Cam Newton Sports Horrendous Cleats Prior to Kickoff Against Giants

Though Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is a superstar and one of the most scintillating talents in the league, no one ever accused him of having an acute fashion sense.

That questionable taste will be on display Thursday night when Newton takes the field against the New York Giants.

UPDATE: Thursday, Sept. 20 at 8:30 p.m. ET

It looks like Newton's foray into the world of fashion statements was only for the pregame phase of Thursday night.

According to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer, Newton has changed his shoes to a more conservative look before kickoff. 

"

Cam has changed his shoes so all is well with the league. And my uni watch is over.

— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) September 21, 2012"

For all of our sakes, let's hope the Panthers quarterback keeps it that way going forward.

---End of Update---

In a picture sent out on the Panthers' official Twitter feed, the team gave a preview of its second-year quarterback taking snaps before the Thursday Night Football telecast on NFL Network.

On first glance, you might think the noteworthy thing about this photo is seemingly a jet pack strapped to Newton's back. Unfortunately, it isn't one, and a glimpse down at the signal-caller's feet provides an unwanted preview of Newton's atrocious cleats for the evening. 

Bright yellow with Carolina blue, those cleats look when a player and shoe company mixes up the words "swag" and "hideous." For lack of a better analogy, it looks like Under Armor went through Nike's reject pile for the University of Oregon during the design phase. 

Nonetheless, the shoes aren't that far away from being stylish. A color combo of Panthers gray and the blue could have worked. It just so happens that the yellow provides such a style contrast to the rest of Newton's uniform that your eyes stay fixated downward. 

Perhaps, with a matchup against the vaunted Giants pass rush on tap, that was the plan. Concoct a cleat so glaringly ugly that the New York linemen become distracted pre-snap to the point they cannot create pressure. 

If so? Mission accomplished. However, if these cleats are a sign of things to come from the young star, I think it's time to hire Newton a new stylist. 

Follow @tylerconway22