Well, somebody finally said it. And maybe it had to come from Cam Newton all along.
This is how the Carolina Panthers’ suddenly superstar quarterback kicked off the lead-up to Super Bowl 50: On Wednesday, Newton added fuel to the massive national race conversation by providing his explanation for all the heat he’s taken, for all the letters that parents have written to newspapers and websites criticizing his most minor missteps.
It is because he’s black.
“I’ve said this since Day One,” Newton said. “I’m an African-American quarterback that scares people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.
“I think it’s a trick question,” he added. “If I answer it truthfully, it’s going to be ‘Aw, he’s this or that.’ But I will say it anyway: I don’t think people have seen what I am or what I’m trying to do.”
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Super Bowl 50, featuring the Broncos vs. the Panthers, and pocket-passing Peyton Manning vs. do-it-all Newton, just gained another story line. Except this one was always there: Newton has drawn criticism ever since the Panthers chose him at No. 1 in the 2011 NFL draft and his “body language” in losses led to questions about his leadership.
But this season, as Carolina emerged as the NFL’s most dangerous team and Newton blossomed into the game’s most dangerous player, the bashing found new — and more nonsensical — levels.
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Newton will be the sixth black quarterback to start a Super Bowl, and Super Bowl 50 will mark the fourth straight NFL title game to include a starting black quarterback. But the 6-5, 260-pound Newton is different than his predecessors in many ways, less overtly religious than Seattle’s Russell Wilson (who started the last two Super Bowls) and more charismatic than San Francisco’s shy Colin Kaepernick, who drew criticism for his tattoos leading up to Supper Bowl XLVII.
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So the critics have lined up, dissing Newton’s touchdown dance known as “dabbing.” Parents have written letters attacking labeling his dances “arrogant struts” and “pelvic thrusts.” A fan of the Seattle Seahawks dubbed Newton “Mr. Classless.” After Newton’s son was born on Christmas Eve, someone wrote into the Charlotte Observer, calling him a bad role model because he hadn’t married the mother of his son.
“People are going to judge, and have opinions on things I don’t have control over,” Newton said. “I felt a certain type of way then and I feel a certain type of way now — nothing has pretty much changed. They talk about maturity. They talk about skill set … The only thing that has changed is that we’re winning now.”
To Panthers coach Ron Rivera, that’s all that should matter especially since Newton has stayed out of trouble both on and off the field. He has never embarrassed the league in the manner of the NFL’s other celebration lightning rod, Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr., and he has hardly gone over the edge with his fun, as Seahawks receiver Doug Baldwin did with a bizarre routine in last year’s Super Bowl in which he pretended to defecate in the end zone.
“I think some people believe you should be stoic when you play this game, but a lot of people disagree and think you should have fun,” Rivera said. “This is a kid’s game. I know there is a lot of money involved, but at the end of the day it’s about entertainment. If you aren’t enjoying yourself, don’t play the game — it’s that simple.”
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And all Rivera wants Newton to have to do is enjoy himself. Rivera doesn’t believe Newton wants to be a lightning rod in the racial conversation. Instead, he sees a quarterback who’s on the verge of redefining the position, a scary thought for NFL defenders.
“I don’t think he wants to be known as an African-American quarterback,” Rivera said. “He wants to be known as a quarterback. I think that is what drives him, to be able to transcend those boundaries, which I think is great.
“The thing about Cam is, as he said, he’s special, he’s different. How many 6-5 quarterbacks do you see like him, 260, running like he does and throwing like he does? He’s different. And I think that’s the only thing people should say is the skill set is different more so than anything else.”
The way Newton sees it, after one more victory, maybe that will happen.
“Find a way — any way — to win a football game,” he said. “Because when you win, that’s going to give them something else to talk about.”
Don’t count on it.
