Cam Newton Dabs Through Adversity

Cam Newton is one of the world’s most talented and dynamic athletes. But despite his excellence, on and off the field, he's one of the most criticised and trolled.

But why is that?

The Auburn alumni won the Heisman Trophy in 2010 and led his team to a national championship. He was later picked No. 1 overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL draft.

In his rookie season, he passed for 4,051 yards and 21 touchdowns and rushed for 706 yards and 14 scores.

During the next season, the standout passed for 3,379 yards and 24 touchdowns and hauled it for 585 yards and six end zone appearances.

In 2014, the Panthers mainstay tallied 3,127 passing yards and threw for 18 scores and rushed for 530 yards and five TDs.

THE BIG YEAR

Newton started the 2015 season as the highest paid player in Panthers history but didn’t let his new contract change his play.

By Week 4, the $100 million quarterback accounted for all of Carolina’s offensive scores, and by Week 7 he had thrown for 11 touchdowns and eight picks, improving his QBR to 94.1 in the fourth quarter, the second best in the league.

In Week 9, the panthers beat the Green Bay Packers to improve their winning streak to 8-0 for the first time in franchise history. In that game, the dual-threat launched it for three scores and carried it to the end zone for another.

In Week 11, Newton threw a career-high five TD passes to lead the panthers to a 44-16 victory over the Washington Redskins. By this point, Newton had recorded at least one passing and rushing touchdown in six games, making him the only player to reach that peak this year.

In Week 12, Newton’s stats looked even better after his teamed claimed a 33-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys to remain perfect.

And it doesn’t stop there.

Newton also led the Panthers to a 14-0 record before losing to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 16.

But with Carolina’s final win before the postseason, the Panthers became the seventh team in NFL history to win 15 games or more.

In the postseason, Newton led the Panthers to two major wins, one over the Seattle Seahawks and another over the Arizona Cardinals. With the 49-15 win over Arizona, the Panthers claimed the NFC title and secured a chance to win Super Bowl 50.

But enough with the stats and facts. My point is Cam’s a superstar and he deserves his full credit for the talent that he is. Rather than giving that credit, many choose to ridicule and down talk him for his in-game celebrations and tenacious personality.

Yes, he’s made immature mistakes in the past that can be used to fuel the hate train against him, like ripping down Green Bay’s banner this year.

But overall he’s a player who goes through the wringer day in and day out at the most posterized position on the field, influences and encourages not only his teammates but others, gives every TD ball to a kid in the crowd, and donates to various charities. 

Yet, people choose to slander him, mainly for having fun when he scores, referring to it as showboating because he plays excited and loves the game.

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems a bit absurd to ridicule a player to the extreme for that reason.

In a presser, Newton stated that he doesn’t celebrate to be boastful or disrespectful; he does it because he likes doing it and the crowd likes seeing it.

There’s also a topic that most have danced around for years, maybe an explanation to why Cam is so criticised. 

He addressed it in his weekly presser on Wednesday. "I'm an African-American QB that might scare some people because my skill set isn't like anybody else," he said.

Being an African-American quarterback combined with his size, speed, strength and ability makes him unlike anything we’ve seen in NFL ranks. That also makes monotonous fans uneasy.

Regardless of how people feel, Cam is going to continue dabbing and doing his notorious Superman, so people should stop trying to make an issue out of it and enjoy watching the NFL as much as he loves playing in it.

In the words of Drake, “[He’s] havin' a good time; they just tryna ruin it.”