THEJNSREPORT

Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: The New Era QB: Cam Newton Dialogue 😀

By Akan Bosemann

Where are we today with sports athletes? Certainly the argument can be made that we are in the era of the modern day athlete being at an all time high in terms of platform, wealth, reach, branding and popularity.

American football is the most popular sport in America today.  It is said that the QB position is the most important position there is in the game.  The QB position was historically a white dominant position.  Until Doug Williams there was no such thing as a black QB.

The prevailing thought was that black football players were limited to skill or athletic positions and weren’t considered “smart” enough to be a QB.  They even use the Wonderlic test to gauge the mental aptitude of a QB as the standard for what to expect from a QB.

It can be said that the fact that there were no black QB’s before Doug Williams at the professional level was more to due with white people much like in other segments of society trying to keep minorities out of high profile positions and positions of power that they feel should belong to them and them alone.

Today the game has changed some.  Superstar minority athletes are finding themselves more and more in positions of power and excelling at them.  In the days of Joe Montana, Joe Theisman, Brett Favre, Steve Young, Dan Marino, John Elway to name a few, the QB the way they celebrated was cool for what cool is or was for the white fan base back then.

The emergence of larger than life persona players like Lawrence Taylor, & “Prime Time” Deion Sanders added a whole other dimension of swagger & flair to the game which made it more exciting to watch.

I can say as a fan of the game of football growing up as a kid in the inner city, I lived for the highlight eye catching big plays and the celebrations that followed touchdowns.  It’s as much cultural as it is a human emotion to celebrate achievements.  The complaint against Cam Newton today I think has more to do with some white fans/casual fans of the game seeing the shift in paradigm from the QB position being dominated as white only to perhaps a inevitably black dominant position and either don’t like or hate the flash and flair of the QB that is Cam Newton.

They want him to act as “traditional white QB’s” from yesteryear acted.  That’s what’s comfortable and cool for them and they aren’t willing to embrace the change in that paradigm.  Too bad for them because Cam & future generations to come after aren’t going anywhere.  They will take over the game and excel at it and will dance and dab or whatever the next new TD celebration will be.  Funny how these same fans who love Tom Brady running as “psycho Tom” head-butting teammates and screaming like a maniac aren’t offended by his antics but Cam dances and they have a problem? GTFOH!!! And get a life.

I love that Cam addressed it, is unapologetic about who he is, embraces the challenge in front of him and continues to celebrate in the fashion that he does.  He is must see TV.  One things for sure, the same people who complain about Cam or say they don’t know why but he just rubs them the wrong way, they don’t stop watching football because of him.  They actually tune in to root against him and guess what it keeps the game fresh, relevant and growing.  So keep the hate coming and keep watching Cam be himself.  I know I will.

Lastly, I leave it on this note.  Cam is a great for the league and hasn’t given the league or anyone really any reason to hate on him other than the fact they hate to see him succeed at his profession.  It’s what drives him.