http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...e-obstacles-black-qbs-face-article-1.2512054?
"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." - Cam Newton
Cam Newton addressed the racial elephant in the room on Wednesday. Good for him. And good for us. We need to name it until it stops.
Cam was defending himself against reactions to his celebrations specifically that cap an NFL career of racial double-standards. In the next 10 days we will debate about all the hate and blatant racism (Warren's Moon's words) that Cam has received since he stepped into this league. We will rehash the scouting report hit jobs, the hits on Cam's intelligence, and criticism of his dabs and dances that are more over-the-top than the beloved Lambeau Leap. And we should.
But this conversation must go beyond Cam. We need to dissect, scrutinize, and analyze all the white quarterbacks in these playoffs with a Super-Cam lens. Let's start with a whiter 6'5" quarterback: Carson Palmer.
"Retweet this if you picked off Carson Palmer tonight" went the tweet by @RoFlo.
NEWTON CAN JOIN EXCLUSIVE CLUB IF HE WINS MVP, SUPER BOWL
According to Twitter, Palmer set a new playoff record with 842 interceptionsagainst the Panthers. Palmer's unfair social beatdown aside, it seems like eons ago Palmer was getting serious MVP consideration.
Going into the season's last game, some journalists at ESPN and elsewhere were picking Palmer. A not so quite scientific ESPN poll of 58,000 fans picked Tom Brady. The diplomatic Washington Post called it a tie. Can't we all get along?
No. We can't.
STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Cam Newton dances his way to the Super Bowl but still has to hear from critics despite his success.
Forget the technical points that 1) No. 2) Cam's cast of journeymen wide receivers resemble Ella Fitzgerald more than Larry Fitzgerald, and 3) the Panthers' 15-1 near-perfect record is just not perfect enough.
The real MVP debate tragedy is if Cam had Carson's career, there would be no debate.
Cam would have been driven out of the league by 2012 after Palmer posted his third straight losing season going 12-28. Not Cam or any black quarterback can pull off a career comeback like Carson’s… or Alex Smith’s… or Ryan Fitzpatrick’s.
No black quarterback in NFL history has ever reeked as much as these guys and lived to throw about it.
Ever.
For NFL white quarterbacks, the "Freedom to Fail" is the whitest trait of all.
This postseason may as well be called The White Privilege Playoffs.
Cam can be utterly amazing, but here is what Cam can't do:
Cam Can't Be Carson Palmer
Not off-the-field either. If Cam refused to report to camp after a 4-12 season and forced a trade like Carson did with the Bengals, he would be branded a "me-first" diva and possibly gone from the league. And if one of Cam's celebration's included Carson's crotch-taunting moves, then more than one mother would be sending a "letter-to-the-editor" about her now corrupted kid.
Palmer's second chances are par for the course for No. 1 QB picks who are white. Before giving up, Tim Couch received 59 starts before the Browns gave up, and David Carr got a whopping 79. Even heralded No. 2 picks get long looks. Five teams took a chance on Rick Mirer, and all-time bust/head case Ryan Leaf had four teams sign him before he voluntarily quit the game.
FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS SPORTS ON FACEBOOK. "LIKE" US HERE.
STREETER LECKA/GETTY IMAGES
Newton faces more scrutiny for little things than any white quarterback does.
Cam Can't Be Alex Smith
Smith, also a former No. 1 pick, has developed into a fine quarterback — far more than a "game manager." But he was downright terrible his first five seasons (see 51 TD passes in 50 starts). Despite nearly identical statistics and a higher passer rating with Smith over his first three years, former No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell was booted out of the NFL.
After five years Smith's team record was 19-31, almost the opposite of Vince Young's 30-17 starting record. Young, who has seen his life spiral to the depths and was recently arrested in Austin, Texas for a DWI, played in two Pro Bowls, but played only one more season after. Instead of being nurtured like Smith, Young was benched for the slightest mistake by coach Jeff Fisher for Kerry Collins — who went 26-50 over his last nine seasons. Fisher, who preferred to draft Matt Leinart, remains employed with the Rams despite five straight losing seasons — unchartered waters for African-American coaches (an article for another day).
VINCE YOUNG TO KEEP $100G JOB AT TEXAS AFTER DWI ARREST
RICH SCHULTZ/GETTY IMAGES
If Newton had Carson Palmer's early career, would he even last in the league as long as Palmer has?
Whether it be easy jokes about Russell's "weight" or Young's "attitude," critics always have "reasons" — just never comparisons (see early off-field troubles and alcoholism of Collins).
The point is, if Cam had performed like Smith had the last five years, he would be out of the NFL with no shortage of "reasons" from the scouts. It's all right here from Nolan Nawrocki's report:
"Very disingenuous - has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law - does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room . . . Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable."
The book would be closed on Cam like JaMarcus and Vince followed by:
"See - he toooold you about Cam! Now shut up and stop playing the race card!"
GENE PUSKAR/AP
Cam Newton could not survive two rape allegations the way Ben Roethlisberger did.
And Geno Smith Can't Be Ryan Fitzpatrick
Okay. Fitzpatrick didn't technically make the playoffs, but the Jets were the only winning NFL team this year that didn't. Their 10 wins, superior to two playoff teams, marked the first winning season in Ryan's 10-year career and 33-55 record. After an 8-8 rookie season that saw both flashes of inexperience and promise, Smith's poor second season has many writing his NFL obituary.
And while I have my own doubts about Smith, it would be nice to see him in an offense with Brandon Marshall — a huge factor in Fitzpatrick's resurgence. This offseason Ryan will cash in his "Freedom-to-Fail" for 10-12 million a year.
But forget Smith, even Donovan McNabb's Hall-of-Fame worthy pedigree couldn't get any "Freedom-to-Fail" love. After McNabb requested his release from the Vikings in 2011 to sign on with a veteran team, he had no takers.
MEHTA: RYAN FITZPATRICK DESERVED BETTER ENDING
No Black QB Can Be the Texans’ Brian Hoyer
For NFL QB's, "undrafted" is code for "white." Hoyer's abysmal playoff performance was one for the ages. It requires a coach seeing your potential that that no one else sees. In Hoyer's case, he was cut three different times by the Patriots, Steelers, and Cardinals. Naturally, his former Patriot coach Bill O'Brien gave him a fouth chance to make good, and was rewarded with four interceptions and a 15.9 passer rating (not a misprint) in the wild-card round.
MADDIE MEYER/GETTY IMAGES
Tom Brady's questional moves in his personal life never enter the football narrative.
Cam Can't Be Tom Brady
Cam's recent out-of-wedlock fatherhood received negative attention. But here is an excerpt of "Tom Brady is a God" by Rick Reilly on his extra-marital fatherhood:
"See, Brady is Namath with a milk mustache. Mothers want him for supper and daughters for everything after. O.K., you might say, but how cool is it to get one woman pregnant (Moynahan) and to be dating another (Bundchen)? Well, a) Brady says he didn't know Moynahan was pregnant until after they'd broken up, and b) Brady is aching to be a full-time dad. He was there three weeks ago for the birth of John Edward Thomas Moynahan."
Cam Can't Be Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben was twice accused of rape, does anyone care about that anymore?
Okay, maybe Cam could recover — the NFL doesn't care much about women being abused unless it’s on videotape.
And finally,
SEAN M. HAFFEY/GETTY IMAGES
Allegations of HGH use are dismissed simply because Peyton Manning says they're without merit.
Cam Can't Be Peyton Manning
Manning is the best regular-season quarterback that ever lived. But this season Manning's greatest accomplishment is making an investigative story on alleged HGH use disappear in less than one week.
An outraged Manning stated:
"It's completely fabricated. Complete trash, garbage. There are some more adjectives I'd like to be able to use, but it really makes me sick. It makes me sick that it brings Ashley (his wife) into it, her medical history, her medical privacy being violated."
And that was that. We’ve heard this before. When Ryan Braun did it, media backed all the way up. When Lance Armstrong's indignation and counter attacks nearly ruined lives (ask Greg Lemond), he was supported for another decade.
Why? Because white indignation works.
And now an indignant Manning tells us not to butt into his wife's business, so we don't.
And we believe him.
If that changes, it will be because of another investigation.
MYERS: WITH SUPER WIN, PEYTON CAN SHAKE PLAYOFF LOSER REP
Cam can't do this.
Not with his disingenuous "fake smile" and "enormous ego." The second Cam thought he was "above the law," he would be put right back in his place. No, not Peyton's place. More like Barry Bonds’.
And Cam knows this.
Cam has managed to do something utterly extraordinary. He won almost as immediately as Russell Wilson, but unlike Wilson, did so with a media bulls-eye on his back since college. He has reached the Super Bowl amidst nearly impossible odds, and had the audacity do it with his own style and in his own way.
The problem is not Cam celebrating while pretending to be Superman.
The problem is those black QB's without his talents never getting chance to celebrate at all.
"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." - Cam Newton
Cam Newton addressed the racial elephant in the room on Wednesday. Good for him. And good for us. We need to name it until it stops.
Cam was defending himself against reactions to his celebrations specifically that cap an NFL career of racial double-standards. In the next 10 days we will debate about all the hate and blatant racism (Warren's Moon's words) that Cam has received since he stepped into this league. We will rehash the scouting report hit jobs, the hits on Cam's intelligence, and criticism of his dabs and dances that are more over-the-top than the beloved Lambeau Leap. And we should.
But this conversation must go beyond Cam. We need to dissect, scrutinize, and analyze all the white quarterbacks in these playoffs with a Super-Cam lens. Let's start with a whiter 6'5" quarterback: Carson Palmer.
"Retweet this if you picked off Carson Palmer tonight" went the tweet by @RoFlo.
NEWTON CAN JOIN EXCLUSIVE CLUB IF HE WINS MVP, SUPER BOWL
According to Twitter, Palmer set a new playoff record with 842 interceptionsagainst the Panthers. Palmer's unfair social beatdown aside, it seems like eons ago Palmer was getting serious MVP consideration.
Going into the season's last game, some journalists at ESPN and elsewhere were picking Palmer. A not so quite scientific ESPN poll of 58,000 fans picked Tom Brady. The diplomatic Washington Post called it a tie. Can't we all get along?
No. We can't.
Cam Newton dances his way to the Super Bowl but still has to hear from critics despite his success.
Forget the technical points that 1) No. 2) Cam's cast of journeymen wide receivers resemble Ella Fitzgerald more than Larry Fitzgerald, and 3) the Panthers' 15-1 near-perfect record is just not perfect enough.
The real MVP debate tragedy is if Cam had Carson's career, there would be no debate.
Cam would have been driven out of the league by 2012 after Palmer posted his third straight losing season going 12-28. Not Cam or any black quarterback can pull off a career comeback like Carson’s… or Alex Smith’s… or Ryan Fitzpatrick’s.
No black quarterback in NFL history has ever reeked as much as these guys and lived to throw about it.
Ever.
For NFL white quarterbacks, the "Freedom to Fail" is the whitest trait of all.
This postseason may as well be called The White Privilege Playoffs.
Cam can be utterly amazing, but here is what Cam can't do:
Cam Can't Be Carson Palmer
Not off-the-field either. If Cam refused to report to camp after a 4-12 season and forced a trade like Carson did with the Bengals, he would be branded a "me-first" diva and possibly gone from the league. And if one of Cam's celebration's included Carson's crotch-taunting moves, then more than one mother would be sending a "letter-to-the-editor" about her now corrupted kid.
Palmer's second chances are par for the course for No. 1 QB picks who are white. Before giving up, Tim Couch received 59 starts before the Browns gave up, and David Carr got a whopping 79. Even heralded No. 2 picks get long looks. Five teams took a chance on Rick Mirer, and all-time bust/head case Ryan Leaf had four teams sign him before he voluntarily quit the game.
FOLLOW THE DAILY NEWS SPORTS ON FACEBOOK. "LIKE" US HERE.
Newton faces more scrutiny for little things than any white quarterback does.
Cam Can't Be Alex Smith
Smith, also a former No. 1 pick, has developed into a fine quarterback — far more than a "game manager." But he was downright terrible his first five seasons (see 51 TD passes in 50 starts). Despite nearly identical statistics and a higher passer rating with Smith over his first three years, former No. 1 pick JaMarcus Russell was booted out of the NFL.
After five years Smith's team record was 19-31, almost the opposite of Vince Young's 30-17 starting record. Young, who has seen his life spiral to the depths and was recently arrested in Austin, Texas for a DWI, played in two Pro Bowls, but played only one more season after. Instead of being nurtured like Smith, Young was benched for the slightest mistake by coach Jeff Fisher for Kerry Collins — who went 26-50 over his last nine seasons. Fisher, who preferred to draft Matt Leinart, remains employed with the Rams despite five straight losing seasons — unchartered waters for African-American coaches (an article for another day).
VINCE YOUNG TO KEEP $100G JOB AT TEXAS AFTER DWI ARREST
If Newton had Carson Palmer's early career, would he even last in the league as long as Palmer has?
Whether it be easy jokes about Russell's "weight" or Young's "attitude," critics always have "reasons" — just never comparisons (see early off-field troubles and alcoholism of Collins).
The point is, if Cam had performed like Smith had the last five years, he would be out of the NFL with no shortage of "reasons" from the scouts. It's all right here from Nolan Nawrocki's report:
"Very disingenuous - has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law - does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room . . . Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable."
The book would be closed on Cam like JaMarcus and Vince followed by:
"See - he toooold you about Cam! Now shut up and stop playing the race card!"
Cam Newton could not survive two rape allegations the way Ben Roethlisberger did.
And Geno Smith Can't Be Ryan Fitzpatrick
Okay. Fitzpatrick didn't technically make the playoffs, but the Jets were the only winning NFL team this year that didn't. Their 10 wins, superior to two playoff teams, marked the first winning season in Ryan's 10-year career and 33-55 record. After an 8-8 rookie season that saw both flashes of inexperience and promise, Smith's poor second season has many writing his NFL obituary.
And while I have my own doubts about Smith, it would be nice to see him in an offense with Brandon Marshall — a huge factor in Fitzpatrick's resurgence. This offseason Ryan will cash in his "Freedom-to-Fail" for 10-12 million a year.
But forget Smith, even Donovan McNabb's Hall-of-Fame worthy pedigree couldn't get any "Freedom-to-Fail" love. After McNabb requested his release from the Vikings in 2011 to sign on with a veteran team, he had no takers.
MEHTA: RYAN FITZPATRICK DESERVED BETTER ENDING
No Black QB Can Be the Texans’ Brian Hoyer
For NFL QB's, "undrafted" is code for "white." Hoyer's abysmal playoff performance was one for the ages. It requires a coach seeing your potential that that no one else sees. In Hoyer's case, he was cut three different times by the Patriots, Steelers, and Cardinals. Naturally, his former Patriot coach Bill O'Brien gave him a fouth chance to make good, and was rewarded with four interceptions and a 15.9 passer rating (not a misprint) in the wild-card round.
Tom Brady's questional moves in his personal life never enter the football narrative.
Cam Can't Be Tom Brady
Cam's recent out-of-wedlock fatherhood received negative attention. But here is an excerpt of "Tom Brady is a God" by Rick Reilly on his extra-marital fatherhood:
"See, Brady is Namath with a milk mustache. Mothers want him for supper and daughters for everything after. O.K., you might say, but how cool is it to get one woman pregnant (Moynahan) and to be dating another (Bundchen)? Well, a) Brady says he didn't know Moynahan was pregnant until after they'd broken up, and b) Brady is aching to be a full-time dad. He was there three weeks ago for the birth of John Edward Thomas Moynahan."
Cam Can't Be Ben Roethlisberger
Big Ben was twice accused of rape, does anyone care about that anymore?
Okay, maybe Cam could recover — the NFL doesn't care much about women being abused unless it’s on videotape.
And finally,
Allegations of HGH use are dismissed simply because Peyton Manning says they're without merit.
Cam Can't Be Peyton Manning
Manning is the best regular-season quarterback that ever lived. But this season Manning's greatest accomplishment is making an investigative story on alleged HGH use disappear in less than one week.
An outraged Manning stated:
"It's completely fabricated. Complete trash, garbage. There are some more adjectives I'd like to be able to use, but it really makes me sick. It makes me sick that it brings Ashley (his wife) into it, her medical history, her medical privacy being violated."
And that was that. We’ve heard this before. When Ryan Braun did it, media backed all the way up. When Lance Armstrong's indignation and counter attacks nearly ruined lives (ask Greg Lemond), he was supported for another decade.
Why? Because white indignation works.
And now an indignant Manning tells us not to butt into his wife's business, so we don't.
And we believe him.
If that changes, it will be because of another investigation.
MYERS: WITH SUPER WIN, PEYTON CAN SHAKE PLAYOFF LOSER REP
Cam can't do this.
Not with his disingenuous "fake smile" and "enormous ego." The second Cam thought he was "above the law," he would be put right back in his place. No, not Peyton's place. More like Barry Bonds’.
And Cam knows this.
Cam has managed to do something utterly extraordinary. He won almost as immediately as Russell Wilson, but unlike Wilson, did so with a media bulls-eye on his back since college. He has reached the Super Bowl amidst nearly impossible odds, and had the audacity do it with his own style and in his own way.
The problem is not Cam celebrating while pretending to be Superman.
The problem is those black QB's without his talents never getting chance to celebrate at all.
