As the Carolina Panthers prepare for the upcoming Super Bowl, their quarterback Cam Newton is probably in the limelight now more than he’s ever been. From day one his career has been a never-ending litany of criticism, from every dance move he’s broken out to every personality trait people think destroys a quarterback’s ability to win.
But right or wrong he hasn’t backed down from any of it or changed himself at all, and I’m very happy that he hasn’t.
The first thing is this: he’s absolutely earned the right to do whatever he wants now. It was easy to indict him for hamming it up before when he was still “just another quarterback”. But now, Newton has firmly planted himself in the elite group of quarterbacks in the game today. Actually, he’s probably firmly planted in the discussion as the best one. No matter what though, we’re not talking about a scrub player going nuts after a score. In my opinion, that gives him enough leeway and creative license.
Aside from the fact that he’s earned the right, let’s be honest: Newton makes the game that much more fun to watch. Before the league decided Jimmy Graham couldn’t dunk the football or Chad Johnson couldn’t do whatever crazy celebration he concocted, you have to admit that you always had one eye on those guys a second longer than usual. When Johnson proposed to the cheerleader, or when Terrell Owens broke out their pompoms himself, it made the whole experience that much more entertaining.
Newton is a sort of throwback to those days, and the best part is he’s doing it a completely benign way. He’s not dancing on teams’ logos or openly trying to mock anyone — he’s just having fun. So what if he enjoys taking a giant team picture near the end of a winning game, or does some goofy end zone dance after running it in? If players and fans are somehow offended by that enough to criticize him, I’d say they have bigger problems than him celebrating.
Newton is just being Newton and I’m glad he’s not afraid to pull the spotlight onto himself. The criticism will always come along with that fun, and if Newton ever goes too far with it one day the criticism might justifiably stick. But until and if he ever does push the envelope, he’s earned the right to dance, picture snap, and drape whatever towel over his head that he wants. And I hope he continues to do exactly that.
