Author Topic: Columnist: Boston is racist because not everybody loved the Cam Newton signing  (Read 3550 times)

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Offline Roy H.

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The heading for this article on Yahoo’s home page is: “Boston’s skepticism about Cam is a dog whistle”.

Quote
Whether his career lasts one more game, one more season or a dozen more years, I hope Cam Newton never stops doing his “Superman” routine after big plays.

Because among all of his talents, Newton’s one true super power is getting people to tell on themselves.

It’s happening already in Boston.
 
News of Newton’s contract agreement with the New England Patriots broke on Sunday night, and by Tuesday afternoon, without Newton having touched down in Massachusetts yet — he was in Los Angeles working with one of his new teammates, Mohamed Sanu — local sports radio hosts were already pulling out the tired, lacking-in-reality, dog-whistle tropes many NFL media types have used with Newton throughout his career.

In the span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds, 98.5 The Sports Hub hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti said Newton won’t go along with the Patriots’ “culture,” and Newton’s “dabbing” and “showboating” will be a problem. They intimated that a 31-year-old man won’t be able to “contain” himself on the field, took a shot at Newton’s wardrobe, said coach Bill Belichick won’t “allow” Newton’s celebrations, and for good measure brought up the brief and unsuccessful New England tenure of Chad Ochocinco and confused Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett II.

Welcome to Boston, Cam.


Quote
The idea that Newton is a showboat is essentially a dog whistle that says more about the person making such a claim than it does Newton. There is at least one recent academic study showing that Black quarterbacks who show confidence are tagged as “arrogant” at higher rates than white quarterbacks — call it a penalty for celebrating while Black.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/welcome-to-boston-cam-newton-he-can-already-hear-the-dog-whistles-and-trite-criticism-204248832.html

This is stupid.  Essentially, a columnist took issue with three minutes of Felger and Mazz (two contrarian idiots who live off of hot takes), and Yahoo attributed it to the entire city. 


I'M THE SILVERBACK GORILLA IN THIS MOTHER——— AND DON'T NONE OF YA'LL EVER FORGET IT!@ 34 minutes

Offline GreenFaith1819

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While it's an unfair label, we HAVE to look at this from the standpoint of what Bill Russell went through earlier in his career, here.

Was that MANY MANY years ago? Yes.

Is that how BOS is NOW? Of course not.

BUT - are there racists in BOS and those who may NOT want to see Cam succeed there because of this? Yes.

BUT - are there racists EVERYWHERE in the U.S. that don't want Cam to succeed? Sure there are.

Are there MANY people in BOS - Black,Caucasian or other - that WANT Cam and NE to succeed? Of course they do.

I'm sure Cam and The Patriots will do well this coming season but we HAVE to look at the entire picture....as unfair as it may seem at times.

With the flames of Racism and strife being stirred by none other than President Trump (his RECENT attacks on BLM and calling them TERRORISTS), this country will remain on pins and needles with this stuff, unfortunately....

At least until Pres. Trump is voted out in November and I'm praying towards this.

Offline pearljammer10

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Felger and Mazz are morons.

Boston certainly has its past reputation of having racists tendencies as sports fans across the board.

However, with that being said, turning "people not liking the Cam Newton signing" into a race issue, in my opinion, is to just get more clicks for his own article.

I can say the showboating nature is something that Bill will probably have to reel in a bit and he will have to work hard to "mold" Newton into "Patriot's culture". But, you're telling me that Tom, Edelmen, or any other Patriot never show boats? That's malarkey.

I think this is a total crock...

Offline keevsnick

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The heading for this article on Yahoo’s home page is: “Boston’s skepticism about Cam is a dog whistle”.

Quote
Whether his career lasts one more game, one more season or a dozen more years, I hope Cam Newton never stops doing his “Superman” routine after big plays.

Because among all of his talents, Newton’s one true super power is getting people to tell on themselves.

It’s happening already in Boston.
 
News of Newton’s contract agreement with the New England Patriots broke on Sunday night, and by Tuesday afternoon, without Newton having touched down in Massachusetts yet — he was in Los Angeles working with one of his new teammates, Mohamed Sanu — local sports radio hosts were already pulling out the tired, lacking-in-reality, dog-whistle tropes many NFL media types have used with Newton throughout his career.

In the span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds, 98.5 The Sports Hub hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti said Newton won’t go along with the Patriots’ “culture,” and Newton’s “dabbing” and “showboating” will be a problem. They intimated that a 31-year-old man won’t be able to “contain” himself on the field, took a shot at Newton’s wardrobe, said coach Bill Belichick won’t “allow” Newton’s celebrations, and for good measure brought up the brief and unsuccessful New England tenure of Chad Ochocinco and confused Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett II.

Welcome to Boston, Cam.


Quote
The idea that Newton is a showboat is essentially a dog whistle that says more about the person making such a claim than it does Newton. There is at least one recent academic study showing that Black quarterbacks who show confidence are tagged as “arrogant” at higher rates than white quarterbacks — call it a penalty for celebrating while Black.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/welcome-to-boston-cam-newton-he-can-already-hear-the-dog-whistles-and-trite-criticism-204248832.html

This is stupid.  Essentially, a columnist took issue with three minutes of Felger and Mazz (two contrarian idiots who live off of hot takes), and Yahoo attributed it to the entire city.

Granted I haven't listened to the audio, but as stupid as Felger and Mazz are I dont even think this particular take is racist. Wondering how a guy known for personality on and off the field will mesh with a coach would has no personality is kind of exactly what talk radio does. It certainly crossed my mind.

Online rocknrollforyoursoul

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This reminds me of how some liberals said that any disliking of President Obama had to be because of racism. There are plenty of reasons to dislike President Obama and Cam Newton that have nothing to do with racism.
"There are two kinds of people: those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, 'All right, then, have it your way.'"

"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

— C.S. Lewis

Offline jambr380

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Granted I haven't listened to the audio, but as stupid as Felger and Mazz are I dont even think this particular take is racist. Wondering how a guy known for personality on and off the field will mesh with a coach would has no personality is kind of exactly what talk radio does. It certainly crossed my mind.

I generally agree - and I hate Felger and Mazz.

But Boston's racist reputation isn't going to help them here. I used to think it was asinine that super liberal Boston was considered racist, but I understand it a little better now. I think many people in Boston genuinely want equality for everybody, but they just aren't that equipped to deal with black people since there are so few in the area. In general, it seems to me in conversations I've had with some, that they want black people to have equality, but they want them to have it over 'there.' This doesn't go for everybody - or even most people. And, frankly, I think it has a lot more to do with class than it does race; but that's a discussion for another day.

Anyway, crappy article which just lazily reinforces something that is only mildly true. During these times of unrest, it seems to be more and less click bait on a topic that has become a little tired...and possibly even outdated to an extent (Boston now is nowhere near what it used to be).

Offline GetLucky

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^Bascally want to agree with everything jambr380 said.

Also, I'm hardly a Bible-thumper, but a Christian friend pointed out to me that Tim Tebow was shunned from the league similar to Kaepernick and controversial for his TD celebrations making it "all about him" like Cam. Not saying some dislike for these athletes can't be racially-motivated, but everything happening to them literally happened to a white athlete almost a decade ago. How short our memories are.

Online Vermont Green

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This is kind of reverse racism or something to assume that any criticism of Cam Newton means you don't like black people.  Kind of like saying that anyone who doesn't like Trump's policies must be a flaming liberal.  Or anyone who doesn't like Obama...  It is just too simple  and lazy of a reaction.

My view is that I like Russell Wilson much more than I like Cam Newton (just for example).  I don't like the orchestrated celebrations and overall attitude that Cam brings on the field.  I like that Russell Wilson is all business when he is on the field.  Both are comparably talented QBs but the attitude stuff matters, in my mind, and affects winning and team success.  I think that is why (among other things) Cam was passed over by many teams.  If Russell Wilson was ever available, he would be signed in a second.

I think signing Cam was a good move though, worth the risk based on the cost (contract).  I hope he works out as well as Randy Moss. 

But before anyone blames the segment of Boston that is not liking Cam, just imagine if Boston would react differently if we got Russell Wilson or Dak Prescott.  Sure, there are some in Boston who would dislike all of them for racial reasons but I think there is a culture in Boston that likes the more blue collar, all about business athletes (Russell Wilson) over the more showy, animated types (Cam Newton), regardless of race.

Offline saltlover

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^Bascally want to agree with everything jambr380 said.

Also, I'm hardly a Bible-thumper, but a Christian friend pointed out to me that Tim Tebow was shunned from the league similar to Kaepernick and controversial for his TD celebrations making it "all about him" like Cam. Not saying some dislike for these athletes can't be racially-motivated, but everything happening to them literally happened to a white athlete almost a decade ago. How short our memories are.

This is an absurd take.  Tim Tebow was simply not a good quarterback.  End of story.  He was ridiculously popular in Denver despite this.  I’m a Broncos fan and was excited when he was drafted, but he simply wasn’t an NFL QB — I can’t tell you the number of wide open receivers who had balls thrown either 5 yards over their heads or 5 yards on the turf in front of them.  He was dead last in completion percentage at a terrible 46.5%, 4.3 points lower than next-worse Blaine Gabbert, and 13 points worse than Colin Kaepernick’s final season (and career average).  It’s why two years after he was drafted in the first round he was traded for a fourth round pick.  He couldn’t crack the Jets lineup, but two more teams took chances on him in the following summers, and he couldn’t make those rosters either.  (How many chances has Kaepernick been given?  Zero.)

And, having washed out of football, he a) was given a lot of money to talk about football and b) was given a baseball contract and an immediate spring training invite despite not having played baseball for a decade.  If he hadn’t gotten hurt last year, he would have been called up to the majors, despite hitting .163 in Triple-A, just because he’s Tim Tebow.  He will be in the player pool of Mets eligible to be called to the majors this season, again, despite hitting .163 last year, with an OPS of below .500, in Triple-A.  Both of these marks were dead last in the league for anyone with as many plate appearances as Tebow had.  He’s 33 this summer, but he keeps getting chances.

You know who else played baseball in high school?  Colin Kaepernick, who, unlike Tebow, was actually drafted.  You know who hasn’t gotten a pro baseball contract?  Colin Kaepernick.

Tim Tebow simply wasn’t good enough.  But he keeps getting chances, because he’s Tim Tebow, the exact opposite of Colin Kaepernick, who gets no chances because he’s Colin Kaepernick, and unlike Cam Newton who got a second chance because he’s a former MVP, which Tebow never had a prayer of achieving.
« Last Edit: July 02, 2020, 04:21:12 PM by saltlover »

Offline GetLucky

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^Bascally want to agree with everything jambr380 said.

Also, I'm hardly a Bible-thumper, but a Christian friend pointed out to me that Tim Tebow was shunned from the league similar to Kaepernick and controversial for his TD celebrations making it "all about him" like Cam. Not saying some dislike for these athletes can't be racially-motivated, but everything happening to them literally happened to a white athlete almost a decade ago. How short our memories are.

This is an absurd take.  Tim Tebow was simply not a good quarterback.  End of story.  He was ridiculously popular in Denver despite this.  I’m a Broncos fan and was excited when he was drafted, but he simply wasn’t an NFL QB — I can’t tell you the number of wide open receivers who had balls thrown either 5 yards over their heads or 5 yards on the turf in front of them.  He was dead last in completion percentage at a terrible 46.5%, 4.3 points lower than next-worse Blaine Gabbert, and 13 points worse than Colin Kaepernick’s final season (and career average).  It’s why two years after he was drafted in the first round he was traded for a fourth round pick.  He couldn’t crack the Jets lineup, but two more teams took chances on him in the following summers, and he couldn’t make those rosters either.  (How many chances has Kaepernick been given?  Zero.)

And, having washed out of football, he a) was given a lot of money to talk about football and b) was given a baseball contract and an immediate spring training invite despite not having played baseball for a decade.  If he hadn’t gotten hurt last year, he would have been called up to the majors, despite hitting .163 in Triple-A, just because he’s Tim Tebow.  He will be in the player pool of Mets eligible to be called to the majors this season, again, despite hitting .163 last year, with an OPS of below .500, in Triple-A.  Both of these marks were dead last in the league for anyone with as many plate appearances as Tebow had.  He’s 33 this summer, but he keeps getting chances.

You know who else played baseball in high school?  Colin Kaepernick, who, unlike Tebow, was actually drafted.  You know who hasn’t gotten a pro baseball contract?  Colin Kaepernick.

Tim Tebow simply wasn’t good enough.  But he keeps getting chances, because he’s Tim Tebow, the exact opposite of Colin Kaepernick, who gets no chances because he’s Colin Kaepernick, and unlike Cam Newton who got a second chance because he’s a former MVP, which Tebow never had a prayer of achieving.

Don't want to die on this hill because you make valid points, but I feel compelled to respond because my post was not as absurd as it may read juxtaposed with your comment.

Kaepernick was suing the NFL for two years, refused to take a pay cut to be the Bronco's starter, and was going to be signed by the Ravens before his girlfriend insulted Ray Lewis, who was the one advocating that Ravens ownership sign Kaep. Additionally, the CFL team that has Kaep's rights wanted to sign him, but he reportedly never returned their calls.

Further, it is my recollection that Kaepernick, unlike Tebow, was not willing to be a backup. (The earliest reporting I can find of him being willing to be a backup is September 2019, after he sued the league, and it was reported as breaking news via Stephen A. Smith)

You make a good point about Tebow's baseball career- the fact that he's a profitable sideshow for a joke of an organization does speak to the fact that he is not universally hated or blackballed from sports. But 1) Tebow had similar "too much of a sideshow to be worth it as a backup" concerns expressed in the media, especially when he was in training camp with New England 2) Tebow was someone who everyone thought would be a great HB/WR, so getting him into camp provided that possibility 3) Tebow wasn't suing the league that he was in 4) Tebow was willing to be a backup 5) I can find no reporting that Kaep has ever expressed interest in pursuing an MLB career since he left the NFL.


So, to summarize, Kaep had a contract and a presumable job until 2020, refused to accept a paycut (from $12 million a year to $7 million a year, which would have made him the 23rd highest paid QB, just behind Jay Cutler and two behind Tom Brady) to go to a team where he would have been a starter (the Broncos pre-Lynch draft) after a 1-10-0, 16TD year, opted out of his contract, did not entertain being a backup or signing with non-NFL leagues (is the CFL the equivalent of minor league baseball?) and decided to sue the league after his girlfriend accused the owner of the team about to extend him an offer of being racist. I can honestly see why said league had no opportunities for him.

So, in the context of this thread (saying "Boston media has had concerns about training camp invites attracting too much, potentially-distracting, media attention for Bill Belichick or the team's liking" is not race-related), I really don't think the Tebow comparison is absurd at all. "Shunned from the league" was poor word choice without much thought, and TD celebrations were also a bit irrelevant to this whole conversation, so I apologize for that. I just wanted to clarify that I found the comparison valid because there was a myriad of similar comments made about Tebow in 2013 (compared to what Felger and Mazz said about Cam the other day).


Offline mmmmm

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The heading for this article on Yahoo’s home page is: “Boston’s skepticism about Cam is a dog whistle”.

Quote
Whether his career lasts one more game, one more season or a dozen more years, I hope Cam Newton never stops doing his “Superman” routine after big plays.

Because among all of his talents, Newton’s one true super power is getting people to tell on themselves.

It’s happening already in Boston.
 
News of Newton’s contract agreement with the New England Patriots broke on Sunday night, and by Tuesday afternoon, without Newton having touched down in Massachusetts yet — he was in Los Angeles working with one of his new teammates, Mohamed Sanu — local sports radio hosts were already pulling out the tired, lacking-in-reality, dog-whistle tropes many NFL media types have used with Newton throughout his career.

In the span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds, 98.5 The Sports Hub hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti said Newton won’t go along with the Patriots’ “culture,” and Newton’s “dabbing” and “showboating” will be a problem. They intimated that a 31-year-old man won’t be able to “contain” himself on the field, took a shot at Newton’s wardrobe, said coach Bill Belichick won’t “allow” Newton’s celebrations, and for good measure brought up the brief and unsuccessful New England tenure of Chad Ochocinco and confused Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett II.

Welcome to Boston, Cam.


Quote
The idea that Newton is a showboat is essentially a dog whistle that says more about the person making such a claim than it does Newton. There is at least one recent academic study showing that Black quarterbacks who show confidence are tagged as “arrogant” at higher rates than white quarterbacks — call it a penalty for celebrating while Black.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/welcome-to-boston-cam-newton-he-can-already-hear-the-dog-whistles-and-trite-criticism-204248832.html

This is stupid.  Essentially, a columnist took issue with three minutes of Felger and Mazz (two contrarian idiots who live off of hot takes), and Yahoo attributed it to the entire city.

Yeah, it's hard to say which is more disgusting:  Felger and Mazz repeating the same idiocy they had to say when Randy Moss and Cory Dillan came ... or the Yahoo writer for using those two scumbags to paint an entire region.

Sports 'journalism' here at it's worst.
NBA Officiating - Corrupt?  Incompetent?  Which is worse?  Does it matter?  It sucks.

Offline footey

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The heading for this article on Yahoo’s home page is: “Boston’s skepticism about Cam is a dog whistle”.

Quote
Whether his career lasts one more game, one more season or a dozen more years, I hope Cam Newton never stops doing his “Superman” routine after big plays.

Because among all of his talents, Newton’s one true super power is getting people to tell on themselves.

It’s happening already in Boston.
 
News of Newton’s contract agreement with the New England Patriots broke on Sunday night, and by Tuesday afternoon, without Newton having touched down in Massachusetts yet — he was in Los Angeles working with one of his new teammates, Mohamed Sanu — local sports radio hosts were already pulling out the tired, lacking-in-reality, dog-whistle tropes many NFL media types have used with Newton throughout his career.

In the span of 2 minutes and 20 seconds, 98.5 The Sports Hub hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti said Newton won’t go along with the Patriots’ “culture,” and Newton’s “dabbing” and “showboating” will be a problem. They intimated that a 31-year-old man won’t be able to “contain” himself on the field, took a shot at Newton’s wardrobe, said coach Bill Belichick won’t “allow” Newton’s celebrations, and for good measure brought up the brief and unsuccessful New England tenure of Chad Ochocinco and confused Brandin Cooks and Phillip Dorsett II.

Welcome to Boston, Cam.


Quote
The idea that Newton is a showboat is essentially a dog whistle that says more about the person making such a claim than it does Newton. There is at least one recent academic study showing that Black quarterbacks who show confidence are tagged as “arrogant” at higher rates than white quarterbacks — call it a penalty for celebrating while Black.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/welcome-to-boston-cam-newton-he-can-already-hear-the-dog-whistles-and-trite-criticism-204248832.html

This is stupid.  Essentially, a columnist took issue with three minutes of Felger and Mazz (two contrarian idiots who live off of hot takes), and Yahoo attributed it to the entire city.

Yeah, it's hard to say which is more disgusting:  Felger and Mazz repeating the same idiocy they had to say when Randy Moss and Cory Dillan came ... or the Yahoo writer for using those two scumbags to paint an entire region.

Sports 'journalism' here at it's worst.

Well put and TP.

Online SparzWizard

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I think people hate him more for his personality than his skin color. His personality is one thing, but if this man can ball like 2015 before his injuries then I love Newton and this signing.


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