I've seen the film. I've seen the workouts. I've seen the running moves, I've seen the throws. I've seen the good and the bad, the touchdowns and the inaccurate throws that really should have been on target. I've seen the wins and I've seen the news. That's right, I've seen the stolen laptops, I've seen the cheating on tests. I've seen shopping yourself around (let's face it, that's what happened right? I mean, I don't care at all, I think he should have the right to sell himself to the highest bidder if he so chooses, but still, that's what happened), I've seen a lot of things. What I saw out of Cam Newton today however, it outweighed all of that, and confirmed my worst suspicions about him.
You can tell a lot about people through their movements, the way they speak, and the words they choose. That is to say, you can tell a lot that they're not even saying. You can tell where they're from, their social status, their education level, their personality. I mean don't get me wrong, there are certainly exceptions, but when you roll the whole package into one, even if you were blind you could build a picture of the person saying those words. It can sometimes be as if you know them. You know what I mean, you've watched something, heard something, or seen someone in passing and you were instantly able to tell certain things about them. If you don't the next time you're on the bus, subway, or maybe even in the mall or the store give it a try, you'll see what I mean.
Today, when Cam Newton stepped in front of the microphone I expected big things from him. He's a very impressive athlete on the field, he's got a contagious, Dwight Howard like smile, and he just seems like he's easy to forgive. Plus, the NCAA found him not guilty (for now, and to be fair the investigation only took like an hour) so that's gotta count for something right? (Okay, tried to type that with a straight face.) Anyway, my point is-I came into today as a Cam Newton fan. I was thinking Carolina might be well served to take him first overall. Boy was I surprised.
When Cam Newton spoke, the only portion of his speech he seemed comfortable with was the portion prepared for him by a PR firm. He said all the right things, but he said them like they were talking points. He sounded like, well, he directly reminded me of Sarah Palin and her campaign a few years back. I half expected him to wink at the camera a few times. Any question resulted in the same basic answer "I want to be competitive" or "I want to be the best quarterback I can be". It was pretty clear Cam has been working on trying to make any question have the same answer. But the real problem was what slipped out when he wasn't completely filtering himself.
When Cam did relax, was when he got started talking about being the greatest QB he could be. He loved talking about himself. He even tried to relate it to other QB's, trying to mask that he loved it so much, but it was only then that his smile relaxed and became very real. It was like watching someone walk a verbal tightrope. Like Cam was trying hard to stop thinking about how great he was, and think about what other people wanted to hear so they could know how great he was when he got drafted first.
Newton also talked about competing today. He talked about loving competition, but for some reason it just strikes me that Newton likes competitions he can win easily. He talks about having struggled through adversity, but as someone who has struggled through adversity I can tell you-he hasn't really. I mean yes, there were all those stories, but he brought those on himself.
Furthermore, his athleticism has always saved him from having to encounter any REAL adversity. I mean let's go through it-got caught stealing a laptop, got slapped on the wrist. Got caught cheating and thrown out of Florida, enrolled in a junior college where he was treated like a king no doubt and won the JC national championship. He then shopped himself around to D1 colleges, got caught for it, and the matter was essentially swept under the rug in an effort to sell his incredible athleticism which continued to allow him to basically dominate his competition easily.
Face it the kid has never actually encountered a real challenge, or any true adversity. He didn't get suspended during his senior year during the investigation like anyone else. And hey-if I could land as national champion after being thrown out of school for cheating (aka being stupid) I'd be reading off your paper right now.
Cam tried to hide it, but when he let his guard down he allowed his true personality to shine through, after all-there's a real big ego in there, it's hard to hide it. At points Cam even referred to himself in the third person. There's one thing Randy knows, and Randy knows that when you start referring to yourself in the third person, that's a sign for concern. Randy's going to stop writing this article now. Let Randy know what you think below. For more by Randy, please visit www.rhodynews.com
Christina Milian Kelly Brook Robin Tunney Kate Groombridge Dania Ramirez
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