The Cam Newton and Race Thread!

[ncmonzta]

Who has questioned his work ethic ?

I think the only characer related questions are about his integrity which is fair game given his history. Mallett is questioned about his intelligence and character and has been completely written off becuase of them.

uh, everybody. ESPN, a few huddle posters and NFL network guys have been doing it since the season ended where have you been.

[Marguide]

funny, because that was something people said about Gabbert at the combine. Those racist bastards!

Also, no, nobody really question's Gabberts intelligence per se (football decision making, yes, intelligence, no) because he's earned some academic recognition so at very least he's book smart. Doesn't necessarily translate to the NFL but he apparently took college seriously enough to work at it and get good grades.

This is not exactly true. As I mentioned above, Gabbert has shown he's smart in other areas. As to being a hard worker, I've not seen many people specifically say that Newton doesn't or won't work hard, just saying he's going to have to work through a transition the same way Gabbert will. Gabbert's will be different due to different types of offense and different levels of preparedness, but he's still going to have to work at it.

Just out of curiosity, do you know Cam's GPA? Just did a quick search on Google, and it came up as 3.35 in high school, and 3.2 at Auburn. Maybe true, maybe not. If true, its not bad at all.

Does anyone else have different info, or are we just assuming he isn't book smart?

[King Taharqa]

i

- Is it wrong to pretend to know what is in the heart of your fellow huddlers and accuse them of racism despite having no evidence as such? Absolutely, its plain wrong and immature. Once the race card is thrown out, all conversation ends and defensive posturing begins. Its intellectual tripe.

There are some thoughts of mine. Anyone want to comment?

Remember, lets keep this honest and civil. Can we do it?

is it wrong to pretend to know whats in the hearts of african americans and african american athletes with no evidence but bias and ignorance? To portray all as unintelligent beings? That were all lazy criminals after white folks money? Some people on your staff and on this board want to be able to say ignorant derogatory things and not be accountable. They want to judge but hate being judged themselves. the truth is this offseason aint about Cam, its about us as Panther fans. if we dont like the stigmas maybe we should WORK to change them rather than sweep under the rug. I will say the team itself has impressed me so far this offseason.

[ElkinPanthersFan]

I think that most people that post here are respectful. If the kid gets drafted by the Panthers, we should all support him regardless. It is our team right? There are some people that make it so blatantly obvious that they are stirring the pot or making comments that border on intentionally getting a rile out of people and they should be dealt with.

I don't want Cam because I do not think that he will pan out at QB. I do think he could have a successful NFL career but just not in the QB position. The kid has so much swirling around him from stuff that he didn't bring on him from the media to the other stuff that he did bring arout extra attention to himself. I've said this in another thread I dont care if we had the fruitest, green-skinned, Nigel Gruff playing QB if he won us games. I'm sick of the race card being played in general. This country did turn the corner somewhat in 2008 and had the first non-caucasian president. Does racism still exist? Yes. Will it always exist? Yes. Has Racism existed since Kain and Abel? Yes.

The fact that people use that argument for the fact we might not want a QB because of his color is immature and ignorant itself. For the record, I don't want Gabbert either and dont care too much for Clausen.

[ncmonzta]

Tools is the word you are looking for. It's his NFL tools.

So if he sucked all year but had those "tools" thats all that matters, I understand now.

[party_animal]

If Newton is drafted by the Panthers, I hope he succeeds. Do I want them to draft him? No. Does it have anything to do with his race? Not at all. I just don't like what he brings to the table in terms of his capabilities and limitations.

[Udogg]

Who has questioned his work ethic ?

I think the only characer related questions are about his integrity which is fair game given his history. Mallett is questioned about his intelligence and character and has been completely written off becuase of them.

What board have you been on? Go back and read the 199443 Cam threads. Especially the first few.

[Udogg]

Zod, not that my opinion is special, but IMO its good to get this discussion on the table. Almost no one above caveman level has a problem with rooting for black athletes these days. However, I believe its a different story when you are talking about the leadership position on the field. This position has historically been held by white guys, and some have trouble envisioning black guys in the same position. Call it racism or something else, but the result is the same.

As Tom points out above, if a black QB is being considered, many immediately question his intelligence and work ethic, and this happens much less with white guys. If you do not think this is true, you just haven't looked with an open mind. It is everywhere.

Then there are the suggestions that black players can't handle money or success, that once either is achieved, they turn lazy or turn Hollywood.

People assume Blaine Gabbert is smart and a hard worker, because his QB mentor said so, but when Cam's says the same, its suspect.

There is no question there is a double standard.

:iagree:

[teeray]

I think that this door would have been best left unopened.

But I think black QBs have a higher threshold that they have to cross over to dispel subconscious stereo types that are an unfair stigmatization on black QBs.

I don't think any of it is on purpose, I think it is human nature.

Just for fun someone go through and pull the scouting reports of every black QB that has been drafted in the first round and compare it to every white QB that has been drafted in the first round.

Again, I don't think this is on purpose but I can remember off of the top of my head that Mike Vick, Daunte Culpepper, Jamarcus Russell, and Josh Freeman ALL all had concerns of "their ability to learn an NFL offense" and/or "ability to read complex defensive schemes in the NFL" In their scouting reports. That is code for intellectual deficiencies.

EVERYONE OF THEM had one or both of these concerns.

Now many people white or black QBs have similar things in some of their scouting reports, as they should, so it is very easy to go back and point to a white QB and say, "See, he had the same questions and he is white. Therefore it doesn't exist"

My only concern is that the threshold to avoid these concerns are much, much lower if you are white, and much much more pronounced when you are not.

Again I want to make clear I am not accusing anyone in the press of anything I just think it is a subconscious, preconceived notion unequally distributed to black QBs.

Be honest how many people would be shocked if Cam Newton score higher than 25 on his wonderlic test. I have already heard people suggest that it was going to be terrible. They may end up being correct but at this time there is little to no evidence that this would be the case. It is just an assumption based off of his public statements and a criminal record.

Stuey Ungar (greatest and smartest poker player that ever lived) had a very high IQ but talked like a NY street thug because he grew up around them.

I got news for you guys. There are quite a few literally geniuses in prison right now. They may have shown poor choice making; but guys like Bernie Madoff are very smart men who did dumb things.

[mav1234]

I think there's a good possibility of us picking up a good prospect late in the draft to replace Pike, but that's just because I do not like Pike. :P

[mav1234]

Just out of curiosity, do you know Cam's GPA? Just did a quick search on Google, and it came up as 3.35 in high school, and 3.2 at Auburn. Maybe true, maybe not. If true, its not bad at all.

Does anyone else have different info, or are we just assuming he isn't book smart?

Not assuming he is or isn't book smart. There's the cheating allegations that make you wonder if he had time for school at Florida or what. Just saying, one of the reasons people say Gabbert is smart is because of his academic achievements. I do not think anyone legitimately questions if Cam Newton is smart or not, they just suggest he may have made some dumb decisions in the past.

[The Saltman]

Not assuming he is or isn't book smart. There's the cheating allegations that make you wonder if he had time for school at Florida or what. Just saying, one of the reasons people say Gabbert is smart is because of his academic achievements. I do not think anyone legitimately questions if Cam Newton is smart or not, they just suggest he may have made some dumb decisions in the past.

I can honestly say about 99.9% excluding me on this messageboard have made dumb decisions in life.

[Tom]

funny, because that was something people said about Gabbert at the combine. Those racist bastards!

Perhaps my memory is wrong and he said it about Gabbert. Whoops! That's a pretty big mistake.

Despite my faulty memory, I still think black qbs are treated differently by the media and fans than white ones.

I worked in sports radio in Atlanta the last couple of years Vick was there. Even before the dog fighting came out, the supporters and the critics of Vick were divided largely by race. It was easy to tell which Radio hosts would stand up for the guy and which wouldn't. Same with the fans.

[Zcustom]

I've stated it at least twice.

As if I'm willing to sift through the 1000's of pages of QB "debate" to find those 2 gems :lol:

Thanks