The great hate debate has got to stop

It has got to be the most pointless debate in NFL history. And yet here we are.

A few days out from Super Bowl 50, one of the main story-lines has been about dancing. Not just any kind of dancing, but that most disrespectful of all dance moves – ‘dabbing’.

Yep, it starts with the dabbing and before you know it there is all kinds of showboating, bravado, cockiness, pictures being taken, players doing something they love and enjoying themselves.

Players having fun? I mean, it’s just shameful.

What has the league come too? As I sit down to write this I can’t help but think of old Abe Simpson, cursing out Joe Willy Namath.

“Look at them sideburns!,” a younger Abe remarks in a flashback.

“He looks like a girl. “Now, Johnny Unitas, there’s a haircut you can set your watch to.”

Abe felt comfortable with Unitas. Namath was unfamiliar and weird. A sign of things to come.

Cam Newton is this generation’s Namath. And Peyton Manning makes a perfect modern day Unitas.

So, as the Panthers undefeated run continued during the season you can just imagine the Abe Simpsons of the world sitting on their couches of a Sunday. They saw the dance moves, the hip thrusts, the taunting, the arrogance and they didn’t like it.

The Cam Newton ‘debate’ bubbled along during the season, aided by the media. But it has reached its climax in the build-up to Super Bowl 50.

I put debate in quotation marks because I’m not sure there really is a debate. Fellow athletes, including current and former NFL players, keep coming out in defence of Newton. But I’m not quite sure who they are defending him from.

A mother in Tennessee who wrote a letter to Newton and the Charlotte Observer complaining about the quarterback’s conduct during a game?

She got a response and was placated. Even then it’s only one person. You can’t please everyone. The media has certainly perpetuated this story.

I wonder why. Is it a race thing? A cultural thing? Tall poppy syndrome?

As others have pointed out, Newton is not the first to celebrate a touchdown. There is a great meme that sums it up.

On one side it has a picture of Newton in mid-celebration, with the words: “When Cam Newton celebrates he gets a letter that goes viral from a mother of a nine-year-old scolding him for his “excessive behaviour”.

And on the other side is a picture of Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers celebrating with the words: “When Aaron Rodgers celebrates he gets a commercial endorsement deal”.

They are, of course, referring to Rodgers discount double check move and his State Farm deal.

It’s a good point. The subtext being that Cam Newton is black and Aaron Rodgers is white.

So what is people’s problems with Cam? And who are they? Do they really exist?

For those of you who don’t like him, then I think Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young put it best: “If you don’t like [Cam], it’s not about him, it’s about you”.

It’s on you, bro. Go and take a long, hard look at yourself.

Just an aside to this whole discussion, I’m sick of ESPN and other media talking about dabbing. That’s not just to say I’m sick of the debate about whether it’s disrespectful.

I’ve outlined my feelings about that. I mean, I’m sick of them actually using the words dabbing and other trendy 17-year-old person terms. You are supposed to be a respected news service, ESPN, stop acting like the worst undercover cop ever.

“That Steph Curry had his three-point game on fleek,” ESPN [probably] tweeted.

“JJ Watt throwing shade at a nine-year-old kid,” they [probably] wrote on Facebook.

“Preach. LeBron james has no chill,” ESPN [probably] again.

“When your whole squad looking good,” ESPN, again [probably], captioned a picture of any NBA team getting of the team bus.

It is ridiculous. Please stop ESPN.

It’s actually part of a broader problem in sports news, that is trending further and further towards entertainment. Steph and LeBron are the Kim and Kanye of the sports world.

Every move they make is news. It’s awful. Go back to writing actual news, features and analysis.

Preach.