Gruden: Panthers Will Select Newton

[TarPanther9180]

True, there were questions about how successful The Golden Calf of Bristol would be as an NFL QB (if ever) b/c of the style of offense he ran in college and his mechanics. However, I don't remember anyone questioning his attitude, intelligence, leadership, etc. True, Newton does have a past, and these issues have been discussed ad nauseum. But there are many Cam "hater" questioning his leadership, attitude, and intelligence despite evidence to the contrary (reports from former coaches, etc). It makes me wonder how much of these would even be up for discussion if Cam Newton were white. JMHO

All of it would be up for discussion...race has nothing to do with it. I don't want Gabbert or Mallet either....and they're white.

[CRA]

Look back at the The Golden Calf of Bristol discussion last year and you'll have a ready made answer.

The Golden Calf of Bristol and Cam aren't comparable players going into the NFL.

[Mr. Scot]

True, there were questions about how successful The Golden Calf of Bristol would be as an NFL QB (if ever) b/c of the style of offense he ran in college and his mechanics. However, I don't remember anyone questioning his attitude, intelligence, leadership, etc. True, Newton does have a past, and these issues have been discussed ad nauseum.

Can you give me a good, factual reason why anyone would have?

But there are many Cam "hater" questioning his leadership, attitude, and intelligence despite evidence to the contrary (reports from former coaches, etc). It makes me wonder how much of these would even be up for discussion if Cam Newton were white. JMHO

I don't buy that those things have anything to do with his being black. I think it has everything to with his being caught cheating in college and with a stolen laptop.

If The Golden Calf of Bristol had those things in his past, he'd have had to face the same scrutiny.

[Millions]

I could just as easily throw back the question of what if The Golden Calf of Bristol had been caught cheating or found in possession of a stolen laptop?

(see how this works?)

Some people feel like those question marks from 3 years ago aren't a big enough concern while others do just depends on the person I guess. For you looking at Cam is it the red flags or the ability to translate to being a pro QB? c'mon people have went as far to compare what Cam did to what Talib is going through right now assault with a deadly weapon right? saying it's a reason we should pass on Newton.

I for one feel like people can learn from there mistakes and mature so it's not that big of a deal for me especially when it happened 3 years ago.

[prowler2k8]

I could just as easily throw back the question of what if The Golden Calf of Bristol had been caught cheating or found in possession of a stolen laptop?

(see how this works?)

Yeah, but it's up for debate whether it would've been as big of deal for The Golden Calf of Bristol as it has been for Cam. How many would classify The Golden Calf of Bristol as a "thug" if this did happen? I don't hear anyone referring to Ryan Mallet as a "thug" despite his reputation and alleged drug use. Just sayin'.

[Millions]

True, there were questions about how successful The Golden Calf of Bristol would be as an NFL QB (if ever) b/c of the style of offense he ran in college and his mechanics. However, I don't remember anyone questioning his attitude, intelligence, leadership, etc. True, Newton does have a past, and these issues have been discussed ad nauseum. But there are many Cam "hater" questioning his leadership, attitude, and intelligence despite evidence to the contrary (reports from former coaches, etc). It makes me wonder how much of these would even be up for discussion if Cam Newton were white. JMHO

Very good point.

[Mr. Scot]

Some people feel like those question marks from 3 years ago aren't a big enough concern while others do just depends on the person I guess. For you looking at Cam is it the red flags or the ability to translate to being a pro QB?

I for one feel like people can learn from there mistakes and mature so it's not that big of a deal for me especially when it happened 3 years ago.

It's the fact that I don't think his skill set translates well to the NFL, at least not well enough to be the number one overall pick. I don't even need to get to the red flags in the discussion, but they are there.

Gabbert? Not quite the same, but between the offense he ran and a general sense of "underwhelmed" I'm not really a big fan there either.

Mallett? Easily the most NFL ready skill set, but a lousy attitude and some bad tendencies that remind me of the bad version of Brett Favre. Not interested.

There's no QB I want in this draft, and I've said that numerous times.

Gimme a vet QB and use the number one on another need pick. We'll go QB hunting again next year if need be (and probably will).

[TarPanther9180]

Reports from former coaches doesn't mean too much to me. It would be hard for me to believe that a coach would talk down about his QB that he chose to lead his team. Plus, I'm sure part of the coaches deal for when they paid Cam to go to their institution of higher learning, they had to talk him up come NFL time.

[TarPanther9180]

It's the fact that I don't think his skill set translates well to the NFL, at least not well enough to be the number one overall pick. I don't even need to get to the red flags in the discussion, but they are there.

Gabbert? Not quite the same, but between the offense he ran and a general sense of "underwhelmed" I'm not really a big fan there either.

Mallett? Easily the most NFL ready skill set, but a lousy attitude and some bad tendencies that remind me of the bad version of Brett Favre. Not interested.

There's no QB I want in this draft, and I've said that numerous times.

Gimme a vet QB and use the number one on another need pick. We'll go QB hunting again next year if need be (and probably will).

Sounds good to me!

[Mr. Scot]

Yeah, but it's up for debate whether it would've been as big of deal for The Golden Calf of Bristol as it has been for Cam. How many would classify The Golden Calf of Bristol as a "thug" if this did happen? I don't hear anyone referring to Ryan Mallet as a "thug" despite his reputation and alleged drug use. Just sayin'.

Then you're not paying attention.

There's not a load of discussion about Mallett in general on this board, but what there is pretty much always includes at least one "cokehead" joke, often coming from the same people who say Newton's past indiscretions should be forgiven because he was just a kid.

[prowler2k8]

Can you give me a good, factual reason why anyone would have?

Honestly, no, I can't and there shouldn't be. And you're right, there were a lot of questions about The Golden Calf of Bristol's ability to be successful as an NFL QB (which IMO were unfounded).

I don't buy that those things have anything to do with his being black. I think it has everything to with his being caught cheating in college and with a stolen laptop.

If The Golden Calf of Bristol had those things in his past, he'd have had to face the same scrutiny.

Fair enough, but as I said earlier, I'm not sure it would've been as big of a deal as it has been for Newton, especially since this happened 2-3 years ago. I think it's naive to think that race doesn't factor into some of the Cam haters' rhetoric on this board.

[Udogg]

Some of you are setting yourselves up for a major disappointment... .

2 - 14 isn't a disappointment? Watching the QB position sabotage our team at the most crucial moments for the last 7 years isn't disappointment? Consistently missing on our quest to upgrade that position isn't disappointing? Not drafting Cam would just be par for the course.

[Marguide]

A number of people in this thread have suggested that Richardson doesn't like Cam, or that he isn't sold on him.

Please enlighten the rest of us on where this info is coming from. Sources please.

[Vagrant]

I can't wait to see play 36.