Why Is Cam Newton the Most Hated Rookie in America?

Cam Newton isn’t going to just fail, he’s going to redefine failing as the worst NFL bust of all time.

That's the type of venom that Cam Newton’s many critics have been spewing since the star Heisman winner was selected No. 1 overall on draft night.

The animosity really picked up steam before the NFL combine in February when Newton was quoted as saying he is both an icon and an entertainer.

And you, of course, know what happened next.

Media runaway train.

It’s not as if Newton exactly had the most pristine reputation before the comments, so to say something so brash and taboo certainly wasn’t going to endear him to his many skeptics.

Everyone hopped on the "Newton has a huge ego, he’s going to destroy a locker room" story angle and before you knew it, we were forced to deal with a daily barrage of criticisms from all angles in the weeks leading up to the draft.

I’ll just ask this, though: Was what Newton said really so bad?

Is the quarterback’s self image really all that mind-melting?

Newton is an elite athlete who shares the thinking of other elite athletes.

Tiger Woods, LeBron James and Peyton Manning, all icons and entertainers, all have been since a young age.

Tiger was an entertainer as a young prodigy, dazzling onlookers with his tremendous natural gifts. 

LeBron was an icon and the face of the era of young high schoolers making the jump straight to the NBA.

Peyton was both when he was adored and celebrated at Tennessee.

Now, to be fair, none of them came out and publicly said, "Hey I’m an icon, I’m going to be huge." Deep down inside, however, they were probably thinking similar thoughts to Newton.

If you want to keep living in the fantasy world where great athletes don’t have ego problems, then have fun.

Coming out of high school, LeBron James was sending the same sorts of messages.

LeBron was an entertainer and icon in high school, Cam Newton was an entertainer and icon in college football.

No matter how snooty and uppity some NFL fans may be, they have to realize that the NFL is not the only place where a player can entertain fans.

Newton was the biggest entertainer and icon on his level last year.

He was the icon and the face of college football in 2010.

Do you want to know the main reason why Cam Newton is already an icon?

Because you’ve been talking about him nonstop for the last eight months.

An icon is someone that grabs a great amount of attention, and there hasn’t been a young football player besides Tim Tebow who has caused this much of a stir in such a short amount of time.

The Newton drama has almost been like a continuously running sports reality show.

Lawyers, fans, parents, Alabama stadium sound coordinators—everybody's getting in on the fun.

If American Idol winners can be considered icons, Cam Newton can be, too.

I realize Newton has proven absolutely nothing in the NFL. But let’s be honest, were you even going to pay a second thought to the Carolina Panthers with Jimmy Clausen at the helm in 2011?

Absolutely not?

Perfectly understandable. But if Newton’s in, it’s a different story.

The ratings and the interest will spike.

Newton is the most polarizing rookie of this class, no doubt.

If he flourishes and reaches his potential, we will have no problem declaring him an entertainer and an icon. But it will be only then when we realize that Newton’s been both all along.

On draft night, I made the comment that Cam Newton would either be transcendent or terrible.

It will be interesting to see which way the journey veers but one thing’s for sure, people will be watching.

They’ve been watching, they’re going to keep watching and who knows, maybe one day, Newton will entertain them enough that they won’t have to pick apart his every word and comment any longer.

The fact is that Cam Newton is an entertainer, dare I say it, even an icon of sorts.

It didn’t need to be said, but just because it was, doesn’t make it any less true.