Carolina Panthers: Interesting Twist in the Cam Newton Tattoo Controversy

Perhaps the biggest piece of "News that shouldn't be news" this offseason concerned Cam Newton's body. No, we're not talking about the strength of his throwing arm or his mobility or any other physical characteristics that actually affect the Carolina Panthers' chances of success in 2011.

We're talking about tattoos. Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson reportedly commented to Newton that he wanted the team's franchise quarterback to remain tattoo and earring free.

One can only imagine that a clever Allen Iverson dub will soon hit Youtube: We talking about tats. Not the game, not my performance, not the fact that going 2-14 is way more embarrassing than a little body ink. We're talking about tats. Richardson also told Newton that he had a "nice" haircut, presumably causing seductive music to fill the air, but we won't go there. 

This request, as odd as it might be in a league filled with tatted-up players, attracted a disproportionate amount of media coverage. Debate soon spiraled from "Isn't this a weird request?"(Answer: Yes) to employer/employee rights, civil liberties and Constitutional rights.

Evidently, the founding fathers apparently had a vested interest in whether or not multi-millionaire young adults should be allowed to put ink on their body in between filming for their latest television commercial and trash talking opponents. Man, those guys thought of everything!

But just when you thought the story had finally died, an interesting twist emerged. One of the highly-debated aspects of this discussion is whether or not it was critical for Jerry Richardson to ask Newton not to get tattoos after acquiring tight end Jeremy Shockey—one of the most tatted-up players in the league. Isn't that hypocritical?  

Well, hypocritical or not, no one can deny that Shockey's massive, tattooed arms came in handy today when his fellow tight end, the tattoo-less Ben Hartsock, started choking on a piece of tenderloin. After a fellow teammate unsuccessfully attempted the Heimlich Maneuver, the scary situation escalated until Hartsock could no longer breathe.

That's when one of Shockey's tattooed arms gave Hartsock's back a firm whack, dispelling the meat. One has to wonder if this will forever alter the outlook of Panthers' owner Jerry Richardson, teaching him a valuable lesson that we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, and rather accept all people, regardless of their race, religion, creed, tattoos, ear piercings, tribal affiliations or mating calls.

But most likely, this incident, like this article, will be just another pointless story that we blow out of proportion to fill the time until the actual season starts.