A feature article in the Dec.
22, 2013 Washington Post about Cam
Newton, the quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, offers some lessons about
perseverance and overcoming adversity.
The article notes that after a
remarkable collegiate career and record-breaking rookie season in 2011, Newton
had a disappointing season last year, when the Panthers went 7-9 and his
performance regressed. During the
offseason Newton changed his approach to focus on improving his fundamentals
and adapting to changing defensive schemes.
This year the Panthers are currently in first place in the NFC South
division with an 11-4 record.
The intent of the article is to
show that Newton’s off-season self-examination and willingness to change could
be a template for Washington’s beleaguered quarterback, Robert Griffin
III. Indeed, all of us should strive to look
objectively in the mirror, take stock of where we are and make the necessary
changes to get us to where we want to be.
There are a number of facts that
are not mentioned in the story that also offer some lessons. After a notable high-school career, Cam went to the University of Florida, but was suspended
for stealing a fellow student’s laptop computer. He left Florida to play for Blinn College, a
junior college in Texas.
Cam Newton’s father, Cecil, who
has been a large influence on his son, was found by the NCAA of illegally soliciting Mississippi State up to $180,000 in
exchange for Cam Newton's athletic service while Cam was at Blinn College,
where Cam helped the team win a junior college national title. According
to a 2010 New York Times article, the
elder Newton serves as bishop overseeing five small Pentecostal churches in
Georgia and is pastor of Holy Zion Center of Deliverance in Newnan, Georgia.
Cam
ultimately played for Auburn, but not before the investigation into Cecil
Newton’s activities created uncertainty about Cam’s eligibility to play in the
NCAA. The NCAA eventually determined
that there was insufficient evidence that Cecil had solicited money from other
schools and ruled that Cam was eligible to play---just in time for Auburn’s
2010 SEC championship game against South Carolina.
In
his final collegiate year at Auburn, Newton won the BCS championship and
the Heisman trophy as the nation’s best collegiate football player. The Carolina Panthers then made him the first
overall selection in the NFL’s 2011 draft.
He is only the third player ever to win the national championship, the
Heisman and be the first pick in the same year.
Yet those accomplishments have
always been accompanied by the baggage of Cecil Newton’s attempt to illegally
enrich himself by exploiting his son’s football talent. I’m not going to delve into the travesty of
“amateur” big-time collegiate sports, which is a topic unto itself.
The point I want to make is,
Cecil Newton’s decision to try to sell his son’s services in violation of the
NCAA’s rules has tarnished his reputation and become indelibly linked to
Cam. And while Cam’s getting thrown out
of Florida for theft has probably been forgotten by most people and can be
chalked up to mere college foolishness, nonetheless says something about Cam’s
character.
Our lives are a continuum of
actions that build a reputation portfolio.
We call that body of work our character.
We all need to build that portfolio with great care.
Copyright © 2013. All rights reserved.
Comments
Post a Comment