Shocker

A few weeks back the Pro Football Weekly Draft Preview by Nolan Nawrocki came out and it was critical of Cam Newton on the field and off. The link below is about what Nawrocki said about Newton.

http://www.csnne.com/03/28/11/Wicked-takedown-of-Newton-in-PFW-Draft-P/landing_patriots.html?blockID=492577&feedID=3946

As with any writer, Nawrocki is entitled to his opinion, however it rubbed former QB Warren Moon the wrong way. Here is where my "shocker" title to this post comes into play. Moon was upset about how his advisee, Newton, was being treated by the media and fans. Moon said, "A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based. I thought we were all past this...He's being held to different standards from white quarterbacks." My first reation was simply, whelp!! However, after thinking about this more I focused in on his statement about being past this, and I agree we could be if the race card wasn't pulled every freaking time a black athlete, etc is criticised for anything. Let's not hide from the fact that Newton is a well-known figure for a lot of reasons and they are not all good, he is still involved in an NCAA investigation, so he is going to get more attention than most. There are legitimate questions about whether Cam can play at the next level and if I were an NFL team I would want to make sure Cam is my guy before I invest millions into him as my franchise. Do the off the field comments made by Nawrocki cross the line, I am not sure, but some of the things he says are drawn straight from public things we know about Newton, he had legal issues at Florida, played at a Junior College one year and at Auburn for one more. Maybe Moon is too close to the situation as he is advising Newton during this process.

I seem to remember Tim Tebow being killed last year prior to the draft not only for him playing in a spread offense, but also for his holier than now persona. Also, here is a recent article about Blaine Gabbert, a white quarterback from Missouri, and criticism he is receiving from Mel Kiper.

http://kansascity.sbnation.com/missouri-tigers/2011/4/4/2089953/mel-kiper-blaine-gabbert-2011-nfl-draft

Maybe there is a time we will be past it, but until the card continues to be pulled every time, we are a long way off!!