Last fall, Schnatter slammed the NFL and its “poor leadership” for how it dealt with players who knelt during the national anthem. He blamed the league for sluggish sales, too.

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