Nick Majewski
Blog Post #1
Cam Newton vs Media Hypocrisy
Professional sports and more specifically American football has been at the forefront of American culture practically since its conception. It is easily the most watched and analyzed sport in our country, and so are its athletes. And, like most things in the U.S., its beginnings were predominantly (exclusively) white. There has been much change for the better since then, however to say that there is not still racial tension is simply ignorant. Cameron Newton just happens to be the latest example of this sad fact. Now Newton is certainly not new to the field of criticism and undeserved hate, however this past season took it to an entirely new level due to 2 main rationales... 1, his remarkable success on the field and 2, the color of his skin, with the latter of the two reasons taking front row. (which is anything but rational) Being an African-American athlete in the U.S. comes with a lot of responsibility as well as unparalleled pressure and expectation. Needless to say, it creates much more scrutiny than being the same athlete with different skin.
Before diving deeper into these treacherous waters, I must first begin by prefacing that I myself am a white american that has absolutely no knowledge of what it's like to be black, let alone a spokesperson for an entire race. Which is exactly what Cam Newton is. He is a symbol and a beacon that the media uses to encapsulate an entire race of people into a single person’s words and actions. Everything he does and says will forever be overanalyzed and be used to group millions of people into one singular generalization or assumption. This already puts him at a disadvantage to his white colleagues before the game has even begun. The most frustrating part of this cycle in our country is that the majority of my fellow white americans are somehow incapable of seeing these facts, and even somehow muster up enough balls to determine what is and isn’t racist. This is expertly explained told from one of my personal favorite journalists Stephen A. Smith on an episode of “ESPN First Take”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7IVFK32jCs Long story short, people that are not of a certain race or have not experienced first hand what it’s like to be that person, does not posses the right to voice an opinion on what is and is not ok. We also seem to be incapable of seeing the very same actions and behavior in our “own” (white) athletes as we believe we do in black athletes. (We will come back to this point soon)
Let me kick-start my next rant by briefly outlining just exactly what Heisman winning, No.1 drafted, Rookie of the Year, MVP Panthers QB did to receive all of the criticism that came his way this past season. First, he is extremely confident, and he conducts himself as such both on and off the field. (Why wouldn’t he be? And when did confidence become a bad thing?) Second, he has fun when he plays. That’s right, he enjoys himself out on the field playing a GAME in front of millions of people whilst also getting paid millions of dollars. When he scores or tosses a perfect pass into the endzone for a teammate, for some crazy reason he celebrates!! He does this by dancing, dabbing, singing, and sometime pretending to take of his shirt like Clark Kent to reveal a superhuman persona. To some people, this is egotistical, arrogant and unsportsmanlike. To me this is sport. It is the epitome of competition. It’s me versus you and I’m going to show and everybody else that I’m better than you and if you can’t handle it, stay at home you don’t have to be here. Let me also remind you which sport we are talking about. We are talking about football...Where incredible large grown men filled with testosterone are placed on a field and pitted against each other like gladiators. Bones are broken, muscles are torn, hearts are crushed and spirits are ripped to shreds. This is not the ballet or golf or anything close. So why are the competitors expected to act as such?
Now back to the hypocrisy of the media and unfortunately a large part of white america. Cam Newton’s actions on the field are nothing new to fans of football. But for some odd reason he is being treated as though he has done something that has never been seen or done. A perfect example of this was when a mother that attended a game with her 9 year old daughter and witnessed Newton win the game with a rushing touchdown and a victory dab and proceeded to write a letter addressed to the Panthers franchise player. In her letter she told Cam that he is a role model on a large platform to be so, and that his actions on the field (i.e. celebrating a terrific game) were “appalling” and unacceptable. She stated that her daughter asked “Won’t he get in trouble for doing that? Is he trying to make people mad? Do you think he knows he looks like a spoiled brat?” “I guess he doesn’t have kids or a Mom at home watching the game,” She went on to say that she does not know what Newton’s family life is like, but she knows his coaches and mentors must have taught him better and that he was not a good role model. I would like to remind you that this is all because he danced in the endzone and when confronted by an opponent did not back down. But last time I checked, athletes are told to not stand down and normally are celebrated because of such traits. But not in Newton’s case.
This is due mainly because (you guessed it) he’s black, and more significantly, a black QB. He is the leader of his team and the face of his franchise. But so is Aaron Rodgers. So is Tom Brady. So is Carson Palmer. However none of these 3 QB’s have ever been criticized and ridiculed for their on field behavior and post-TD celebrations. Aaron Rodgers has a signature celebration of putting on a championship belt around his waist after every score. Was he blasted left and right on social media and news articles everywhere? Actually he was given a multi-million dollar deal with State Farm and revered for his creativity. Tom Brady is one of the most in your face and intense QB’s the NFL has ever seen. He screams, celebrates and is extremely animated all game long. But what do people talk about when they talk about Tom Brady? They talk about how great of a quarterback he is. And he has become one of the most marketable people on the planet. And finally, just last season Carson Palmer was playing a game against Seahawks when he scored a touchdown and proceeded to mock the Seattle fans by yelling “Suck it” as he hip thrusted the air. pic.twitter.com/ppZwZc2x8P Were fans enraged at this? Seattle fans maybe, but Arizona fans loved it and it was never even addressed on any of the major news stations. Any guesses as to what color their skin is? Are you beginning to see the trend here? This may go without saying, but this trend is not limited to the professional field alone. A study in 2010 conducted by the Department of Journalism at Ball State University showed that when describing top college QB's before the NFL draft, white players were described as having "high football IQ's" and exceeding at playing the "mental game" while black prospects were only praised for their physical abilities and even sometimes ridiculed on their "lack of mental prowess."
Race has been playing a huge role in american society since its birth and our country has come a long way and made many good steps in the fight of racism. However the battle is not over and there is still much left to be done. The facts are incontrovertible and the ignorance to such facts is still incredibly high. Nothing can be changed when young children are taught from young ages that this type of judgmental beliefs and misinformed thinking is normal and acceptable. And it all starts with how people are made out to look in media, where people take what they see as the real world no matter how small of a view it really turns out to be. The first step in solving any problem is acknowledging that there is one. And there is one.
Works Cited
Siner, Jeff. "A Tennessee Mom to Cam Newton: Here's What My 9-year-old Saw." Charlotteobserver. The Charlotte Observer, 17 Nov. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Dicaro, Julie. "Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton Unfairly Criticized." Dear Angry Mom: Cam Newton Isn't the Problem-fans like You Are. Sports Illustrated, 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Take." YouTube. YouTube. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.
Mercurio, Eugenio, and Vincent F. Filak. "Roughing the Passer: The Framing of Black and White
Quarterbacks Prior to the NFL Draft." Howard Journal of Communications 21.1 (2010): 56-71. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
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