It is time for us NFL fans to embrace and celebrate a quarterback who is playing at an MVP-like level. That quarterback is Cam Newton. I feel like he is similar to LeBron right now before King James won his rings. Cam is hated because why? Nobody seems to know. Is it because he’s cocky, because he is always smiling, made some mistakes in college, or what? I am going to start this off by being honest, I hated Cam Newton in college. I just could not stand him when he played for Auburn. I hated watching him score and the whole time playing he had that “stupid grin” on his face. I was for sure he would be a bust in the draft that he came out in. I figured there would be no way that he would be successful in the NFL and now I am here telling you why you should embrace him as well.
Embrace Cam Newton
So you hate him for dancing when he scores a touchdown? Why are we acting like Newton is the first person to do that? I grew up watching T.O., Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson, and Randy Moss score touchdowns and celebrate every time. Hell, one of my favorite things about the NFL growing up was watching these players dance and always break out some new celebration. I believe that if you don’t want someone to dance when they score a touchdown then stop them from scoring. Once they score, its fair game. Stop letting the No Fun League tell you how to be a fan and embrace players celebrating. They are grown men playing a game. Let these athletes have fun. One of the ways Cam Newton celebrates is by handing a ball off to a kid in the stands. How can you hate that?
So you hate him because he’s cocky? Name a star player who isn’t that cocky especially as a quarterback. You can’t hate him for being cocky but love Tom Brady as a player. They are both cocky as ultimately it comes with being a leader of a team. They need to have that faith that they are capable of propelling their team to victory. Every athlete nowadays seems to get their leadership questioned constantly but you watch the Panthers and you can see Newton leading his team and how well he can do with a mediocre offense. His number one receiver this season was Ted Ginn Jr. Just let that sink in for a second. His receiving corps is Greg Olsen, an injured Kelvin Benjamin who didn’t play at all this season, Corey “Philly” Brown, Ted Ginn Jr. and Jerricho Cotchery. All players that you might not remember or wondered whatever happened to them with the exception of Olsen who is a star tight end season after season.
He will be one of the top quarterbacks in the next few years. For the past 15 years or so we have seen Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, and lately Aaron Rodgers tear apart defenses and shred them with their passes. Now we are about to see quarterbacks much differently as Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota to some degree Alex Smith, and maybe even veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick. Colin Kaepernick might even appear in this area if Chip Kelly can resurrect his career. Quarterbacks now can run the ball and throw with great accuracy. This makes it difficult as a defense to stop just the run. Even in the AFC Championship game two quarterbacks who never run the ball in Brady and Peyton both ran for over ten yards. This is the NFL now and it will be interesting.
If these handful of points don’t change your mind about Cam, nothing probably will but you will just end up being hateful and resentful for the next ten to 15 years because Cam will be in the NFL for quite a while. It’s time to embrace this quarterback that will remind you of Steve Young, Warren Moon, Randall Cunningham and Michael Vick. Cam can throw the ball and run as well. Also a side note for fantasy football fans, keep an eye on Cam in the draft. He can get a rushing touchdown and a passing touchdown. Next year, he will get his number one receiver back in Kelvin Benjamin. If you are able to get him in a round that you feel comfortable drafting him in, go for it. You will not be sorry.
So stop hating America, appreciate Cam.
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