Jason Cole Defends Cam Against Vince Young Comparisons

[fieryprophet]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--direct-snap--comparison-of-cam-newton-to-washout-vince-young-a-bit-harsh-.html

Through 21 games of his career, Newton is averaging 8.0 yards per attempt, including a league-high 8.5 this season. Yes, it's only one stat and Newton has made plenty of mistakes this season, including more interceptions (5) than touchdown passes (4) and critical errors at the end of the past two losses against Atlanta (a late fumble) and Seattle (a missed throw that could have won the game).

[More: What is keeping Jets coach Rex Ryan from starting The Golden Calf of Bristol?]

But the fact is that Manning didn't average 8.0 yards an attempt in for a full season until last year. In fact, over his first five seasons, Manning never topped 7.0 yards an attempt. Manning didn't start to show signs of his true brilliance until his playoff run in 2007.

With that in mind, Newton deserves far more patience and, more important, doesn't deserve to be lumped in with Young. Comparing Newton to Young is like comparing a youthful Monet to a child who paints by numbers.

Anybody who saw Young from early in his career knew that he really couldn't play the NFL game. His passing skills were too crude and his ability to read a defense was non-existent. Worse, he couldn't handle the workload or the emotion of the game.

With Newton, about the only common trait with Young is the emotional side. But where Young's emotion drove him from the game, Newton's emotion drives him to work harder. Newton's problem with emotion is the message it sends to teammates.

[Khaki Lackey]

Troof

[Marguide]

It's good to see some in the media pay attention.

Cam isn't in a sophomore slump, the whole offense is. Yes, he will take more heat because he's the QB, but his mistakes don't count any more or less than mistakes by the other 10 players on offense. A Cam INT isn't any better or worse than a DWill fumble. A Cam incompletion isn't any different than a drop from Smitty. Coming up short on a 3rd down run isn't any different than Louis Murphy coming up short at the goal line. It's the whole offense that's slumping.

[Who Said What?]

Troof

The troof shall set you free bruddha.

[rayzor]

remember the suicide watch the titans essentially put VY on when he started getting criticized? the guy disappeared for a while and no one knew where he was. lots of people with the team and others close to him didn't know what happened to him but they all sounded very concerned. the eventually found him....sitting at a friends house playing video games.

when the going got tough for VY, he caved over and over. he even walked out of the lockerroom on the team.

cam does just the opposite. he hates losing but it just spurs him on to try and be great...almost to a fault.

[SCP]

Yes sir. Read it haters.

[mmmbeans]

under the radar.

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

I guarantee Cam Newton succeeds in this league

[King Taharqa]

Good article but its still disturbing to prop one black QB up we gotta tear another down. There's so many QBs who didnt make it in this league, yet we always single out the black ones as failures and harp on them for 5-6 years. If Cam didnt make people look so stupid last year, we would still be hearing JaMarcus Russell name. Now he's never mentioned anymore, why? Vince has nothing to do with us, or Cam, so its dissapointing to see his name get drug thru the mud like this. Its OK to bring up Vince Young not making it forever and remind people, but dont you dare mention Tim Couch or Kyle Boller or JP Losman when talking about an Andrew Luck or Christian Ponder or somehow tell them they have to live those guys down.

[LinvilleGorge]

Good article but its still disturbing to prop one black QB up we gotta tear another down. There's so many QBs who didnt make it in this league, yet we always single out the black ones as failures and harp on them for 5-6 years. If Cam didnt make people look so stupid last year, we would still be hearing JaMarcus Russell name. Now he's never mentioned anymore, why? Vince has nothing to do with us, or Cam, so its dissapointing to see his name get drug thru the mud like this. Its OK to bring up Vince Young not making it forever and remind people, but dont you dare mention Tim Couch or Kyle Boller or JP Losman when talking about an Andrew Luck or Christian Ponder or somehow tell them they have to live those guys down.

I think you're just trying to create the impression of a racial issue here. Every player is compared to former players. Anytime there's a white draft prospects, he's inevitably compared to other former players at his position who were also white. It ALWAYS happens when there's oftentimes a better comparison out there.

The same thing happens with black QBs. Black QB prospects are inevitably compared to other former black QBs. VY just couldn't handle the mental aspect and the pressure of being a pro QB. When his athleticism wasn't enough to carry him, he folded. That's not because he was black, it's because he wasn't mentally mature enough to handle the responsibility. The same thing happened to Ryan Leaf.

[King Taharqa]

I think you're just trying to create the impression of a racial issue here. Every player is compared to former players. Anytime there's a white draft prospects, he's inevitably compared to other former players at his position who were also white. It ALWAYS happens when there's oftentimes a better comparison out there.

What young white QBs are compared to Tim Couch, JP Losman, Kyle Boller? All 3 of those guys were 1st round draft picks. Who playing right now that is a white QB hears those guys names when he has a 3 INT game or his team gets curbstomped?

The same thing happens with black QBs. Black QB prospects are inevitably compared to other former black QBs.

Which pretty much makes it a racial issue. If you're categorizing QBs simply by race, what do you think that is? And again, there are hordes of white QBs over the last 10 years who have not made it. Why doesnt Cam get compared to them when he struggles? Perhaps do we want to give the illusion that white QBs never fail and are always the "safe" bet?

VY just couldn't handle the mental aspect and the pressure of being a pro QB. When his athleticism wasn't enough to carry him, he folded. That's not because he was black, it's because he wasn't mentally mature enough to handle the responsibility. The same thing happened to Ryan Leaf.

VY is not the only one who did not make it in the NFL as a QB. Its just funny that they only group and compare black QBs with black QBs, then tell you there's nothing racial about it. Leaf is the exception because he's a drug addict/criminal so its 'safe' to mention him with a black person. Why those other guys names dont come up like that?

Is it possible to offer praise to one black QB without giving a backhand slap to another 1? Or is that asking too much in 2012?

[XClown1986]

Good article but its still disturbing to prop one black QB up we gotta tear another down. There's so many QBs who didnt make it in this league, yet we always single out the black ones as failures and harp on them for 5-6 years. If Cam didnt make people look so stupid last year, we would still be hearing JaMarcus Russell name. Now he's never mentioned anymore, why? Vince has nothing to do with us, or Cam, so its dissapointing to see his name get drug thru the mud like this. Its OK to bring up Vince Young not making it forever and remind people, but dont you dare mention Tim Couch or Kyle Boller or JP Losman when talking about an Andrew Luck or Christian Ponder or somehow tell them they have to live those guys down.

The comparison wasn't because he was black. At least that's not how I took it. Both were freak athletes drafted high with tons of college success. They each had initial success when entering the league and then had their emotional outbursts questioned. I can't think of another comparison to make with Cam in that aspect, other than Vince Young.

The point was made that Cam is using this to get better, where as Vince Young crawled in a hole. It wasn't "Well this black QB didn't succeed, but this one can." They both happen to be black, so what?

[King Taharqa]

by the way, if anyone wants to see a listing of all the QBs drafted since 2002 who are white I'll be glad to post it. Its well over 100 players and today less than 10% of those guys have winning records or are still in the league. Why cant Cam be compared to or accused of being one of those guys when people want to slam him?

[csx]

Every white QB is compared to Ryan Leaf.