Most Panthers players and coaches were sleeping Monday morning when the latest drama to envelop the team started unfolding.Linebacker Thomas Davis woke up when his phone started ringing. Tight end Greg Olsen received a text message from his dad. Safety Roman Harper heard from his fiancée.The news they were being told — coach Ron Rivera’s house was on fire.“This has been an interesting year for us, that’s for sure,” Olsen said Monday afternoon. “It’s crazy, but that’s kind of been the way around here this past season. It’s always been something. It’s just fortunate that coach and his family and everybody is ok.”Rivera, his wife Stephanie, plus out-of-town family members and the Rivera’s pets escaped the two-alarm blaze that caused “significant” damage. Rivera’s son and daughter were in Charlotte for the holidays, but they each flew back to their West Coast homes Sunday.The fire caused Rivera to miss a morning of prep work for the Panthers’ upcoming Divisional Round game with the Seahawks. He did send a message to defensive backs coach Steve Wilks to pass along to the players. It read, “Everbody’s ok in my family, and it’s business as usual,” according to Davis.“You play this game, you take for granted just the normal things of living everyday life,” Harper said. “Life can affect any of us at any given time.”Carolina’s crazy year began in March when it released star receiver Steve Smith. A week later, quarterback Cam Newton underwent ankle surgery. In May, Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy was arrested on domestic violence charges.Newton then broke his ribs during a preseason game, and in Week 3, Hardy’s season was effectively ended when he went on the commissioners’ exempt list.After a winless streak that lasted two months, the Panthers finally looked back on track after blowing out the Saints in early December. Two days later, Newton broke two bones in his lower back after his truck flipped during a wreck two blocks from Bank of America Stadium.Despite it all, the Panthers finished the regular season with four straight victories to win the lowly NFC South. They then beat the Cardinals on Saturday for their first playoff win in nine seasons.Two days later, a team that’s seen more than its fair share of drama was dealing with some more.“Every year has its own story. Every year has its own series of events that’s hard to predict. But cars accidents with your starting quarterback, and your head coach’s house catching fire, those are things that I don’t think anyone ever anticipates being a part of your story,” Olsen said.“Coach has set a good example of how to handle things personally and professionally, and try to balance that. This will just be another example, except now he’s the one balancing it. He kind of set that leadership from the beginning when he got here, of how to handle distractions both in tough times off the field and tough times on the field. So I think if anybody’s prepared for it, it’ll be him.”