DANGERFIELD ACT IS A JOKE
Despite what the Panthers say, they’re getting lots of respect
SAN JOSE — Everybody hates Cam Newton. And Josh Norman, too. And, really, everyone on the Carolina Panthers. They know it and they feel it and they thrived all season on the fuel from all their doubters. Never mind if it’s not entirely true. Facts aside, the Panthers arrived at Super Bowl 50 ready to play the Rodney Dangerfield card, and it started with their appearance at the circus-like “Super Bowl Opening Night” at the SAP Center on Monday night. They claimed, as they have all season, that they get no respect, that they are the most overlooked 17-1 team in NFL history, that no one thinks they’re any good even though in the last 14 months they’ve gone 22-2. And they ignored the fact that they opened as four-point favorites over the Denver Broncos in Super
Bowl 50, a line that has since gone up to six. They conveniently forgot that players, fans and coaches voted an NFL-high 10 of their players into the Pro Bowl. They didn’t discuss how Cam Newton is fifth among NFL players in jersey sales, one spot ahead of linebacker Luke Keuchly (according to NFLshop.com). And they didn’t mention that Newton is almost certainly going to be the NFL’s MVP.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera made it clear he’ll be playing the “no respect” card. And the players are buying it. They’ve got their story and they’re sticking to it, no matter what.
“You’ve got to look at it. Nobody picked us to be here,” said Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson. “They didn’t believe we were going to be here. So it’s true. It’s not like he’s telling a story or anything.”
Well, Rivera is telling at least a little bit of a story when he tries to sell the Panthers on how overlooked and under-appreciated they are. Just last week, he lamented that “the hardest thing we talked about doing three seasons ago was becoming relevant. To do things that we’ve done in the past and not be recognized for it, that’s kind of a kick in the gut.”
Maybe Rivera just has a sensitive gut, since it certainly doesn’t appear that the Panthers have endured much kicking. OK, a year ago they were laughed at when they won the NFC South with a 7-8-1 record and won a playoff game over an Arizona Cardinals team that was down to its third quarterback.
But this year? Maybe it took a while for everyone to realize how good the Panthers were. But by the time they beat the Giants 38-35 on Dec. 20 to go 14-0 there were no doubters. Yet somehow, even after they hammered the Cardinals 49-15 in the NFC Championship Game, they were still pretty sure that nobody believed.
Maybe it’s just that they’re confusing disrespect with dislike – because there certainly is some of that directed at the Panthers. They are a selfie-taking, drum-beating, bat-swinging, sideline-dancing group of overly enthusiastic showoffs, and there’s no doubt that has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way – especially considering how much they’ve had to celebrate this season. And yes, a lot of that has been directed at Newton for his post-touchdown dabbing and his Superman celebrations that date back to his rookie year.
Some of the criticism directed at Newton is surely racial. Some of it is undoubtedly generational. Either way, the Broncos and Peyton Manning are viewed as more traditional, more professional. And outside Carolina there’ll be a lot of people rooting for the Panthers to lose.
Not that they care. As Newton said from his Media Night podium when asked about people who don’t like his dabbing, “I guess you have to get used to it, because I don’t plan on changing.”
That goes for the rest of the Panthers, too.
“I mean, we’ve pretty much been doing what we do since Day 1,” Norman said. “People have their own opinions and own perspectives about how we do things. We just keep rolling and do what we do. It is what it is.
“Heck, we’re like 17-1. If you don’t respect us by now, you never will.”
Except that plenty of people do respect them. The proof is in the number of people voting for them, rooting for them, buying their jerseys. Stories have already been written comparing them to some of the greatest teams of all time.
Yet, Rivera said he wasn’t budging. He had no plans to let facts get in the way of a story that has worked so well so far.
“There’s a great little saying about the lion,” Rivera said last week. “The lion always eats until he’s satisfied. Then he sleeps. We can’t be satisfied. We just can’t.”
So go ahead, and say whatever you want about the Panthers this week. They’re only going to hear what they want to hear.