Let’s hear the tale of two stories, that took place on Sunday, when the Green Bay Packers visited the Carolina Panthers. Ultimately, the Panthers would defeat the Packers 37-29, to remain undefeated (8-0) and hand the Pack their second straight loss (6-2). But scores and records are irrelevant, and are mostly written as a means to make my post look beefier than it is.
Anyway, the first story is about how a group of Packer fans from North Carolina brought a massive sign stating their fandom into Bank of America Stadium; the home of the Panthers, and raised a stink when Cam Newton came by and confiscated the sign, and when attempting to get it back later, was informed that it had “been destroyed.”
The “North Carolina Cheeseheads” did a whole lot of bitching, claimed that the sign cost “around $500” to produce, and ultimately the Panthers organization caved and is supposedly going to replace the banner.
First, “Around $500” is a pretty generous rounding up from, let’s be generous here, what, $80, tops? Nice fabrication with the estimation here to attempt to garner sympathy, but there’s no way in hell that sign cost remotely close to $500, unless there were maybe 5-6 of them produced.
Next, there’s a part of me that sympathizes for the fact that a player snatched their belonging from their hands, but at the same time, there’s something called “common sense” that should be considered, and unfortunately the Carolina Panthers organization did not. But they were visiting fans, supporting the visiting team – in the opponent’s home.
Sure, in a way it was theft, and theft isn’t good, but at the same time, they were the ones dumb enough to show up decked out in opponent colors and brandishing a giant sign with the home team’s state and the opponent’s logo on top of it. Putting it in reach of any player much less Cam Newton was their own fault, and I fail to understand why they’re surprised that a home player might not want to see images of the opponent’s identity in his home field.
Ultimately, I side with Cam Newton on this one, and I don’t even like the guy. Bonus ironic points to the linked AJC article, where the local racists side with the not black guy on this one, despite the fact that Cam Newton himself is from Atlanta and is a self-proclaimed “Falcons fan when they’re not playing us.”
The second story is about how in this very same game, the same alleged criminal thieving thug Cam Newton, gives a celebratory touchdown football to a young boy.
To Newton, it was just keeping up with a tradition of giving celebratory footballs to young fans in the stands. However, to the boy, who had apparently lost his father recently to a health failure, this was probably a good reprieve and moment of happiness. Talk about a very fortuitous coincidence.
Ultimately, despite one story’s attempt to paint Cam Newton out as some thieving asshole who steals visiting fans’ signs, his intentions are always for the betterment of the home field in the end, as indicative of his actions in the other story. Get rid of unwanted opponent support, grant young fan a whole lot of wanted happiness.
I don’t even like Cam Newton, but I’m totally in support of his actions on this day.
