Cam Newton, Fashion, And The Scourge Of The Double Standard
With his stats waning and team reeling, Cam Newton is garnering more attention for what he wears than how he plays. And that’s a problem.
Last year, Cam Newton’s emotions received an absurd amount of media coverage, nearly eclipsing analysis of his on-field performance. This year, with his team mired in an epic post-Super Bowl hangover, Newton’s wardrobe choices have have generated even more discussion than his quarterbacking.
So why do his displays of self-expression—be it through fashion, speech, or body language — merit so much attention?
This USA Today article ranked all of Cam Newton’s outfits through mid-October (spoiler: Barbershop Quartet Cam took first prize), and his digs have been the source of even more coverage since then. Now, there are even articles about the articles on Newton’s wardrobe choices, along with news regarding the consequences thereof. Last week, in a development that shocked the Monday Night Football-viewing world, Cam was benched for having neglected to wear a tie the week previous.
Then came Sunday’s press-conference outfit, which sparked a slew of hilarious comments on Twitter:
Newton is in the midst of a decidedly lackluster season, having completed a dismal 53.5 percent of his passes with nine interception and winning just five games through Week 14. His outfits certainly provide a convenient distraction from his poor performance, but is it fair that coverage of his sartorial choices tend to trump discussions of his on-field performance? Or is there something more insidious — even sinister — at play?
Last year, Newton’s post-game attire was less ridiculous, his game-play Pro-Bowl stellar, and yet the press and general public still found ways to ignore his performance on the field. Distracted by his football and fashion celebrations, it took many analysts months to realize that the Panthers 2015 performance was no fluke.
Somehow, people were more offended by Cam’s post-touchdown dancing and dabbing than they were enthralled with his stupendous athleticism. A mother even lamented, in an open letter written directly to Newton, “Unfortunately, what you modeled for them today was egotism, arrogance and poor sportsmanship. Is that what your coaches and mentors modeled for you, Mr. Newton?”
Then, at the end of the season, after Newton’s Super Bowl loss, he was criticized again — this time for being too sullen at the post-game presser. “It’s one thing to be dejected after a defeat, media columnist Jeffri Chadiha wrote. “Newton, however, takes sulking to an entirely different level when things don’t go his way.”
The New York Post was even harsher, writing that he “sulked like a baby.” A Yahoo article quipped that he went from Superman to “Incredible Sulk.”
Of course, none of this is new for Newton. Off-field distractions haunted him through much of his college career. Though he won the Heisman and a national championship, his 2010 season was marred by controversy over his NCAA eligibility, a topic that followed him into the NFL.
Slowly, and not a little strangely, Newton’s attitude and attire have replaced past NCAA eligibility concerns as red herrings du jour.
Newton isn’t in the news for beating up a girlfriend, driving drunk, or skipping drug tests. His attire isn’t Dennis Rodman-level absurd; his outbursts aren’t the second coming of John McEnroe; and his poor sportsmanship is not anywhere near the level of Hope Solo. He simply wears unique clothes, expresses a robust range of human emotion, and doesn’t like to lose. So what is it about Newton that consistently elicits such faux outrage?
Women take issue — and rightly so — when their outfits and appearance are noticed more than their job performance. Except in sports, where it’s apparently more acceptable for women to attract attention for their wardrobe. Serena Williams frequently comments on her attire. Around the time of the 2015 Australian Open, she said of her backless neon tennis dress, “Throughout the years we went for a more conservative look. This year we really wanted to bring out a powerful woman and a strong woman, like I said. You can be beautiful and powerful at the same time.”
What do Cam Newton’s outfits mean to him? We don’t know, because nobody bothers to ask. And anyway if someone did find out, an article about an NFL player’s hipster-granny-cardigan probably wouldn’t appeal to most readers. And while the NBA media is certainly prone to similar narrative-twisting, Russell Westbrook — a player whose post-game attire might be even more crazy and colorful than Newton’s — still fields an occasional question on the matter.
There’s a prescriptive bias at play in the coverage of Cam, a belief that it somehow isn’t OK for a football man to experiment with fashion, let alone come by his feelings honestly. For a league dealing with a Whack-a-Mole’s worth of PR problems, fostering a media paradigm where emotions are shamed, where self-expression is met with scoffing hostility — that’s a pretty bad look.
Way worse, it’s safe to say, than any scowl, scarf, or sweater standing at a podium.
