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..."

Scribbler's Black History Milestones: The Wide World of Sports

So I have a confession to make: in the past five years or so, I have not celebrated Black History Month in the way that I grew accustomed to doing when I was a child, teenager and young adult.  Maybe I've had a few self-righteous moments of feeling like Black history should be celebrated all year long.  Then again, maybe I was just too lazy to uncover more pivotal moments in our historical landscape.  Thus, one of the two ways that I have decided to commemorate Black History Month this year is to celebrate several people and/or events in different areas of our society that not only display the heritage of our people, but also provide a little more depth to the American narrative. After watching quite a few documentaries in the past week or so, I was inspired to begin this series in one of my favorite areas of discussion: sports.