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..."
