This column was supposed to be about why Cam Newton isn?t on my draft board.
Yep. I wouldn?t draft the Heisman Trophy winner with the first pick in Round 1 or the last pick in Round 5. He smells like
Vince Young, looks like a fit JaMarcus Russell and throws the ball as accurately as Tim Tebow.
Worse, there?s a vocal segment of the African-American community prepared to emotionally cripple Newton with claims of racism at the first sound of legitimate criticism.
I jumped off the Cam Newton bandwagon the moment Newton mentor Warren Moon went Al Sharpton because one scout negatively critiqued Newton?s personality.
As a card-carrying, lifelong Jeff George supporter, I?ve defended my favorite QB from harsher, sustained criticism, and he was never accused of theft, academic fraud and/or being the prize in a pay-for-play scheme.
Pro sports are a dirty business. When teams are handing out $30 million in hard cash at the top of the draft, $h#% is going to get said. It?s all in the game, yo.
A year ago, I would?ve written an awesome takedown of Cam Newton, similar to
this pre-draft expose I wrote about Vince Young.
A year ago, I lived and breathed the NFL 24/7, 365.
Now I don?t. This damn lockout might go down as one of the biggest mistakes in sports history. It?s opened my eyes to the fact I can function without talking NFL year-round. I don?t think I?m the only hard-core football fan who has come to this realization.
cont.
