Panthers’ Newton breaks the mould
Confident, cocky quarterback’s success has raised some vexing questions about racism in sports
After the Carolina Panthers thrashed the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship last week, a reporter asked winning quarterback Cam Newton to reflect on his team’s journey from the last-place squad that drafted him in 2011 to Super Bowl favourite.
Newton, who led the Panthers to a 15-1 regular-season record, answered that he never thought success would come quickly, like instant grits. Instead, the College Park, Ga., native invoked another southern food to make his point.
“It’s going to be a process, like longcooked collard greens,” he said. “I think those collard greens are brewing right now . . . you can smell it from a mile away.”
Embedded in Newton’s food analogy is a message aimed at an African-American audience familiar with both the dish’s aroma and status as a soul food staple.
It’s akin to The Weeknd winning a Grammy then announcing he’ll celebrate with poutine and a double-double. American viewers might understand, but the reference would resonate much more deeply back in Canada.
Newton’s quote was the latest flashpoint in a season during which his success has raised vexing questions about racism in sports.
Would white players celebrating touchdowns draw the same criticism Newton did when he first unveiled The Dab? Doubtful. Do black quarterbacks still face unfair stereotypes about brains, humility and leadership? Apparently.
At times Newton answers explicitly, like when he told a mid-week news conference he’s “true to my roots.”
But more often his responses are demonstrated on the field, where he passed for 3,837 yards and 35 touchdowns, celebrating big plays with a flair usually associated with wide receivers. Or they are coded, conspiratorial nods to black fans, like the collard greens riff.
Three decades after Doug Williams became the first black quarterback to win a Super Bowl, it is no longer such a novelty — nine African-American quarterbacks started NFL games in 2015. But this season, Newton emerged as Black America’s quarterback, his success and unapologetic embrace of African-American culture winning support from black fans in Charlotte and beyond.
Mentioning collard greens in a national- ly televised news conference boosted his appeal.
“It’s a genuine rebellion, and that’s the thing a lot of black people gravitate to with Cam,” says Rod Morrow, a Charlotte resident and co-host of The Black Guy Who Tips podcast.
“He’s having so much fun, but it’s rebellious in nature because it’s a rebellion against the image of the quarterback we’re supposed to have. Every other black quarterback before this has either had to conform or they haven’t really had much success.”
Including the 49ers’ Colin Kaepernick and Seahawks’ Russell Wilson, African-American quarterbacks have represented the NFC in the last three Super Bowls, but neither of them have captivated black fans the way Newton has.
On Twitter, Cam Newton avatars appear with increasing frequency. Heavyweight boxer Clarence Tillman, a New Orleans native and Saints fan, has adopted the screen name “CEO of Cam Bandwagon.” And a recent column on the black-focused news site The Root bears the headline, “Make ’Em cry, Cam: How Newton will drink reporters’ white tears.”
University of Houston professor Drew Brown sees in Newton a cultural phenomenon that parallels the rise of Allen Iverson, who connected with young, black, urban NBA fans in ways other African-American stars didn’t. Where Iverson favoured the baggy jeans and do-rags that prompted the NBA’s dress code, Newton wears tailored suits. But Brown says both men express an African-American cultural authenticity that runs deeper than fashion.
Newton further stands out because his position remains largely populated by white players with conservative personalities who don’t celebrate touchdowns with dance steps.
“He’s dancing in opposition to the humble attitude that’s promoted (for quarterbacks),” says Brown, a former CFL player who teaches African-American studies. “When we talk about Cam Newton we’re talking about agency — black cultural agency. He’s going to represent cultural traditions whether people like it or not.”
Newton turned pro after winning the Heisman Trophy at Auburn University in 2010, and the following season he won the NFL’s rookie of the year. This season, he threw for touchdowns on 7.1 per cent of his passes, best in the league, while trimming his interception rate to a career-low two per cent.
But his credentials didn’t shield him from skepticism before the 2011 draft. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper likened Newton to Akili Smith, who was drafted third in 1999 and out of the league by 2003.
And a scouting report by Pro Football Weekly’s Nolan Nawrocki lampooned Newton’s “enormous ego” and “issues with authority.”
You need not read too deeply between the lines to see race in Nawrocki’s casual conflation of confidence and cockiness, or Kiper’s reflexive comparison between Newton and a failed black quarterback.
“It’s the history of the black quarterback: he’s not going to be (perceived as) intelligent. He’s only going to be athletic,” says Louis Moore, a professor of sports history and African-American history at Grand Valley State University in Michigan. “You’re never going to draft a white quarterback and think he might be Tim Couch. Blaine Gabbert gets to be Blaine Gabbert.”
Five successful seasons have won Newton broad appeal — his endorsement portfolio includes Under Armour, Gatorade and Oikos Greek yogurt.
But among certain fans resentment runs deep, and a Google search of Newton’s name and the n-word reveals much of the antipathy is blatantly racial. That Newton overcomes both subtle bias and overt racism further endears him to many African-American football fans.
“Winning covers everything, but one thing winning doesn’t cover is racism,” said Panthers fan Karen Morrow, Rod’s wife and co-host. “I see a lot of it when it comes to (Newton), and it makes me support him even more. Everything about him was being picked apart and me, being black and having to deal with that every day, I could relate to that.”
After his rookie season, Newton told ESPN The Magazine he didn’t consider his critics racist, but this past week the two-time Pro Bowler told reporters his combination of race, skill and success unnerves some people.
“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,” Newton said at a Wednesday news conference.
Reactions to the Dab best embody the Cam Newton conundrum.
While the dance was already popular in some circles, Newton took it mainstream, doing it after touchdowns, big plays and wins. Backlash came from opponents, who felt the celebration excessive, and fans, who called it a bad example.
“You have amazing talent and an incredible platform to be a role model for (children),” wrote Nashville resident Tiffany Plorin in a widely published open letter to Newton. “Unfortunately, what you modelled for them today was egotism, arrogance and poor sportsmanship.”
Newton told the Titans the best way to stop the Dab was to keep him from scoring, but by then the dance move was already crossing over. By January, celebrities from Hillary Clinton to Norm Kelly to University of Alabama football coach Nick Saban had been photographed dabbing in public.
Opposing teams and racist fans might still take offence, but Brown calls the Newton-as-showboat storyline overblown.
Instead, he says Newton’s celebrations spring from an African-American culture that prizes creative spontaneity. Like Jose Bautista’s bat flip in Game 5 of the ALDS, Newton’s dabbing is less self-praise than genuine joy that gets lost in cultural translation.
“We mustn’t look at it through the eyes of another culture,” Brown says. “Look at it through the eyes of the dancer.”