The remarks Cam Newton made a few days ago shows how far he has came since his rookie season; he is the voice of the African American quarterback in the NFL.
"I've said this since day one," Newton said. "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 is 100% accurate with this quote. He is a 6'5 250 pound dual threat African American quarterback in which the NFL has never seen before. There is no one black, white, purple , or green you can compare him to. On one scale I can take his statement and dissect "they haven't seen nothing that they can compare me to." Regardless of his race, there hasn't been a quarterback of his size that can run the ball comparable to a NFL pro running back , let alone at the size of a NFL defensive end. Who would you compare him to? The only names that would stand out are Russell Wilson, Vince Young, and maybe RG3 or Colin Kaepernick, but that wouldn't be fare to them . Russell Wilson is to small and Colin Kaepernick and RG3 don't weigh enough which leaves Vince Young. Vince Young does have some relevance in the argument because he and Cam were around the same height (Cam is more athletically built) and could run the ball extremely effective for their size but one important thing about their stories differ.
Let me explain what I mean ... by that statement
Vince Young entered the NFL in 2006 and played for the Tennessee Titans. During his rookie season he broke the NFL rookie rushing record held by Bobby Douglass that would soon be broken by Cam Newton and Robert Griffin III. Seems pretty even to me, even both players made the pro bowl after their rookie season, but that is pretty much the only thing these two players have in common. Young would go on to play in one playoff game against the San Diego Chargers during his second season but would soon lose his QB job to Kerry Collins after a disparity between HC Fisher after a series of injuries. Earlier in their career, their were so many similarities... you would have thought Vince Young would've had his opportunity at the Superbowl 2 to 3 years before Cam ... but that leads me here...
Cam has had the opportunity may quarterbacks before him haven't. A strong foundation and support system in the Carolina Panthers and the physical gift, an athletic stature. Everyone knew he had the potential to pan out this way but may quarterbacks before him have had similar potential ... but unfortunately haven't had the foundation and support system by their organization. Both Vince Young and Robert Griffin had extremely successful college careers, but their opportunity at support and development wasn't their upon their arrival to the league. RG3 for example, was a dual threat quarterback in college similar to Cam Newton but upon entering the league had an absent Head Coach in his development process. Mike Shanahan made it clear from day one that he wasn't in it for the long run when it came to developing rookie quarterback, RG3; thus resulting in major injuries that have effected RG3's reputation in the league. While RG3 is fully capable of earning another starting quarterback job next season, Vince Young won't be that lucky. (Young hasn't play in a NFL regular season game in 4+ years). Young was benched after a few seasons in the league by his head coach and their was nothing owner Bud Adams could do to save "his guy". While Adams was in full support from day one of quarterback Vince Young, Coach Fisher wasn't very fond of the dual threat quarterback which resulted in a rift that grew over Young's time with the Titans. Unfortunately, that rift might be the very reason Young isn't playing in the league today.
I am Very excited to see what Cam Newton can do in this years Superbowl against one of the best defenses in the last 5 years. The Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers historically have had some of the best defenses we have seen in the past 10 plus years but this years Broncos defense could challenge them for that title. Brandon Marshall along with Von Miller have stated a strong case against the Ray Lewis's and James Harrison's of the world. It's great to see an African American quarterback get the proper "nutrition" to "grow like a beautiful flower" be such a success stories young girls and boys no matter their race can look up to.
(P.S. if you want more of this discussion I have a conversation in line with this topic on my PERISCOPE account: dearbeasports)
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