(NBCSPORTS)As Cam Newton has climbed up the ranks of NFL quarterbacks, there have been rising amounts of praise and criticism for the way he...
(NBCSPORTS)As Cam Newton has climbed up the ranks of NFL quarterbacks, there have been rising amounts of praise and criticism for the way he plays the game and conducts himself on and off the field.
Unlike some of the other quarterbacks at the top of that list, Newton is African-American and that has led to some questions about whether race is a factor in some of the criticism he has received. It was something bandied about heading into the Super Bowl with Newton sharing his opinion that “an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
That doesn’t mean Newton believes that his critics are fueled by racism, however. In an interview with Zach Baron for GQ, Newton said he didn’t agree with former teammate Josh Norman and backup Derek Anderson when they asserted race was the motivating factor.
“It’s not racism. Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion,” Newton said. “I’ll let you be the judge. I don’t look at it like that. I look at it like some people have certain beliefs, and I have my own belief, and we can agree to disagree on certain things. But this is what makes sports so amazing, that we can start a discussion around a table, in the newspaper, in the magazines, that will get people’s attention. And that’s what sports does. … I don’t want this to be about race, because it’s not. It’s not. Like, we’re beyond that. As a nation. … Yeah. I mean, you bring it to people’s attention. But after that, that’s it.”
It’s impossible to know what’s in everyone’s hearts and minds, obviously, and our nation being beyond race feels like a stretch, but star quarterbacks of every stripe hear criticism about a wide variety of things. They may not all be the subject of letters to the editor of the Charlotte Observer from people who feel it is their business to comment on their family dynamics, but there’s a common thread of star quarterbacks being in the crosshairs that extends beyond the color of their skin.
Original Link: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/08/15/cam-newton-criticism-of-me-isnt-about-racism/
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