Did Cam Newton "Let Nas (the hood) Down"?

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 6^th 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.