GREAT article on Cam: "Don't Call It Redemption"

[rayzor]

i'm only going to post a little bit of this article so that you will actually have to click the link and read it because it's one of the few articles in here worth clicking and that deserves it.

 

that said...i love it because it blows wide open that silly little narrative about cam that the players have obviously grown tired of so much so that they avoid answering questions about it.

 

which narrative? the "maturing" one. the one that infers that he was some immature little entitled kid when he was drafted and that lasted through the last couple years, but all of a sudden he grew out of which resulted in the season we see.

 

Only 18 seconds into Sunday night's game, the word maturing descended from the NBC booth. Al Michaels uttered it as Cam Newton prepared to take his first snap. Somewhere, a drinking game halted immediately. Michaels had set a pace that threatened liver function.

 

When the Carolina Panthers appeared on the playoff radar last month, the redemption red carpet rolled out for Newton, in spite of the murkiness of said redemption and the plain truth that he was not the primary reason for the team's advance into contention.

 

Blame the QB-centric media and widespread suspicions about Newton when he became the top draft pick of 2011. A staggering rookie season undid the theory that Newton lacked the tools of a pro, but confirmation bias being what it is, his critics mined soft data from his first two seasons to underscore their original point.

.

.

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"Just in his third year, he's getting better and better," Collinsworth said.

 

He didn't need to use the "m" word. He wasn't talking about Newton outgrowing obnoxiousness or learning to project the right image. He was just talking about a football player growing in his job. We can all drink to that, can't we?

 

CLICK HERE: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/64533534/

coaches and players alike, when asked about it and they actually answer the question have said that newton is essentially the same guy he was when he got here...not that he hasn't grown some in his role in the team, but in that he wasn't "that bad" of a kid in the first place. he wasn't the guy the media was painting him as.

 

i just thought it was good to see this written by an outsider.

[TheRumGone]

ive always said this year Cam grew out of the "loner" role that teammates have suggested. its not being immature. He's just been "the guy" his entire football career.

[SZ James (banned)]

Cam himself would acknowledge that he was immature as a rookie

[PantherBrew]

Cam himself would acknowledge that he was immature as a rookie

 

I think this is more of just playing nice. 

 

I believe he is the same guy now as he was then. 

 

Yeah, isn't angry and sulking... because we are 9-4. 

 

I mean this as a compliment by the way.  I thought he was mature for a rookie for the most part. 

 

I loved the end of the article where she was talking about just judging him as a young quarterback getting better at his craft.

 

Newton gets unfairly judged positive stuff and negative stuff. Just to go along with whatever media narrative is being pushed. 

 

Thats why I am not fully buying into the RGIII drama in Washington

[SZ James (banned)]

I think there was an interview where he talked about his friends and family showing him tape of his behavior and how he was disgusted by it and learned from it. He could have made that all up which would make him a liar but I don't think he would go through that trouble just to "play nice" with the media. I think he really believes that and if not, well that sorta makes him a bit phony and still immature I'd imagine.

[TheRumGone]

I think there was an interview where he talked about his friends and family showing him tape of his behavior and how he was disgusted by it and learned from it. He could have made that all up which would make him a liar but I don't think he would go through that trouble just to "play nice" with the media. I think he really believes that and if not, well that sorta makes him a bit phony and still immature I'd imagine.

 

wait being phony and immature to people that are phony and immature is wrong?

[TheRumGone]

playing to the media is a "game" in and of itself...

[SZ James (banned)]

wait being phony and immature to people that are phony and immature is wrong?

I don't know if it's wrong. But that disproves the "he never was" thing.

[TheRumGone]

I don't know if it's wrong. But that disproves the "he never was" thing.

 

sorry "acting"

[Montsta]

My wife and I had my buddy and his girlfriend over to the house last weekend and my wife was saying how can anyone not like Cam Newton? He flies around like an airplane before every game, blows a kiss to his mother before the first snap, and is ALWAYS smiling like he just loves playing the game. Then she mentioned how he always gives away the football to some kid making them super excited to be a Panthers fan for the rest of their life.

My buddy (a Bay Area native and 49ers diehard) gives a flabbergasted look and says how can you like that obnoxious guy doing his dances with his towels over his head when they are down by 28 points.

I told my buddy it's amazing how he was able to spit out every single Cam Newton cliche that espn throws up all in one sentence without pausing.

Cam has a ton of haters. Always has, always will. He's like the Lebron of the NFL. People hate Lebron for reasons they themselves don't even know.

[xerxes]

I have mixed feelings about this. The media narrative is simplistic and misleading. Newton was never the reason we weren't winning. Our defense improved, our coach developed some testicular fortitude, and our new OC works with the rest of the offensive staff to develop drive sustaining plays instead of a feast or famine offense.

At the same time, Newton has matured. He distributes the ball more effectively. He has a C on his chest, and as other posters have said, he's acknowledged how some of his past behavior was a problem.

So I don't believe the maturing story line is completely unfounded, but the story is sadly too nuanced for the current state of media to properly report.

[88 Bronco]

My theory on why Cam garners hatred is  from pissy little SEC fans, dumb ass Teboners, divisional opponents that are intimidated by his ceiling, people who declared him a bust and can't let go that they were wrong, or as much as I hate to say it, bigots.

[rayzor]

can someone who is mature grow?

 

do you have to be immature to grow?

 

or can you be mature, but still have room to grow?

 

 

is there a point at which you are "mature" and have no need to grow or get better?

[SZ James (banned)]

I feel like I'm talking to Baghdad Bob some days...