Jerry Richardson to Cam: No Tattoos, No Piercings

[Fiz]

No lobster tail :(

[WilkinsonDonnie]

No listening or singing Justin Bieber

[DaCityKats]

they are football players not mayors of the city. who cares,jerry get over it.

[panthers55]

I had to take my ear piercing out years ago when I got involved with sales.. no visible tats.

please, let's stop the madness and stop making this out to be more than it is..

Exactly. Jerry has a brand which is the Carolina Panthers worth roughly a billion dollars and he wants to preserve that brand as family friendly. Cam is the face of the franchise and he wants to make sure from a marketing point of view that he presents that image. For Cam's sake he would be foolish to do anything that would compromise his marketability as well. Tats and piercings are a turnoff to many people regardless of how acceptable they are to many others. And when you are in the business of selling products to others, you can't afford to alienate people because you want to have a tat or body piercing. Look at the heavily endorsed sport figures like Jordan,Manning, Brady, etc. What do they share? Clean vut wholesome images. Even guys like LeBron James limit themselves because they have lots of tats which are fine in basketball but not as well accepted in the public in general. That may change in the next 20 years as more folks get tats and piercing, but for now it still isn't mainstream.

Just like football players have clauses in their contract which prohibit dangerous activities, I suspect that dress and appearance clauses can be put into contracts as well. If you don't like it, don't sign it. After all when you are long retired and still under 40 years old, you will have millions to do whatever you want to your body.

[Darth Biscuit]

Re-reading the quote from the OP sounds to me like a suggestion during an interview, not a command. Simply the boss man stating his preference.

A whole lot about nothing.

[PantherBrew]

Re-reading the quote from the OP sounds to me like a suggestion during an interview, not a command. Simply the boss man stating his preference.

A whole lot about nothing.

Well, I don't know quite that he was simply stating his preference.

I'd say it was more than a suggestion and less than a command. Probably someone in between, but closer to a command.

[footballisasport]

"oh yeah, and cameron. No white girls."

Shoot that's not the pre-requisite for black NFL player, what are u talking about..:d

[Neylus]

A whole lot about nothing.

:yesnod: Command or not.

[footballisasport]

This isn't about what he thinks about individual people; this is all about Marketing. No question that "clean cut" guys get a lot more in endorsements. Plus, Cam needs to rebuild his reputation a bit.

Tiger Woods gets around $105 million a year which is light years ahead of every other athlete. Keep working hard Cam.

Yeah, cause the media spent so much time spinning a heresay story regarding his father being offered money into father demanding money for his son scandal so a arch rival school can be dragged into the fire.

Funny how u went from telling Cam he needs to clean up his reputation, to using Tiger Woods as his bench mark of success..Yes, our media is a powerfully persuasive entity.

[mav1234]

i don't think JR meant that literally, but I do know he isn't a big fan of tattoos etc. When I read that recap months ago, I took it to mean, "I want you to be a clean cut face of this franchise," as opposed to "AND NOW I OWN YOUR BODY WAHAHA"

[SCMunnerlyn1]

Steve smith says hi :p

[pdandy1994]

"we would like to keep it that way"

definitely not saying-

"Cameron, if you ever get tattoos, i will release you, give you a bad rep around the league, and ruin your life."

[mav1234]

Later this year, Cam Newton is mysteriously cut... until it comes out he got a tattoo saying "mom" on one of his biceps!

When asked for comment, JR had this to say "Actions have consequences, and he knew the terms of our agreement!"

A bewildered Cam Newton was picked up by the Bengals off the waiver wire. Fans everywhere cried as Ohio swallowed another promising pro prospect.

[panthers55]

When Richardson says this is what he wants he is used to getting it. And when he doesn't there are repercussions. You would have to be a fool to take his millions and defy him. He holds Cam to a higher standard than he does Williams, Smith or others. That is what goes with the territory when you are the Qb on the team and the face of the franchise.

On another note, the racist thread done earlier in the week was done tongue in cheek and people were having having fun with it. However I see it bleeding into other threads and have a problem with it. I am not a mod and you can ignore as you wish, but the comment about Cam staying away from white girls is inappropriate and not funny. And frankly it is inaccurate as well. There are a number of famous black sports celebrities with white wives. It doesn't seem to impact their marketability.