Cam Fires Back

Cam Newton does a celebratory dance and an angry mother writes a letter to the newspaper. He exults on the sideline and he’s called a showboat. Every gesture, every move brings a special level of scrutiny.

The Carolina Panthers’ quarterback has put up with it all season, and he’s taking some of his critics to task. Why just some? Because some simply hate seeing a player enjoy himself. Others? Let Newton speak.

“I’ve said it since day one, I’m an African-American quarterback,” he said on Wednesday. “That may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”

Drafted in 2011 with the first overall pick, Newton took a little time to mature. He occasionally sulked on the sidelines, covered his head with a towel. But he has also grown up over the last five years, and he doesn’t control his exuberance.

He scores a touchdown and he hands the ball to a fan in the stands. He gestures to the crowd, he gets caught up in the moment and he plays with an enviable flair. He’s likely to be the NFL’s MVP this season.

With success comes preposterous scrutiny. There was the angry mom in Nashville who wrote: “We had a close up view of your conduct in the fourth quarter. The chest puffs. The pelvic thrusts. The arrogant struts and the ‘in your face’ taunting of both the Titans’ players and fans. We saw it all.”

Most longtime observers have seen far worse from players, from throat-slashing gestures to crotch-grabbing (their own, mind you).

Nearly 1,000 Seattle Seahawks fans have signed a petition to ban Newton from CenturyLink Field. The petition says: “Cam Newton is one of the most unprofessional, unsportsmanlike individuals on the face of the planet. So I say for the 2016-2017 when the Panthers come to play in Seattle he should be banned from entering the stadium. This should teach him to put his arrogance in check!!”

Get off his back. Let him play his game. Let him be who he is. If your team doesn’t like it, it can tackle him. Or try to.

Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman