Not everything of significance that occurs in a championship football season takes place on the field. Sometimes the little things – a Gatorade bath, a Make-A-Wish child, a silly dance – underscore big positives.
And so it was that as the Carolina Panthers were about to celebrate their NFC South regular-season title Sunday following their 41-38 come-from-behind win at New Orleans, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton stopped the locker-room festivities long enough to bring owner Jerry Richardson to the middle of the teamwide huddle.
“It’s a new wave that’s going around,” said Newton, his arm around Richardson, the 1959 Baltimore Colts rookie of the year. “Everybody wants to see you Dab.”
And just like that, the 79-year-old Richardson briefly broke into the popular dance as the entire locker room went nuts.
This isn’t exactly why Newton probably should be the NFL regular-season MVP this season, though it points to both his charm and leadership. His 25 touchdown passes to just 10 interceptions and seven rushing touchdowns while picking up nearly 40 yards a game on the ground are reasons enough for that award.
A bigger reason to hand the MVP honors to Newton is that gaudy 12-0 record the Panthers own at the moment, the best in the NFL by two full games over suddenly mortal New England. Of course, with two games yet to play against Atlanta’s fierce Falcons – beginning with a visit from the Birds this Sunday – nothing’s certain. (This is where a tweet or text would include the laugh-out-loud addition of LOL).
But, really, with remaining games against the Falcons, a Dec. 20 trip to the New York Giants and a regular-season finale at home against Tampa Bay, if the Panthers don’t become the first team since the 2007 Patriots to finish the regular season a perfect 16-0, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves.
Thanks to Newton running the offense and linebacker Luke Kuechly stopping everything that moves on defense, Carolina’s only real weakness seems to be those all-Smurf-blue neck-to-toe unis they wore at Dallas a couple of weeks ago.
That said, the Panthers’ success all starts with Newton, who just might be about to do for Panthers Nation what he did for the Auburn Tigers in 2010, when he led them to an undefeated national championship with what is inarguably the most dominating individual offensive season in Southeastern Conference history.
That it also won him the Heisman Trophy in the midst of unending rumors about his eligibility for ultimately unfounded NCAA wrongs only heightened the intrigue and drama surrounding the Atlanta-area native and one-time Florida Gator.
But in the end, whether or not justice prevailed, Newton almost single-handedly led the Tigers to glory, and this season in Carolina is starting to look remarkably like that one, including Sunday, when Cam the Man led the Panthers back from not one but two fourth-quarter deficits.
Yet that may not be what’s best about the 26-year-old multimillionaire with the Hollywood looks, toothpaste-ad smile and a heart that appears more golden every passing week.
Consider this single quote from a recent Sporting News article about Newton’s increased level of maturity: “You’re talking about a person six or seven years removed from a stolen laptop. Things that people don’t really want to talk about. A person that had to go to junior college. We all make mistakes, but it’s all about how you rebound from that mistake instead of giving up.”
To return to his lone season at Auburn, to all those accusations that someone with Tigers ties paid big money to Newton or a family member of Newton’s to coax him away from Mississippi State, where there were rumors he turned his back on $180,000 to sign with AU, is to wonder if it wasn’t us rather than him who made a mistake.
Maybe there never was anything to those rumors. Or maybe there was. Maybe the Tigers did indeed buy their 2010 national title, and if they did, it was at least money well spent.
But to view Newton in full today, the face of a franchise in what’s long been viewed as a conservative Southern city, is also to see someone with a remarkable penchant for charity and thoughtfulness and leadership at a time when too few athletes embrace their opportunity, if not responsibility, for those roles.
So it’s become nothing around Charlotte for Newton to show up without fanfare at the home of a young child battling cancer and shower him with gifts. His foundation is attempting to instill the importance of education for all young people, but particularly those from tough backgrounds.
And he isn’t concerned only with pushing kids toward athletics.
“When I was growing up, my parents really influenced me,” he said recently. “But there are kids who don’t have that type of influence. They need someone who can create avenues for their dreams – whether they want to be a football player, a doctor or a veterinarian.”
It doesn’t mean he’s perfect or that his Dabbing in the end zone after a big score doesn’t irk the purists. But he’s also scoring big with the younger generation.
Or as IMG’s Carlos Fleming told The Sporting News: “He has made his own lane. In the youth market, he indexes higher than most athletes, not just NFL players. (His end zone dances) may be disruptive to some people, but the kids love it.”
And whether we grumpy old men and women like it or not, the NFL needs kids to become fans. The sooner the better.
“There’s a different type of energy to whatever room he’s in,” receiver Jerricho Cotchery, who caught the winning touchdown pass against the Saints, told TSN. “When he’s out there, we feel like we’re in control. He knows when to have fun and when to work.”
In a league often referred to as the No Fun League, a little light-hearted energy would be welcome. But as for white-haired owners mimicking young folks’ dance moves, as the Brylcreem ads once proclaimed: A little Dab will do you.
Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@timesfreepress.com.