Cam Newton displays Panthers' greatest strength in discussing race's impact

Cam Newton does not care what detractors say about him.

He doesn't care if they think he's flamboyant, arrogant or an attention-hound.

"I'm an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people," he told reporters Wednesday, "because they haven't seen nothing that they can compare me to." That's a significant statement in a cultural sense because Newton showed no fear in addressing the race issue.

"Athletic pioneers, especially those in leadership positions, were always expected to put their/our best face forward," says Louis Moore, associate professor at Grand Valley State (Mich.) who specializes in African-American and sports history. "As a leader, Cam has been one of the few to have the chance to express who he is on his own terms."

But it's also a significant statement in a football sense because Newton is an original at his position. He's a mobile quarterback who excels in the pocket, and he's a flashy quarterback who seeks the collision like a fullback. He's a black quarterback who speaks, dresses and plays outside of convention.

And he has a head coach who is just as unafraid as his quarterback and his team.

Ron Rivera is also unconventional in his own way. He is a minority head coach, one of the few in the sport who have ever made the Super Bowl. He saved his own job years ago by transforming himself, by liberating himself in a way. He became Riverboat Ron, a decision-maker unencumbered. "The Riverboat Ron, there's no question that's part of his M.O. now," says assistant coach Ricky Proehl. "He doesn't blink."

Proehl says that has spread throughout the locker room. Josh Norman is a good example: he placed a statue of Batman in his locker before addressing the media after Sunday's NFC championship victory, and wore a Batman T-shirt as he spoke. His style has also driven some people batty, so to speak. But Rivera has let him be, and it has worked. "He let me be the player I wanted to be," Norman says.

When Rivera was asked on Monday about the onslaught of Super Bowl attention coming for his players, which would make some head coaches nervous, he smiled and said, "They're going to embrace the attention, you know that."

That's an important answer. Rivera isn't trying to tamp down anything (other than hoverboard use in the team facility). When asked about Newton's leadership in the same news conference, he mentioned how the quarterback made snow angels in the moments leading up to last Friday's outdoor practice and then went to work.

Rivera is literally letting them play.

Which brings us back to Newton. The No. 1 overall pick posed a great challenge to the coaching staff and the franchise when he arrived in Charlotte after being drafted in 2011. Rivera is a defensive coach. Offensive coordinator Mike Shula (formerly the quarterbacks coach) comes from more traditional offenses, as does current position coach Ken Dorsey. They could have shoehorned Newton into a more conventional role, both on and off the field. They could have said it's this way or bust. Instead, they melded what they knew and what Newton was familiar with.

Newton met them more than halfway by chiming in on strategy meetings. What they all came up with together was a synthesis of what Newton perfected at Auburn and what the coaches have learned at the NFL level. It was new-age and old-school – a difficult combination to defend. And the result is a very calm and comfortable group of Panthers on offense. They seem to know what they are going to do, and they dare you to figure it out.

That applies to Newton himself. He is neither stunned nor daunted by the success of the team. He basically said so on Sunday night.

"It may be a surprise to so many people," he said, "but that's how I envisioned it in the dream."

So there is no worry in Newton's world. He will speak, wear, and play according to his comfort level, and nobody else's. That may scare some, but it frees the people he cares about.

"Now the true fans, they know what's up," Newton said Wednesday. "They're going to be supportive whatever happens. But people are going to judge and have their own opinion on certain things that I don't have control over, nor does anybody else."

Newton is unapologetically black. That's significant for the many young athletes who will follow his lead. But beyond the race discussion, Newton is just plain unapologetic.

So is his entire team.

That should scare people who bet on the Panthers to lose.