ESPN's Ian O'Connor recently authored an ESPN.com piece in which he addressed the state of end zone celebrations in the NFL. He did so through a few colorfully entertaining lenses, including the point of view of a young football fan. His reply to Cam Newton's recent criticism following the Titan's game was spot on, and the questions he posed to the readers were needed. While O'Connor's responses to his imaginary email bag of questions hints at him sharing my view, the article fails to send the most important message to the critics of end zone celebrations.
There is no logical reason to be offended by an athlete celebrating a success, no matter whether he/she is your competitor, teammate, or neither. Even if an athlete deems another's celebration to be unfitting to the magnitude of his/her success, his/her level of elation and expression of elation via a dance, or a bat flip plays no part in competitive advantage and pays no foreseeable expense to any one else on the field. If anything, it draws more viewers, sells more tickets, and broadens the brand of their sports' image.
STOP BEING OFFENDED.
When Cam Newton follows a slip into tuddie land with a "dab" or a "Hit dem folks" he is taking shots at absolutely nobody. Nobody. He is simply having fun. You're not allowed to get offended at a man having fun. Even if Cam Newton's dance was filled with subliminal messages that say, "Yes, I am better than the Tennessee Titans and their defense is lousy," then so what?
Avery Wilson is the Titan's linebacker who proceeded to get in Cam's mug following Newton's 6-point scamper into pay dirt last Sunday. Even if Avery picked up on this hypothetical subliminal degradation of the Titans that the rest of us missed, would this in anyway justify him interrupting Cam's spectacularly entertaining display? Wilson is the schoolyard kid who takes his ball inside when he's losing and leaves the rest of the neighborhood squad empty handed. Nobody likes that kid. Don't be that kid Mr. Wilson.
As quoted by ESPN's Staff Writer David Newton, Titan's cornerback Perrish Cox followed questions on Cam's performance by saying "it is a bit much." Cam's dance wasn't enough. Next time his dance should run from one commercial break to the next.
As fans we often mock athletes who admit to playing for any reason outside of their drive to win and compete. Cox is admitting to playing for the camera time that Cam seemingly stole from him and his teammates. While you may not like that Cam Newton doesn't immediately run back to the side line to start looking over plays for the next drive, at least he is honest about his motives. He is out there to have fun, and at 11-0 he is having plenty of it.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/14174437/panthers-cam-newton-others-keep-dancing-nfl
http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/17197/is-panthers-qb-cam-newton-putting-a-big-bulls-eye-on-his-jersey-with-his-celebrations
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