By now, everyone knows who won this year’s Super Bowl, the
Denver Broncos. Not Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers. I took some time to release this because I wanted to see how things played out in the aftermath. If you are a NFL fan
you know that Cam Newton was the most polarizing player of the year. You either
love him and what he stands for or you hate him and think he’s arrogant and
disrespectful. For US though, Cam embodies what we term being “Unapologetically
Black”. He was successful at playing his way and being proud of it. But he
lost. So the question is, did Cam let us, “hood’, down? I would say no!
Cam put a target on his back for being so unapologetic in
the face of political correctness so he will take a bevy of criticism from the
press. However, the most common thing people say about the NFL is that it’s the
ultimate team game. No one player can takeover a game like basketball or even
baseball where a pitcher can dominate a game. Even as a quarterback, you need
your offensive line to give you time to make the passes, you need your
receivers to catch said passes, and you need your running backs to run
effectively and not fumble the ball to keep the balance and manage the clock.
Cam had neither of those the night of the Super Bowl. That will go lost because
in this world the biggest star shoulders double the blame because they get so
much praise for the success. Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Do I feel
Cam looked lethargic and beaten well before the game was out of reach? Yes. Do
I think Cam should’ve dived on the ground for that fumble? Debatable. Do I
think his body language and lack of visible accountability on the field and
sidelines contributed to the play of his team? Yes. Because leaders lead by
example first and by voice second. Cam’s polarizing personality could’ve helped
light a fire in his team. I believe that. So I’m not absolving him of any
responsibility. But he didn’t “Let Nas (the hood) Down” because he still was a
great inspiration to black young men all year. He won league MVP as the 6th
black man in this century. He still has not broken laws or done anything
morally wrong to paint black men in a bad light. Cam learned a lesson on a
national stage that you have to get the job done. So even in his defeat there
was a valuable lesson that may resonate to all the people that follow him and
that is that you have to finish the job. Also, when you talk the talk and don’t
finish the job, the world will remember your failure far more than they
remember your accomplishments.
In the end, Cam will go back and become a better player and
hopefully a better man as we all should aspire to be on a daily basis. And
hopefully he will still, “Dab on them folks”. Unapologetically. But humility
isn’t weakness, hopefully he'll use the lessons as strength and let it fuel him to finish the
job next time. He's a young man trying to figure life at a faster pace than most of us and with a way bigger audience than most of us. Even grass grows.
