Cam Newton goes with zebra pants for trip to Super Bowl

So is Doug Williams (to an extent), even though he is a fervent supporter of the Carolina Panthers quarterback.

“It really should be about your merits more than anything else”, the coach said.

It would be highly naïve to think race didn’t influence some of his critics, but it’s certainly possible to dislike Newton on other grounds. Warren Moon. James Harris. “He is setting a precedent as far as for how quarterbacks are now – and how they may become”. The point is, the league had a bunch of Jackie Robinsons calling signals long before Newton did his first dab. As he made clear at the press conference, “People are going to say whatever they want to say”. It has not been merely that he is a black quarterback. He played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers back then. Old school versus new school.

The Panthers QB will also need to do more than just perform on the field to jump to the next level, said Matt Delzell, managing director at The Marketing Arm, a marketing firm that partners with Repucom on the CelebrityDBI Index. “He’s got a right to understand that (race) could be one of the problems”.

“He’s probably the most unsafe quarterback in the National Football League right now”. Cam has been in the end zone way more than the average quarterback, so he’s got a signature now. I’m sure he hears from the worst of us, angry racists and vitriolic “fans” who forget that the players on the field are real people. The running along the sidelines with a hand to his ear to urge Panthers fans to cheer louder.

Given authority to change calls at the line of scrimmage, he is patiently exploiting defenses and deftly picking his spots to run the football while blossoming into the frontrunner for NFL most valuable player honours. “He doesn’t make it businesslike”.

Jaden said he wants to play for the Panthers one day, but he’ll be “better than Cam Newton”. None. How much has Aaron Rodgers made off of the “discount double check” thing that he does? Ain’t nothing wrong with having fun. It really annoys the hell out of me. “But at the same time, Cam has got to be careful with what he says to fuel things”.

Let’s add some perspective. Randall Cunningham was a scrambling QB with a big arm. The Steelers eventually became a dynasty under Bradshaw after Gilliam was benched for vague reasons, and Gilliam suffered from a lifetime of depression and drugs.

Williams can relate to much of this. And that ability has put the Panthers in a spot to be in the Super Bowl and win it.

He did. Oher signed with the Panthers and a week from Sunday will be the starting left tackle in Super Bowl 50. You don’t see him doing all of that stuff. And when the showboat in question wins his way to the biggest stage, the hate is only going to intensify, regardless of color or creed.

Seahawks fans – or at least that portion of whom are prominent on social media – have so many vendettas going on against Cam Newton, it’s hard to keep them straight. But (my friend) came in, grabbed me, with one on either side of me, and they had a vehicle waiting. “If she feels offended, I’ll apologize to her, but at the end of the day, I am who I am”, he said.

“I don’t think he spends a lot time with what people think about him if it’s not positive”.

He’ll also have a Super Bowl ring.

Newton will be the sixth in history. But when I said it then [the response was], ‘Oh, he’s immature. But Cam has not just been “a quarterback who happens to be black”. “We got a tiny bit of buyback when we briefly went to 6”. Grab a small helping of idiocy and act like you want to throw up.

Sounds like good advice for Newton. I know what it means and this team does, too.