Ron Rivera was a class act in his final press conference

Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty ImagesRon Rivera held a final press conference at Bank of America stadium. In it, he proved to be the man that everybody has always described him and he proved that he was in the same boat as the rest of us yesterday. “I was surprised” was his honest reaction to his release. Not because he thought his job was safe in the long term, but because he thought they were going to wait until the end of the season.

His press conference, after an opening statement, was an emotionally open, heartfelt conversation between Ron and a media he was very familiar with. He was reflective, unscripted, and unflinchingly himself. On display was the respect and the character that…