Last month Cam Newton and Peyton Manning squared off in Super Bowl 50. Peyton Manning came out on top and Cam Newton came out a loser. Both Cam Newton and Peyton Manning have big personalities. For whatever reason, Cam Newton is a polarizing athlete. Some people love and respect his uncanny athleticism, fun loving personality, and energetic level of play. Others find Newton cocky, arrogant, and immature. There is very little middle ground. People either hate him or love em. Manning’s personality is seen as charming, funny, wholesome. Personalities like Newton and Manning are a major reason why people enjoy watching sports. There are athletes that are seen as “good guys” and some that are seen as “bad guys”. People love to root for the "good guys" and see the "bad guys" fail. Examples of “bad guy” personalities can be found in every sport in every decade. Muhammad Ali, Charles Barkley, Joe Namath. These “bad guys” were supremely talented and supremely outspoken. Athletes with big personalities sometimes receive unfair treatment from the media. The media influence how fans see athletes. Fans cannot talk to pro athletes directly so they are entirely reliant on the media to portray athletes to them. When the media has identified an athlete as a "bad guy" that identity haunts them their whole career. In the buildup and aftermath of Super Bowl 50, the treatment of Newton and Manning by the media displayed the bias that the media carries when covering athletes.
Throughout this season much has been made about Cam Newton dancing. Newton celebrates first downs and touchdowns by dabbing or “hittin’ the folks” dance. People get very upset by this. Thousands of negative articles were written and sport radio airwaves were filled with vitriolic comments about how Newton doesn’t respect the game. Cam Newton celebrating a play has nothing to do with respecting the game. Athletes are humans. NFL players have put an absurd amount time and effort into their careers. They sacrifice their bodies and put themselves at incredible risks. For this reason, it is perfectly fine for Cam Newton, or any another professional athlete, to celebrate in whichever manner they choose. Newton’s celebrations don’t hurt his team by drawing unnecessary celebration penalties. In fact, Newton’s celebrations give his team an incredible energy boost, his teammates love it. Aaron Rodgers celebrates big plays, Tom Brady celebrates big plays, Peyton Manning celebrates big plays. These star quarterbacks don’t get criticized the way Newton does.
When Cam Newton was a Sophomore at the University of Florida, he stole a another student’s laptop. Newton was arrested on felony charges of burglary, larceny, and obstruction of justice. Newton entered the criminal justice system and had the charges dropped after he agreed to go through a diversion program. He was suspended from the football team and transferred to a junior college. After Newton left Florida, something began to click. Newton eventually ended up at Auburn where he won a National Championship, a Heisman trophy, and became the first overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft. In Newton’s near perfect season and road to the Super Bowl, commentators frequently brought up this incident. To this day, articles and discussions about Cam Newton’s unsavory attitude never fail to mention the Florida laptop incident. After his loss in Super Bowl 50, Cam Newton walked out in the middle of his press conference. This drew a lot of unwanted, negative attention to Newton. These are some of the reasons Newton receives the “bad guy” label. For whatever reason, the media has a very good memory of his past transgressions and whenever Cam Newton fails, they are brought up. Athletes need to be held responsible for their actions, but a relatively minor mistake should not completely damage a person's chance at retribution The media doesn’t treat other payers the same. Brett Favre sent pictures of his exposed genitals to a female coworker, the media doesn’t seem to remember that. Aaron Rodgers has openly criticized his coach, teammates, and front office, the media ignores it. Peyton Manning has been named as a defendant in a sexual harassment lawsuit for exposing himself to a female trainer and it only made it into the news cycle for a couple of days. To me, these incidences show deeply flawed attitudes. Manning, Rodgers, and Favre have never had there attitudes questioned the same way Cam has and it is entirely because of how and what the media chooses to mention about particular athletes. It seems crucial that commentators mention Newton's transgression at Florida when covering him, but it doesn't seem important to mention Brett Favre's mistakes.
The reason Cam Newton is made out to be a villain isn’t clear. His confidence, his bold style of play, and his emotional reactions to both success and failure are all reasons why some people may not like Cam. It is worthy of consideration, however, that Cam’s skin color has a major impact. In today’s America, race is always a factor. Older, white, sports commentators and fans are the people that see Cam as a “bad guy”. In the past couple of months, Peyton Manning has been accused of taking Human Growth Hormone and the previously mentioned sexual harassment incident. If Cam Newton had been accused of either of those the media would have a field day. Why does Peyton Manning get a pass? Aaron Rodgers is also a good example of how white quarterbacks, especially, get treated more fairly than Cam Newton. When Aaron Rodgers began doing his WWE championship belt celebration he was featured in State Farm commercials. When Cam Newton dabs people get upset. When Aaron Rodgers struggles and his team loses, the media gives him a pass and blames it on coaching or his Packer teammates. When Cam’s team fails, people only seem to question his drive and call him inconsistent or overrated.
Don’t buy in when people call Cam overrated. In this graph I will anonymously list four Quarterbacks and their statistics from their first five seasons as starters. One of the four is Cam Newton, the other three are surefire Hall of Famers.
All these Quarterback have very similar statistics. Lots of yards, lots of touchdowns, lots of playoff appearances. QB1 is Brett Favre, QB2 is Tom Brady, QB3 is Cam Newton, and QB4 is Peyton Manning.
Next time you hear someone call Cam Newton overrated make sure they have the facts to back it up. Cam Newton is only 26. It is realistic to believe that when his career is over, he will go down as one of the greatest Quarterbacks of all time. He is not overrated, he is underrated. The media will try and make you think Cam is all hype. He doesn’t play the game “the way it should be played”. He's cocky, he’s arrogant, he doesn’t respect the game. The only reason people say this about him is because the media has lead you to believe that it's true. If you are someone who dislikes Cam, then you should go ahead and watch an interview with him. Watch him give a touchdown ball to a young kid. Or just simply judge him on his play, his highlight reels are incredible. Cam is the real deal, he’s not all hype. He’s had an absurd amount of success at a very young age. So did Brady, so did Manning, so did Favre. None of those guys had to put up with criticism about their personality and Cam shouldn’t either. Cam is not a “bad guy”, he is only perceived as one because of his portrayal in the media.
