Cam Newton bumps an official

Cam Newton has been fantastic in the last few weeks. Although he couldn't salvage the Panthers season he certainly salvaged some fantasy ones.

Today Cam exploded after what seemed to be a routine tackle by the Raiders Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly. Cam seemed like he was kicking Kelly then he jumped up and confronted the ref, bumping him.

Cam can expect some coal in his stocking and a fine from the league.

After the game tried to redeem the situation. 

"Nothing good happens when you're at the bottom of a pile. With me looking at the replay I realize it looked like I kicked him but I was just trying to get up as fast as I could and get to the next play. He fell a certain type of way, then he put his hands in my face."

In Cam's defense the game was out of control and Kelly admitted to trying to take Newton out as revenge for Palmer being injured earlier.

You take our guy out, we're going to go and try to take your guy out," Kelly told the Associated Press. "We're not out to hurt someone, but when that happens ...''

No doubt Kelly will be fined as well for simply stating the obvious but the NFL still likes to pretend that they aren't Gladiators with pads.

Green Eggs and Cam

There have been few number one overall draft picks as polarizing as Cam Newton. Newton’s supporters believed that his physical skills outweighed any misgivings about his lack of experience and character concerns. His detractors questioned how well Cam would transition from a college offense to a more complex pro-style. After last year’s dazzling rookie season it seemed that Cam had put all criticisms to rest.


Cam looks the part, 6’5 245 with a body chiseled from granite and a smile that would make any move star jealous. Cam’s abilities and charm have caused many to overlook inconvenient truths about the young quarterback.

Humans have a tendency to be blinded by amazing talent. We loved Tiger, Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson despite their very deep character flaws, the more talent a person has the more we are willing to ignore their shortcomings and celebrate their gifts. If we look very closely the signs with Cam were always there, he was thrown out of the University of Florida for stealing a laptop. At the University of Auburn he was involved in a pay for play scandal that still leave some wondering how he remained eligible. Some blame Cam’s father for the later offense and even if that’s true, if Cam was raised by a man with questionable character is it possible that some of that rubbed off on him?

During draft time Cam’s defenders shooed away all criticism of their boy wonder by accusing them of racism. Former Houston Oilers Quarterback Warren Moon led the charge “"A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based.”

During a now infamous segment of John Gruden’s Qb camp Cam revealed that he did not call plays in the huddle, instead he relied on a less complex numbering system. Add this to the fact that he wasn’t accustomed to taking snaps under center or reading complex defenses and there were many legitimate reasons for NFL personnel people to be concerned. Instead of turning his critics into his counselors, team Cam decided to play the race card (also known as the hater card)

Fast forward to yesterday’s presser where Cam had another meltdown after a Panther loss. Where young Cameron was quoted as saying that he was going to bring in a “suggestion box” because he was out of ideas, basically throwing his Offensive coordinator under the bus. Combine that with Cam celebrating in the end zone via his superman dance while trailing by two touchdowns and his constant Eeyoring(The opposite of Tebowing, think Winnie the Pooh) during and after games. The same beast that catapulted Cam’s meteoric rise to stardom is the same one that’s yanking him back down to earth.

In reality none of these are a big deal. The quarterback in the NFL is more than just another position on the team. He’s the flagship, a team spokesman the tangible face of the organization. Everything he does, says, yes even his facial expressions are scrutinized analyzed and criticized. Newton has to understand that. On the field and often off the field the position must be played with nerves of steel.

A look into Cam’s recent past shows that he’s always been able to shed off any adversity with the same easy that he does oncoming defenders. Steal a laptop? Get off with a slap on the wrist, transfer to a community college, win a national championship and become the most sought after JUCOS in the country. Dad takes money during the recruiting process? The NCAA absolves you of all blame and go on to win another national championship.

Now Newton faces a challenge that his talent alone can’t overcome. In the National Football league, no player no matter how gifted can get by on talent alone. It’s a league of constant calibration and recalibration, Darwin’s theory of evolution on steroids. Every player must learn to adapt, it’s either evolve or die. The history of the league is filled with players of immense talent that weren’t able to do so. In the league it’s not so much how talented you are, but how you respond to adversity but how you adapt and survive and ultimately thrive.

I hope Cam can turn things around, I truly do. Cam still has time to mature. A very non flattering narrative is forming. Once our 24 hour sports obsessed media finishes shoving a narrative down our throats it’s almost impossible for any athlete to overcome. Cam Newton must evolve very quickly or he will find himself added to the long list of talented players who couldn’t cut it in the National Football League.

NFL Report Card

Who Makes the Grade

A plus- Cream of the crop

Green Bay Packers: Its officially time for to start the undefeated talk. Can they do it? I'm not sure but Aaron Rodgers is playing on a level that few if any have ever seen.

A- Legit contenders

Baltimore Ravens: They've had a few hiccups but Flacco has been very impressive over the last two weeks. He may be finally over the hump.

Pittsburgh Steelers: Though they've shown signs of aging, the Steelers will still be a tough out come January.

B Plus- Playoff bound with flaws

Patriots- If Tom Brady has the ball in his hands at the end of the game, odds are the Pats. If he doesn't.....(see Sunday)

49ers- The niners are legit. The question is how legit? They play a physical style that relies on getting ahead early. If they get behind can Alex Smith carry them to victory.

Saints- At home the Saints are hard to beat, on the road they are average at best. They still have a suspect running game and defense. Brees' brilliance might not be enough.

Giants They have a tendency to play to the level of their competition, they also have a tendency to start fast and fade down the stretch. Eli has looked phenomenal can he keep it up?


B- Wild card contenders who could make a deep run in the playoffs

Eagles- The Eagles are finally hitting their stride, honestly what did we expect from the dream team? They underwent a huge facelift during the off season and they had a short off season to jell. They've learned on the job and may be the most dangerous team in the league. Look out.

Falcons - The Falcons offense has been largely disappointing , mostly due to offensive line issues. It remains to be scene if the dirty birds can make a serious run at the title, but they'll be around come playoff time.

Lions America's Sweethearts have gone Lindsey Lohan.The leagues dirtiest team was every ones preseason dark horse and they didn't disappoint. Their lack of a running game and ability to stop the run will be their undoing.

Jets- While people predicted their demise, the Jets did what they always do, peak late. The Jets have been to the last two conference finals, and there's no reason to think they won't be at a third.

Bills: Very few people saw this season coming for the Bills. However things are about to get extremely difficult for the Bills schedule wise. Getting in the playoffs will be tough.

Texans: Surprisingly the Texans have weathered the losses of Mario Williams and Andre Johnson relatively well. Unless they collapse they will win the division and gain a playoff berth.


B minus- Don't sleep on them

Bucs- The Bucs are young and inconsistent(which go hand and hand) Freeman has seemingly regressed but the Bucs are in every game and still shines in the 4th quarter.

Bengals- If the Bengals go 6-2 in the forest will anyone care? Answer? No. The Bengals have a a great defense and the pass connection of the future in Dalton and AJ Green.

Bears- The Bears were a quarter away from the Super Bowl. The Bears are always solid. If others trip up they will prove that slow and steady wins the race.

C Plus

Cowboys- America's team is as inconsistent as they come, but they can play with anyone.

Chargers- Speaking of inconsistent its time to start calling the Chargers Dallas West.

C- Mediocre

Raiders- Hue Jackson called the Carson Palmer trade the greatest ever. Palmer's thrown 6 picks in 6 quarters.

Chiefs: The Chiefs started the season by being out scored 89-10 in their first two games, the Chiefs bounced back winning four games in a row, only to be humiliated by the winless Dolphins last Sunday.


C Minus Average on a good day

Broncos- Tebow wins em ugly, but he still wins em. (some of em anyway)

Browns-A truly mediorce team, but for this franchise Mediocre is an upgrade.


D

Redskins- They started out well and then they remembered they were the Redskins.

Carolina- The most exciting 2-6 teams in history, Cam Newton is electric, the Panthers defense is not.

Jaguars- When you cut your starting Qb the Friday before the season starts you can't expect much.

Vikings- They are showing life with Christian Ponder under center.

Cardinals- Kevin Kolb is not good.

Seahawks-Not good enough(bad enough?) to Suck for Luck so they settle for just sucking.

F Sucking for Luck

Colts- When you lose your Head Coach and Starting QB in the same season you're going to struggle.(I didn't mistype that)

Rams- They shouldn't be this bad. Injuries have killed them

Dolphins They proved that they had some fight in them over the last two weeks but they are awful.

Cam Newton:Hypocrisy, Racism or Circumstance

By :Cory Carlton


So a lot has been made of the Cam Newton saga and to be honest I won’t say it’s much to do about nothing but its pretty close. If Auburn indeed did pay Newton 210,000 to come there to be quite honest they got a steal.

Newton will be at Auburn for two years max which equals tuition of at $40,000. Add the let’s shoot high and say $350,000(I’m sure he’s gotten some spending money along the way) and you’re looking at Auburn making a $400,000 investment. Last year without Cam Auburn finished 8-5 and went to the Outback bowl, receiving around 4 million dollars for participating. This year Auburn is slated to go to the BCS national title game in which the payout will be around 17 million dollars. That’s at the very least a 13 million dollar difference. If you ask me that’s the best investment I’ve ever heard of. I wish the stock market had ROI like that.

And for those of you playing the holier than thou card pretending to be shocked about what you are reading, let’s be honest the payroll in the SEC is much higher than the American League Central. If Cam Newton made a mistake it wasn’t taking money because it seems like he did that pretty well, the mistake was asking a school that you know couldn’t afford you for that much money. The reason Mississippi State is snitching is because they have nothing to lose. You think Cam and his daddy Creflo just asked MSU for money but just skipped that step when LSU and Oklahoma came knocking?? Of course they didn’t but Oklahoma and LSU participate in the code so they don’t want to open Pandora’s Box. This isn’t some magic revelation that college players get paid, just like people knew Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were on steroids, or people know that the NFL treats their players like crap and give them no insurance once they retire or that one and done college basketball players attend maybe one class……. All year. NO ONE CARES and when I say cares I mean people don’t have a true sense of what's wrong, at least not the ones actually watching the games. People might get self righteous and try to “protect the best interest of the game” but no one truly cares or wants to fix the issues. And I don’t think they should.

The most self-righteous of them all is the NCAA and SEC. So let me get this straight SEC you can suspend Bruce Pearl proactively but not Cam Newton. I wonder what the reason for that is. Is it integrity? Of course not it’s money. Because when it’s all said and done Auburn might have to give back a title and the wins but the SEC doesn’t have to give back that 17 mil. In basketball there are no bowl games so Tennessee becomes irrelevant. The reason they truly suspended Pearl is similar to the reason USC fired Tim Floyd. When it comes time for the “hammer” to come down you throw the basketball team under the bus because they are less profitable, it’s a business.

So in about six months or so after the bowl games and Auburn has won a title and Newton has won a Heisman and this story has died down, the NCAA will probably rule that Newton was ineligible. Then everyone will come down on Newton and tell the world that he is a bad person because he took money. If someone is making over 20 million dollars of pure profit from your services you are no amateur. How can you truly expect someone from Newton’s economic background to actually turn down the money is my real question. So why does the person become the necessary evil? Why was Reggie Bush vilified? Ultimately the first thing that comes to mind is because he is black. No matter what planet you live on it should be no surprise to you that racism still exist in America. Where are the white cases of Sean Bell or Amadou Diallo? Why do African Americans account for just 28 percent of drug usage in America yet account for 73 percent of drug related arrests. So yes racism exists but it doesn’t really here. '

Did the story come out because of racism? No if Cameron Newton was white this would have still happened. Did the story reach this high of magnitude because Newton is black? No. The only aspect that race may play a part is that if Newton was white he may get the benefit of doubt. But seeing as though he is actually guilty I’m not really sure how that is pertinent to the situation. So is Cam Newton a victim of racism? Somewhat. Is Newton a victim of hypocrisy? Absolutely, but more so Newton is a victim of circumstance. Sh*t hit the fan and someone has to take the fall and since Newton will stop making Auburn money in about three months it will have to be him. It’s not racial it’s just the way it is. And once again No one cares.