BY ERIC KRALJIC
Cam Newton, the 2015 NFL MVP and AP Offensive Player of the Year, dazzled spectators with his electrifying performance this past season. At 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds, Newton possesses the rare combination of strength and speed for a quarterback, as there seems to be no aspect of his game he cannot do.
But no matter how gifted he may be athletically, as an African-American, Newton believes he is overly criticized due to his race. After a record-breaking season, Newton still believed that no matter how he performed on the field, their was extra criticism aimed his way because of his style of play.
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer leading up to Super Bowl 50, The Carolina Panthers quarterback told his critics, “I’ve said it since Day One: I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
African-American quarterbacks in the NFL are a rarity. As a whole, diversity is not a major issue in the NFL, but quarterback is the one position where Caucasians reign supreme, observers say. At the start of this past season, just 5 of the 32 quarterbacks in the league were African-American.
Even with just five black quarterbacks currently starting in the NFL, Newton is not the first ever to play the position at its highest stage. Russell Wilson, an African-American, is the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks and also played in the Super Bowl just two years ago, yet there was no extra attention drawn to Wilson’s race.
Fan’s Reaction to Newton
Most fans of the NFL don’t agree with Newton’s stance that race plays a role in his criticism. In fact, some believe he brings more attention to himself by his actions.
“He [Newton] is the reason why he might be more criticized than other players because he’s arrogant and loves attention,” Corey Miller, an African-American and former college football player at Kean University said. “It has nothing to do with race, rather him dancing after every touchdown he scores.”
Newton’s dancing led to one of the biggest crazes the league saw this year. The “dab” is a simple, yet effective dance move that captivated fans and became viral on social media. More commonly known as “dabbing,” players in the NBA also started to use the move made famous by Newton.
James Donohue, a senior at Ramapo College, also agrees with most NFL fans,
“I love watching Cam play, but I don’t agree with him that race is a factor in his criticism,” Donohue said. “I think some people don’t like him because of his cockiness, but nothing more than that.”
Perspective from Players in the NFL
Current New York Jets Wide Receiver Brandon Marshall chimed in on the controversy surrounding Newton during a recent television appearance.
“I don’t think it’s racial. I just think that there’s a box that we put our quarterbacks in and we say, ‘This is how you’re supposed to be. This is how Peyton Manning did it, this is how Joe Montana did it, Tom Brady, so you do it the same way,’” Marshall said on the “The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore.”
While Marshall doesn’t believe race plays a role in Newton’s criticism, former teammate of Newton, Steve Smith Sr. of the Baltimore Ravens, believes otherwise. “I think it has to do with a little bit of arrogance and also, I hate to say it this way, possibly the color of your skin playing quarterback,” Smith said Thursday on “The Dan Patrick Show.”
Whether or not Newton is in fact subjected to unfair criticism because he’s African-American, it shouldn’t take away from the spectacular season he had in 2015. Although he came up short of a Super Bowl victory, he should look to silence his critics in 2016.
I really enjoyed hearing from both players and fans, both of their perspectives are important on this issue. The only thing I was looking for was maybe why this had not been an issue of race until now. Why it wasn’t an issue maybe with Russell Wilson. With the title, maybe add the year of the Super Bowl or which one it specifically is.