Madden Cover 13 Vote Proves Cam Newton Is a Marketable Monster

Cam Newton isn't next, he's now. 

No place is this more evident than in the Madden cover fan voting numbers for the Carolina Panthers' young star. 

According to John Robinson of ESPN:

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Looks like the "Madden NFL 13" cover vote could be Cam Newton's to lose.

That's because with only a week left in the teammate versus teammate play-in round, Newton has already received more votes than any other player in the competition.

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Newton had a promising, and visually spectacular, rookie season after being taken No. 1 overall by the Panthers. In this day and age, Madden gamers represent a healthy percentage of young football fans. 

Young is certainly a relative term, as every one of us knows, or is, a 30- or 40-something who still plays the game. For Newton to dominate the voting as he has so far proves how large he's become in just one year.

Madden isn't the only place Newton is flexing his marketable muscle. My son came and told me about these "new Cam Newton cleats" as he called them.

They are pictured here:

Turns out they aren't all that new, but for some reason, they had just come to our attention. They are Under Armour brand and Newton is now a spokesman for the sports apparel giant.

The shoes are ugly-cool.

Definition: they look like he kicked an alien, and mutant blood or slime stained the toe of the shoe. But they are so different, and Cam is so charismatic, it kind of makes them cool.

The commercial that originally got our attention is below:

Cam was an exciting player to play with in Madden NFL 12. His speed and arm strength could keep you in a game. Because of the prowess of his video-game likeness, the Panthers could pull the occasional upset when playing the game online.

That can't hurt his popularity amongst gamers.

Besides that, Newton shows his natural gift as a pitch guy in this ad. The magnetic smile and on-camera presence is evident. It remains to be seen if he'll be able to evoke the likable and funny shtick Peyton Manning was able to capitalize on, but he's off to a good start.

With the Madden cover almost in hand and Under Armour under his belt, other products are sure to follow.

Once Newton begins to endorse non-athlete-related products, he will have turned the corner completely. At that point, he's so recognizable companies will be trusting his popularity will sell to non-football fans as well as attracting football fans to non-football-related products.

Not bad for a guy critics said would be a bust.

Still, he has work to do. 

If he follows up his 4051-yard, 21-TD rookie year by increasing TD passes and decreasing his 17 INT, the popularity will grow. And we will be looking at the marketing face of the NFL for the next five to seven years.