Scribbler's 11th Hour Post of the Week: The Cultural and Historical Importance of Cam Newton's Super Bowl Appearance

The easy post would be to talk about the upcoming golden anniversary of the Super Bowl--or at least that's the post that most would expect coming from the unapologetic football enthusiast.  So I could easily ramble on and on about the matchup between two former No. 1 overall picks in Peyton Manning (1998) and Cam Newton (2011).  Building up the drama between the No. 1 scoring offense (Carolina) and the No. 1 overall defense (Denver) is a cakewalk.  Highlighting that this is the third straight time that both of the No. 1 teams from each conference are facing each other in the Super Bowl is child's play.  I could even salivate over the fact that Cam Newton could end up being the third quarterback in NFL history along with Joe Namath and Joe Montana to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl.  However, as we are two days into Black History Month, what is even more interesting to me is that Cam Newton could be the first Black starting quarterback in NFL history to win a college national championship and a Super Bowl.  Let's be clear: I love Peyton Manning as a person, a football genius, an excellent ambassador for the NFL and the epitome of good sportsmanship.  If he were playing anybody else, then maybe I'd be rooting for him.  Nevertheless, I have decided to cheer for the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50 for the following multilayered reason: a victory for Cam Newton would not only be the first Super Bowl win for the Carolina Panthers franchise, but it would also be another triumph in the rich legacy of Black history as well as the American cultural and historical narrative.  As the late, great James Brown once said, "In order for me to get down, I got to get in deep..."

IF WE'RE ALLOWED TO READ, THEN WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO LEAD.  Very few Black quarterbacks in the early days of the NFL received the same high praise that Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator and future Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs gave Grambling State prospect Doug Williams--who Gibbs touted for being "very academic and extremely prepared" and "football smart" as well as for his "big-time arm with perfect passing mechanics".  Those traits availed Williams in becoming an unlikely pioneer for Black quarterbacks as he was the first to be drafted higher than the sixth round (No. 17 overall in 1978), the first to lead a team to a conference championship (1980 with the Bucs) and the first to start in and win a Super Bowl (1988 with the Skins).  However, coming into that same draft, Warren Moon was considered only the tenth best quarterback pursuant to former Houston Oilers head coach Hugh Campbell's explanation: "The stereotype was that he was a Black quarterback and he was going to run around like a madman, but he wouldn't be able to throw very well."  Kinda hard to play in the Canadian Football League and help lead Campbell's Edmonton Eskimos to a record five consecutive Grey Cup wins before coming to the NFL to pass for over 49,000 yards and 291 TDs to become the first (and only to date) Black quarterback to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 five years after being inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame without being able to throw very well.  Moon's initial snubbing was part of a muddied history of players like Fritz Pollard, George Taliaferro, Willie Thrower, Pete Hall, Eldridge Dickey, Marlin Briscoe and Joe Gilliam either being underused at quarterback; converted to other positions like wide receiver, kick returner and/or punt returner; or losing their starting jobs to their White teammates.  Although long celebrated for natural athletic abilities, the common stigma with Black quarterbacks was that they did not possess the intellectual wherewithal to read defenses or understand pro-style offenses like their White counterparts--adding further insult to injury in a country where slaves were killed for learning how to read and there were glaring disparities in the quality of educational systems during segregation.

In a report from the 2011 NFL Scouting Combine, the first thing said about Newton in the Weaknesses section was that he was "not proficient at going through his progressions or making NFL reads".  Of course, the first thing mentioned about him in his overview was that he was "one of the most athletically gifted quarterbacks in draft history".  Although Newton is often lauded for his running ability, he has never had a season where he has thrown more interceptions than touchdowns or completed less than 57 percent of his passes.  In the 2015 regular season, Newton's impressive stat line of 636 rushing yards and 10 TDs paled in comparison to his 35 passing TDs to only 10 INTs, completing 59.8 percent of his passes.  In this postseason, he has completed 70 percent of his passes and has only thrown one pick to three TDs so far; meanwhile, none of the quarterbacks who played in the conference championship games have completed even 60 percent of their passes during the playoffs, including Peyton Manning.  If you're not a stats person, then here's the eye test: Newton is putting the ball on his receivers with more precision than ever, often hitting his receivers in stride versus leading them into vicious hits, delivering many of these deftly-accurate passes from the pocket, has thrown the least amount of interceptions in his five-year NFL career and can make every throw in the passing chart.  All of that takes a superior level of physical ability and intelligence, and Newton is not only proving that he is advancing in these departments, but that he has always had these necessary traits.  Although Doug Williams eventually had one of the greatest performances in Super Bowl history after a mostly average pro career, imagine if he being an "academic" quarterback or other comparable Black quarterbacks were given the same opportunity and treated with the same amount of dignity as Newton.  No telling how much sooner the cultural landscape in the NFL would've changed...

NEWS FLASH: A STARTING NFL QUARTERBACK CAN HAVE WHEELS AND A CANNON AND BE GREAT AND JUST HAPPEN TO BE BLACK ALL AT THE SAME TIME.  From Fran Tarkenton to Steve Young to Aaron Rodgers, being a quarterback with a deadly arm and dangerous mobility has never been limited to the Black athlete.  However, unless we're talking Tim Tebow, it was very rare for a White quarterback with mobility to be considered a "running quarterback"; conversely, as evidenced from the assumption about Warren Moon, many Black quarterbacks have received that label almost as if it were a scarlet letter.  Let's challenge that theory a bit and consider the late Steve McNair.  Although the Alcorn State alumnus could run the 40-yard dash in 4.62 seconds--only 0.03 seconds slower than Cam Newton--he received little fuss about his arm that was strong enough to launch a ball 65 yards on the fly or his ability to run a pro-style offense and read defenses.  In fact, McNair's rare talent was so heralded that the Houston Oilers (later Tennessee Titans) took him No. 3 overall in the 1995 NFL Draft, making him only the second quarterback from a historically Black college or university to be drafted in the first round.  McNair would lead the Titans to two division titles, four playoff appearances and its first and only AFC crown and Super Bowl appearance in the 1999 season as well as snapping the 12-year gap between Black quarterbacks starting in a Super Bowl.  Then take the "big-time question mark at quarterback" of the 2012 NFL Draft in Russell Wilson, whose only knocks were his height and ability to throw from the pocket at the pro level.  On top of running the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds and being considered "effective when scrambling" and a "classic play extender", he was lauded for being a "stellar passer who shows arm strength and accuracy" and having "outstanding football intelligence".  After beating out Matt Flynn for the starting job permanently, Wilson has been to the playoffs in each of his four seasons and is not only the second Black quarterback to start in and win a Super Bowl, but he is the only quarterback in NFL history to go to two Super Bowls in his first three seasons as well as the youngest to start two Super Bowls.  NOOICE.

In Newton's case, perhaps the following litany of gaudy statistics that Rich Eisen recently rattled off on his show is proof enough of how historically great Charlotte's Superman has been:

Cam Newton has the rookie record for most total yards by a rookie quarterback, most touchdowns by a rookie NFL player.  He's the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to throw for 4,000-yard seasons.  He's the first rookie to throw for 400-plus yards in his first career game...only the sixth quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 400 yards in back-to-back games.  He has the most games in NFL history with a passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown, that's 31.  Most rushing touchdowns in a single season by a quarterback, 14...did it in his rookie season.  Most combined yards in a player's first five seasons...he has over 21,500 total yards there.  He's the first quarterback ever with at least 500 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns and 4.8 yards a carry in five straight NFL seasons.  There's only been four other players who are actual running backs with those figures.  I turn a page...first quarterback in NFL history with 100 pass touchdowns and 20 or more rush touchdowns in his first five seasons.  First player in NFL history with 4,000 passing yards and 10-plus rushing touchdowns in any season.  First player in NFL history with 4,000 passing yards and 500-plus rushing yards in any season.  First quarterback to have 20 rushing touchdowns in his first two seasons.  First quarterback in NFL history with at least 500 yards rushing in his first two seasons.  Second player in NFL history with 7,500 pass yards and 40-plus pass touchdowns in his first two seasons; the other is the guy he's going against in the Super Bowl this year in Peyton Manning.  First player in NFL history with 50 passing touchdowns and 25 rushing touchdowns in his first three seasons.  First player in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in his first three seasons.  Most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in his first four seasons.  First player in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards and 2,000 rushing yards in his first four seasons.  First player in NFL history to have at least 3,000 passing yards and 500 rushing yards in five consecutive seasons.  Pick any five consecutive seasons and any other player you want...he's the only one to do it and it's his first five.  Most games in NFL history with at least 200 passing yards and 80 rushing yards with multiple touchdown passes and then you wanna toss in a rushing touchdown; he's the only to do that and he's done it four times.  First quarterback to throw for 300 yards and rush for two touchdowns in a postseason game; that's what he just did to send the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl.  I could go on and on, there's another page here...we haven't seen anybody like Cam Newton.

Although my post is designed to focus on the importance of Newton's success to Black History, Rich Eisen never once mentioned the fact that Cam is a Black quarterback or a running quarterback; these are NFL historical facts.  These are statistics that don't belong to the likes of Johnny Unitas, Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Tom Brady, Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers; Cam Newton is the owner of these amazing feats and, Lord willing, he's not even close to being done yet.  Although his legs are lethal, this lengthy soliloquy might settle the debate once and for all: Cam Newton is not a "running quarterback" or "good for a Black quarterback", but just a great quarterback who just happens to be Black and is one of many Black quarterbacks seeking to permanently decode and rewrite the qualifications of a prototypical NFL quarterback.

MORE PEOPLE IN HIGHER POSITIONS WHO LOOK LIKE US NEED TO WIN AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS.  Over the past 14 years, a recurring debate among friends has been about former Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden winning Super Bowl XXXVII with the team that Tony Dungy built the season after Dungy was reportedly fired for numerous playoff losses and being too conservative on offense.  Imagine my excitement when Dungy 1) landed an arguably better gig coaching Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts and 2) became the second Black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl; Lovie Smith, coach of the Chicago Bears at the time, was officially the first by virtue of clinching the berth earlier in the day.  Although the Miami rain made Super Bowl XLI pretty forgettable, the fact that two Black head coaches and good friends were facing off for the NFL's most coveted prize was intriguing enough--especially because it was 41 years in the making.  Two years later, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin became the second Black head coach to not only win a Super Bowl (XLIII), but also the first to lead a team to two Super Bowls and the youngest of any head coach to win (36).  A year after Tomlin won his first, Dungy's successor in Indy, Jim Caldwell, would not only become the fourth Black head coach to lead a team to a Super Bowl, but boast the best regular season record for a rookie head coach in NFL history (14-2) as well as being the last rookie head coach to reach the Super Bowl.  Needless to say, the brothers with the headsets were proving that they could get it done.  Despite all of these impressive accomplishments, however, it is still more difficult for Black position coaches to rise through the ranks.  Among many disparities outlined in a 2016 research paper from professors at Georgetown, George Washington, Emory and Iowa State Universities, Black position coaches are two times less likely to be promoted to coordinator than White position coaches.  If you can't get to coordinator or quarterbacks coach, then it's even harder to get to head coach and manifest any potential for a winning pedigree.

The issue of diversity definitely does not end with coaching.  Although Ozzie Newsome has been one of the most successful, widely-respected general managers in the NFL and has a Super Bowl win to back up his hard work, it took an NFL organization 37 years in the Super Bowl era to hire a Black general manager.  Newsome getting his foot in the door paved the way Jerry Reese to kick it off of the hinges as he became the first Black general manager to orchestrate two Super Bowl-winning teams with the New York Giants in 2007 and 2011.  Still, even with this success aided by the advent of the Rooney Rule--the requirement implemented in 2003 that NFL teams must interview minority candidates for coaching and senior football operations positions--these facts are still daunting in a league where the player population is 70 percent Black:

• Neither are there currently any Black owners in the NFL nor have there ever been any;
• There are only five Black general managers--Doug Whaley (Bills), Ozzie Newsome (Ravens), Rick Smith (Texans), Jerry Reese (Giants) and Reggie McKenzie (Raiders); 
• There are only five Black head coaches--Marvin Lewis (Bengals), Hue Jackson (Browns), Jim Caldwell (Lions), Todd Bowles (Jets) and Mike Tomlin (Steelers), with Lewis being the second-longest tenured head coach in the league behind Bill Belichick; and
• There are only five Black starting quarterbacks--Tyrod Taylor (Bills), Teddy Bridgewater (Vikings), Russell Wilson (Seahawks), Jameis Winston (Buccaneers) and, of course, Cam Newton (Panthers).

So how can a Super Bowl win by Cam Newton affect the entire crop of Black talent in the NFL?  Simple: winning not only has the power to be infectious, but also to continue the incremental changing of the guard in a league that NBC contributor Drew Magary once called "the oldest and whitest of old white guy clubs".  A victory further solidifies a successful nine-year run where Black starting quarterbacks, head coaches and general managers have combined for a total of twelve Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl wins.  Newton leading his team to a Super Bowl also affects all minorities as Panthers head coach Ron Rivera is the fifth minority to lead a team to a Super Bowl as well as the first head coach of Mexican descent to do it.  Moreover, when young people aspiring to be in any industry see someone who looks, walks and talks like them succeed at the highest level, that victory has the power to inspire the next generation to overcome odds, conquer misconceptions and refresh the political, social, economic and cultural landscape by triumphing in the most important positions.  Yeah...this thing is much bigger than zone-read plays and nine routes.

"OH YOU MAD 'CUZ I'M STYLIN' ON YA!"  Quick story...so a bunch of my college buddies and I were playing a game during the first week of my junior year of college, which was right around the time that Jamal Anderson of the Atlanta Falcons popularized the Dirty Bird.  As I was playing on defense, I intercepted a pass and was mere inches away from a pick-six.  Unfortunately, before I could do my own rendition of the Dirty Bird, I twisted my ankle and was on crutches for two to three weeks.  Perhaps you can chalk up my celebratory propensity to the layers of my culture: being Black in the late 80s/early 90s, coming up during the Golden Age of Hip Hop, being influenced by the prevalence of D.C. go-go music and growing up in the high-stepping Prime Time era of Deion Sanders.  Whereas a lot of people looked at the hijinks of players like Sanders as merely ostentatious histrionics, many of us just saw a bunch of talented brothers enjoying their jobs so much that they just felt like dancing.  Considering that many of us in society don't always enjoy what we do for a living, many of us in the less affluent neighborhoods looked at these guys like superheroes.  Oh, and it didn't hurt when they actually won Super Bowls, too.  Hence, you can only imagine how these kids, teenagers and young adults look at their modern day Superman.

Not everybody is enamored though.  Many will recall that one mother recently writing an open letter saying how she was disappointed in Newton for his "chest puffs", "pelvic thrusts" and "arrogant struts" during a win against the Tennessee Titans--especially because she and her daughter were in attendance.  Contrast that with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce "hitting the quan" after he caught a TD against the Buffalo Bills and cue ESPN's Robert Flores giving his take on the lack of outrage:

Wondering why there's no letters to the editor, or why First Take's not doing "Should Travis Kelce be dancing in the endzone?"  They didn't.  I wonder why they're not doing that...oh, because he's not Black.

It's ironic that Kelce got a pass because he's not Black, although he's doing a dance popularized by two young Black hip-hop artists in Rich Homie Quan and iLoveMemphis.  Then people wonder why Azealia Banks went on that epic rant accusing White hip-hop artists like Iggy Azalea of cultural smudging and appropriation.  When we as Black people make our music our way or manifest our unique sense of style and flavor, people are often intimated or offended.  However, it's an anomaly to see same vitriolic statements made toward White people when they are inspired by or mimic those same styles; in fact, it's acceptable and relatable when many White people see other White people doing it.

So let's focus strictly on the quarterback position.  Brett Favre got plenty of passes for his uncontrollable fits of joy after throwing TDs...maybe because he's not Black.  Tom Brady never receives backlash for his QB sneak TD spikes hard enough to penetrate through to the Earth's core...maybe because he's not Black.  No one raises a stink whenever Aaron Rodgers scores and does his Championship Belt move, which draws plenty of attention to his nether regions and is just as if not more incendiary...maybe because he's not Black.  Wait...what's that...they're considered "passionate", "resilient" or "warriors" for their displays, so it must be okay.  Well, former Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher chimed in last Thursday with the following gem:

I played defense so I don't like when guys celebrate with dances and stuff. You know who I like the way he celebrates is Peyton. He kind of gives the guy a handshake and goes back to the sidelines. I think that's a great celebration right there. You don't see him dancing. You don't see him doing all of that stuff. Even when he gets a first down he doesn't do anything.

Well Mr. Urlacher, that's what happens when you have 1,696 players in the NFL: you have 1,696 different personalities, so everybody ain't eating chicken parm and driving Buicks.  Furthermore, we all know who you're talking about when you say that, especially since Mr. Nationwide is on your side.  Sue me for loving the Superman or the Hit Dem Folks when Cam scores.  Rake me over the coals for really loving the basketball celebration with his teammates on the sidelines.  Even with Bow Wow and Migos debating on Twitter over the origins of dabbing, I still enjoy when Cam does it.  Oh, and he and his teammates not only hand a TD ball to the young Panthers fans in the stands every time they score, they will even Whip and Nae Nae with their 6-year-old honorary coach fighting cancer.  Add that to your commentary next time, bruh.  Bottom line, we need different forms of expression to showcase the country's wide range of cultures and encourage people young and old that it's perfectly fine to be yourself without fear of retribution.  More important, when the media propagates images of dead or incarcerated Black men, seeing a Black man flash his most authentic smile is absolutely necessary for all of us to see.  Let's just call a spade a spade: the people who frequently criticize Cam Newton are probably the most boring, non-rhythm-having, swaggerless, miserable people in the world who wish they had the bravery not only to do what Cam does, but be Black and do it.  Besides, it takes a lot of chutzpah for any man not named Brutus Beefcake to wear those Versace Barocco Accent Print Jeans, let alone a brotha.

HECK, JUST DO IT TO MAKE THOSE N-WORD DROPPING BUFFOONS EVEN MORE UPSET.  So this picture needed to be bigger in order to emphasize the still-pervasive hatred in our society, which has traditionally hated when Black people are boldly and independently expressive, outspoken, knowledgeable and unapologetic for being who we are.  Seriously think about these comments for a second...these aren't the "Go Back to Africa" comments aimed at the Little Rock Nine in 1957; this is the alleged color-blind, post-racial society nearly 60 years later.  Despite its networking and informative powers, social media has made it easy for many people to become "cyberbullies" and "Internet thugs".  What doesn't help is that between police harassment and brutality against Black people rising at an alarming rate as well as racially-charged incidents at the University of Missouri, Desert Vista High School in Arizona and the University at Albany-SUNY, it seems to be open season on Black people.  It's not enough for folks to use coded words like "thug", "ghetto", "sassy", "cocky", "arrogant" or "urban"; maybe this era of White America falling for the toothless demagoguery of Donald Trump believes that "making America great again" means going around calling Black people "niggers".  Oh, and apparently Cam Newton's a "faggot" now, too, huh?  Racially prejudiced and homophobic?  Way to stay classy, San Diego.

However, I don't care how eccentric Cam Newton may dress or how it might appear to be poops and giggles...I'd bet dollars to donuts that none of these cowards would step to a 6-foot-5, 248-pound Black man from College Park, Atlanta and say it with their chest.  Memo to the bigots and closet Ku Klux Klan members: I'm sorry if Cam has somewhat of a checkered past and you don't feel that "niggers" should ever be given a second chance at anything because you subscribe to the "if you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell" school of thought.  I'm sorry that instead of having the perceivably-safer MC Hammer on the sidelines like Deion Sanders, he has rappers with a little more street cred like Jeezy in tow because you assume that all "niggers" are "thugs" or have the potential to be thugs, so of course they hang out with each other.  (All while ignoring moments like praying on the sidelines with Steph Curry, but you don't hear me doe.)  I'm sorry that he likes to smile from ear-to-ear as he and his teammates engage in "excessive" celebrations because you feel like "niggers" should just shut up, play and be thankful for making as much money as they do when the quarterback position and the game of football should only be reserved for White men.  So how much poetic justice would it be if this particular Black man with all of this swirling criticism who is the quarterback for a team from North Carolina (a state that once had the seventh largest slave population in the Confederate States of America and sits in between two of the most historically racist states in the country) leads his team to a Super Bowl victory?  I guess all of this tomfoolery is nothing more than the spirits of those slaveholders stirring up within their heirs, or maybe even the resurfaced troubled souls of those who threw up in their mouths when Jack Johnson became the first Black heavyweight champion or when Jesse Owens won four gold medals in the face of Hitler's Aryan supremacy myth.  If Cam Newton wins the league MVP and the Super Bowl and Super Bowl MVP, then I might just dab in the middle of the street off of GP alone.


It is often said that winning cures everything, and after starting the first two seasons of his NFL career as a starter with a 13-19 record, Cam Newton has gone 32-13-1 in his last three seasons and has helped his team to win three consecutive NFC South titles--a feat never accomplished by any other team in the division since its inception in 2002.  So what else can this type of winning cure?  Can it be the antidote to the preconceived notions about the correlated athletic abilities and intellectual capacities of the Black quarterback?  Is it a powerful enough prescription for the symptomatic and systematic exclusion of Blacks from cerebral, high-ranking positions in a league with predominantly Black faces on the TV screens, but predominantly White faces in the board rooms?  Is it a sufficient remedy for the microscopic criticisms lodged by many in our society who take issue with our particular brand of exuberance and swagger, especially as it pertains to celebrating our accomplishments no matter how big or small?  Can it be one of many surgical procedures necessary to remove the cancerous growths that are racism, bigotry and prejudice in what is supposed to be the United States of America?  Considering what Cam Newton represents, I truly believe that he may be able to make more waves than  many of his predecessors have been able or were allowed to do--even if those waves are incremental at best.  Nothing about Newton fits into a neatly-defined, completely inoffensive package, and if you know anything about the most innovative historical figures, very few of them do fit.  They challenge convention, debunk the myths and either repair the infrastructure or blaze completely new trails altogether.  You can either look at Cam Newton as a mere football player or step out on a limb by recognizing him as a revolutionary in his own right.  In fact, the Superman of the South summed it up himself last Wednesday:

I've said it since day one: I'm an African-American quarterback.  That may scare a lot of people 'cause they haven't seen nothing that they can compare me to.  Here I am, I'm doing exactly what I wanna do, how I wanna do it and when I look in the mirror, it's me.  Nobody changed me, nobody made me act this certain type of way and I'm true to my roots.  It feels great, but yet, people are gonna say whatever they wanna say.  And if I'm in this world living for that person--"oh this person gonna say this, this person gonna say that"--then I can't look at myself and say I'm Cam Newton or I'm Cameron Newton to most people...'cause I'm not...'cause I'm living for you.

Being naturally and genuinely unique...effortlessly striking fear into the establishment...staying true to and being aware of self and culture...refusing to kowtow to the pressure of societal expectations...yeah, that's about as historically and fundamentally Black as it gets.  Some people may not like the fact that his statement sparked a debate about race or that he even referred to himself as an "African-American quarterback" instead of just a quarterback.  However, Cam fully understands that in order to topple the assumptions and do away with the need for labels, you must acknowledge the source that keeps these things in place and begin an uncomfortable conversation about it.  That's how you win and make your mark on history well before you even step on a football field.