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| © 1 during 2012 Bears-Panthers game. |
The Carolina Panthers quarterback, known for a brash, exuberant on-field demeanor — as well as the talent to back it up — has proven to be a polarizing figure. Newton addressed negative perceptions of himself on Wednesday, telling reporters, “I’m an African-American quarterback that scares people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.”
While Newton appears to be popular with his teammates, some opponents aren’t quite as thrilled about his act. In November, several Tennessee Titans defensive players got in the quarterback’s face while he was performing an extended celebration of a touchdown.
Put Brian Urlacher in the Titans’ camp. The former Pro Bowl linebacker for the Chicago Bears made it clear Thursday that he is not a fan of Newton’s antics, and that he vastly prefers the understated demeanor of the quarterback Newton will be facing in the Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning.
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“I played defense, so I don’t like when guys celebrate with dances and stuff. You know who I like the way he celebrates is Peyton. He kind of gives the guy a handshake and goes back to the sidelines. I think that’s a great celebration right there,” Urlacher told USA Today.“You don’t see [Manning] dancing. You don’t see him doing all of that stuff. Even when he gets a first down he doesn’t do anything.”
It is true that Manning isn’t known for dabbing very much, preferring to celebrate his successes by making more TV commercials. But that’s not to say that Urlacher won’t be rooting for Newton’s team, given that the Panthers feature several ex-Bears, including head coach Ron Rivera and cornerback Charles Tillman.
“I’m a huge Ron Rivera fan, I played for Ron for three years in Chicago. Obviously Charles [Tillman] is there and Jared Allen, I’ve known Jared for a few years,” Urlacher told USA Today. “I’d like to see Peyton go and win the Super Bowl and then retire, because I’m such a huge Peyton Manning fan, but at the same time you don’t get many chances to get back to the Super Bowl and so Carolina, you know, you’d like to see them win as well.”
Way to split things down the middle, dude. Not surprisingly, Rivera and Tillman are bigger fans of Newton, and both praised the quarterback on Wednesday.
“I don’t think he wants to be known as an African-American quarterback; he wants to be known as a quarterback,” Rivera said. “I think that is what drives him, to be able to transcend those boundaries, which I think is great.”
Tillman added: “[Newton] is setting a precedent as far as for how quarterbacks are now — and how they may become. He’s in a league of his own. He has created his own category for winning.”
Urlacher probably wouldn’t mind seeing Newton winning, as long as the quarterback does it with less celebrating. However, Newton has stated that he doesn’t plan to change anything he does, leaving it to current NFL defenders to keep him out of the end zone, if they don’t want to see what happens next.
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