the first African-American quarterback to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, told CBSSports.com that he believes some of the criticism of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is based in racism.
“A lot of the criticism he’s receiving is unfortunate and racially based,” Moon, who is Newton’s adviser, told the website. “I thought we were all past this. I don’t see other quarterbacks in the draft being criticized by the media or fans about their smile or called a phony. He’s being held to different standards from white quarterbacks. I thought we were past all this stuff about African-American quarterbacks, but I guess we’re not.
“Of course there is racism in every walk of society. We’ve made a lot of progress in this country. But racism is still there. I just thought in the sports arena we were beyond it. I think the way Cam is being treated shows we’re not.”
A draft profile in Pro Football Weekly published this week blasted Newton. Under the category of negatives, Newton was described as “very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them.”
The profile also said that Newton “lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness.”
Moon said he doesn’t believe NFL teams are discriminating against Newton, but Moon is upset about the public perception of Newton. Moon told the website that Newton unfairly is being compared to recent draft flameout JaMarcus Russell just because they share the same skin color.
He also pointed out that Sam Bradford came out of a spread offense with Oklahoma similar to the offense Newton ran at Auburn, but there didn’t seem to be questions whether Bradford could run a pro-style offense once he was drafted.
“Some of these questions about Cam are more about his intellect. It’s blatant racism, some of it,” Moon told the website.
It’s time for Carolina to break with its conservative past and make a bold move: Draft Cam Newton, Pat Yasinskas writes. Blog Moon became Newton’s adviser after the quarterback’s father, Cecil, reached out to see if he would train his son. Moon steered the Newtons to George Whitfield instead, but agreed to mentor Cam.
“I’m actually more of a consultant and adviser to the family, and a mentor to Cam as he makes this transition,” Moon told the News Tribune of Tacoma, Wash., last month.
At the combine in Indianapolis last month, Newton read a prepared statement to try to clarify a comment he made in which he described himself as “not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”
via NFL draft 2011: Warren Moon says criticism of Cam Newton racially based – ESPN.
