Cam Newton wants to make the NFL fun again, and it should let him
Cam Newton just said what's been on the minds of football players and fans all season — the NFL should be fun.
The NFL has long been known as the No Fun League, but it's reached new heights this year as it has seemingly declared war on touchdown celebrations, limited social media activity and upheld its strict uniform policy. Any semblance of entertainment is being snatched from every corner of the game.
Newton's status as least year's MVP and one of the most popular, if not most combative, players in the league makes him somewhat of a chief spokesperson for the game.
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On Tuesday, he said exactly what the league needs to hear.
"In some way, shape, form and fashion, we are entertainers," Newton said, per SBNation. "When you come out in cleats and do a certain dance, people are watching… the league has to understand that it's entertaining for people to see that."
His comments came after Odell Beckham Jr.'s epic "Thriller" end zone celebration on Monday Night Football against the Cincinnati Bengals. But unlike he had been flagged earlier in the year for an excessive celebration, and unlike some other repeat offenders, he didn't get flagged.
In so many ways, Newton is the face and heartbeat of the NFL in 2016.
A first round pick in 2011, the Carolina Panthers quarterback is young, dominant and loud. He's been the poster child of the NFL's player safety problem. His flamboyance — both in press conference attire and celebrations on the field — embody the very thing football is trying to suppress.
He's an inherent entertainer, and above everything else, he's a fan.
This video corroborates both.
"Football is hard," Newton said. "It's a tough sport, a physical sport. Scoring a touchdown, getting a sack, getting a win – and staying here until 10 at night and being here at six in the morning, all the energy you put in spending time away from your family – you are owed something. Some people let it out with a celebration … and then it's a reciprocated feeling when a fan goes and sees their favorite player celebrating."
Newton is the NFL's squeaky wheel, the nail that sticks out. Don't give him oil. Don't hammer him.
He just wants to make football fun again. The NFL should let him.
