Editorial

“The Issue with the Black Quarterback”

By: Ari Talton (The Dallas Weekly)

 

Chances are your team will be watching the Super Bowl from home just like my team. A competitive game, less any second half trumping would be ideal. But which team do we really want adorned in Super Bowl 50 glory? Are our reasons for hoping one team fails over the other legitimate?

 

Shortly after winning the NFC Championship, Cam Newton explained to the media and to the world what it’s like to be the epicenter of much debate, scrutiny and flawed evaluations of his success.

 

"I'm an African-American quarterback. That may scare a lot of people because they haven't seen nothing (oh how I wish he avoided the double negative) that they can compare me to.''

 

Football aficionados either like Cam Newton because he’s black and they want to support the black quarterback. And then many spectators hate Cam Newton because he has been deemed “another arrogant black athlete.”

 

When we take a real look at some of the more popular quarterbacks that made the playoffs this season, there are several reasons why we could consider them all to be unworthy of the glitz and the fame.

 

Russell Wilson is the wholesome black quarterback who wins. But “he’s overrated.” He’s that black quarterback who lucked up on two Super Bowl wins and a gorgeous girlfriend.

Tom Brady cheated his way through last year’s Super Bowl and who knows how many other regular season wins. He barks at his teammates if they miss a pass and he is probably the  reason why defensive players can’t lay a fingernail on a quarterback anymore.

 

Ben Roethlisberger has been accused of sexual assault. And even the super clean Peyton Manning sat his bare derrière on the face of a female trainer while he was quarterback for the Tennessee Volunteers.

 

What mistake(s) will Newton never shake? Tossing the stolen laptop out of the window? Or maybe it was putting his name on another student’s work in college.

 

They are all blemished. And they’ve all stood trial in the court of public opinion.

 

In this day and age, it is especially hard to make accurate character assessments because of the overload of exposure – often times negative exposure. Newton plays televised football once per week. That’s 16 times per season before the playoffs. We don’t know Cam Newton.

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If all we’re shown time and time again are his celebratory antics, then yes we might be led to believe that he’s an arrogant and pompous prick. His whole “dab” movement can easily be misconstrued, because even covered in complete football gear – he does the popular dance with such finesse.  

 

Perhaps he really is just having fun, playing football and getting rich off of his childhood sport. He enjoys being a black man. He embraces the culture. Many of the same dynamics we live out each day are only critiqued because he is a public figure.

 

Once I uttered the words, “maybe losing to Denver in the Super Bowl will humble him,” – I had to eat those words. Newton likes rap music, fashion, dancing and using his physical prowess to his advantage on the field. I can’t find fault in any of that (unless he’s playing against my Cowboys). Newton has received so many labels during his short NFL career: moody, thug and arrogant. Initially it was determined that he was just another black quarterback who could run – and then he ran for 636 yards and 10 touchdowns all over defenses and still managed to pass for over 3,800 yards and 35 touchdowns.

Every once in a while the great Tom Brady makes an errant pass that his receiver just can’t corral. It’s always the receiver’s fault – just watch as Brady stares him down.  I’ll never forget watching an Indianapolis Colts game when Peyton Manning attempted to get in the face of receiver Reggie Wayne and challenge him. Let’s just say that didn’t go so well for Ol’ Peyton.

 

 

Until a friend mentioned to me that Newton prays before games, I had no idea that he was even remotely spiritual. We don’t know Cam Newton.

 

I’ve never been a fan of Peyton Manning. I respect his career, but I’ve never been much of a fan. It took writing this column for me to realize just how ‘not terrible’ it would be for the Carolina Panthers to be hailed Super Bowl Champions.

 

Win, lose or blown out – my team still isn’t playing, so I’ll get over it. But I’m definitely no longer rooting against Cam Newton.

 

I get it now.

 

Cam Newton isn’t hated because he dances – he’s hated because he refuses to dance. I can respect that.