The 1995 Expansion - The Beginnings Of The Jaguars and Panthers

The 1995 NFL season was a season of change. The two teams in Los Angeles relocated to other cities: the Rams relocated to St. Louis and the Raiders moved back to Oakland; this would be the start of a 20-year absence for the NFL in Los Angeles. During the course of the season it emerged that the Cleveland Browns would relocate to Baltimore for the 1996 season. Many more changes would follow.

In 1987, shortly after it was decided that Charlotte would receive an expansion National Basketball Association franchise named the Hornets, former Baltimore Colts wide receiver, North Carolina native and businessman Jerry Richardson met with a group of potential backers to discuss the possibility of bringing an NFL expansion team to the Carolina region. Richardson Sports decided upon a spot in the uptown section of Charlotte to build a privately financed stadium seating more than 70,000 fans. This would begin the start of the Carolina Panthers franchise.

In 1989, the prospective ownership group Touchdown Jacksonville! was organized. The group initially included future Florida Governor Jeb Bush and Jacksonville developer Tom Petway, and came to be led by shoe magnate Wayne Weaver, founder of Nine West. In 1991, the NFL announced plans to add two expansion teams in 1994 (later delayed until 1995), its first expansion since the 1976 addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Touchdown Jacksonville! announced its bid for a team, and Jacksonville was ultimately chosen as one of five finalists, along with Charlotte, St. Louis, Baltimore, and Memphis.

The NFL in 1995 did something they never did before which was an expansion draft. Since prior expansions had teams come into the league with little to no success for years the NFL allowed the new franchises to select players from the other 28 NFL teams. The 1995 National Football League expansion draft was held on February 15, 1995. The two new expansion teams, the Carolina Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars, alternated picks from lists of unprotected players from existing franchises. Existing NFL teams made six players available, and the new teams were required to pick a minimum of 30 and a maximum of 42 players. Each time one of the expansion franchises selected a player from an existing team, that team was then permitted to remove a remaining player from its list of available players. In addition to these draft picks, the Panthers received the first pick in the 1995 NFL Draft, and the Jaguars were given the second pick. The Panthers ultimately picked 35 players, while the Jaguars picked 31. In the expansion draft the Jaguars selected Steve Beuerlein from the Arizona Cardinals. The next pick the Panthers selected CB Rod Smith from the New England Patriots. 

The 1995 NFL Draft was held from April 22 to 23, 1995 at New York City's Theater at Madison Square Garden. The Carolina Panthers held the first pick. They decided to trade back to number five allowing the Cincinnati Bengals to select running back Ki-Jana Carter from Penn State University

. With the second pick Jacksonville selected Tony Boselli who would be there Left Tackle for many years. His career was cut short due to injury but it still might be the best pick the Jaguars have ever made. Houston Oilers had the third pick and selected QB Steve McNair. McNair would eventually lead the team to a Super Bowl in 1999 after the team relocated and became the Titans. He also would win Co-MVP with Peyton Manning years later. The following pick Washington selected WR Michael Westbrook who had a lackluster career for a number 4 pick but was a starter for a number of years in Washington. Carolina would select QB Kerry Collins with the 5th pick in the 1995 NFL draft. Collins would have a productive career, unfortunately for the Panthers it was for multiple NFL teams. He would lead the Panthers to the NFC Championship game in his second year but would be waived in 1998. In 1999 he would the New York Giants to the Super Bowl and would play 17 NFL seasons in the NFL.

The Jaguars and Panthers would play there first game on September 3rd, 1995. Each team would have losing seasons in 1995 but in 1996 each team would make it the Conference Championship and would fall one game short of the Super Bowl. The Jaguars would make it back in 1999 and 2017 but would come up short again. The Panthers however would make it to the Super Bowl in 2003 and 2015 but would lose each one.