From his touchdown dancing celebrations to his fashion sense, to the way he reacts to losing games, Cam Newton has been under heavy criticism for his entire professional career. The quarterback position is one of mostly Caucasian stars like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning; some say the criticism of Newton is because he’s African-American. Newton himself has agreed with that assertion in the past but now he’s given a contrary opinion when asked about this particular subject.
“It’s not racism,” Newton says when asked by GQ magazine if football fans are racist towards him. “Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion.”
So if it’s not racism then what is it?
“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.”
Newton’s answer differed back in January when he said, “I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
This time around, his answer is contrary to that opinion.
“I don’t want this to be about race because it’s not,” he says. “It’s not. Like, we’re beyond that. As a nation”
“I mean, you bring it to people’s attention. But after that, that’s it.”
Again, this is contrary to Cam’s words and actions in the past.
For example, during an interview with Ebony in April, Newton asked them if they would take his photograph wearing the hoodie he wore during his Super Bowl press conference.
According to the magazine, Newton’s father Cecil explained to them why: “The hoodie can represent a lot of things as it pertains to a young Black man. Trayvon Martin. Black Lives Matter. Even as athletics can function as a leverage piece for African-American expression, it still points to the inequities that go on.”
But now, when GQ brings up this exchange in the magazine, this is what he says:
“For what it’s worth, I really wear hoodies. Like, that’s a fact.”
“I know why I do certain things, and it’s because how it makes me feel. I’m comfortable in a lot of things that I wear, and wearing a hoodie happens to be one of those things.”
The NFL stifles individuality and maybe the criticism has gotten to Cam as well, but that seems odd when he’s also the man who stood by walking out of the Super Bowl presser, admitted that he is a sore loser and is never going to change.
So what did change?
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