Law Waddill (left) and Nathan Guptill, who are 10-year-old cousins, plan to share the football Cam Newton handed to Law after Newton scored a 16-yard rushing touchdown against Washington Sunday (Photo courtesy of James Guptill)
My column today was about the football Cam Newton handed into the stands to a 10-year-old kid Sunday during the Panthers-Washington game.
It turns out that the ball is going to be shared between two 10-year-old cousins -- Law Waddill of Raleigh and Nathan Guptill of Charlotte. Four weeks at one house, four at the next. Cam actually handed the ball to Law, but he would never have been at the game except for Nathan and his dad, plus he's a good sharer anyway. I talked to both kids Monday and was impressed at how they handled the situation.
In the meantime, did you notice Sunday when Washington's London Fletcher knocked Newton out of bounds just short of the goal line and then mockingly did Newton's "Superman" rip-off-the-shirt thing -- twice?! That drew a huge roar from the nearby Redskins fans. It won't be the last time Newton's move is mocked, since it's so recognizable (in a way, it's Newton's version of LeBron's pregame chalk toss).
As I wrote in today's column, I hope the ultimate result of Newton's hand-the-football-to-the-kid gesture (which he was coaxed into doing by quarterbacks coach Mike Shula) is that more of that stuff happens at Bank of America Stadium. I know DeAngelo Williams, Steve Smith, Mark Carrier and others have all done similar things after scoring in past years, and I'm sure there are others I am forgetting, but I'd like to see more of it to cement the player-fan bond.
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11 comments:
Cowboy fan says:
Now every player in the NFL will be handing out footballs to kids at games to look good. Nice PR gimmick. Newton should go back and sign it. No good without a sig.
Wilson makes & sells these NFL game footballs for 110.00.
Unitas signature ball worth 1300. on Ebay.
http://www.amazon.com/Johnny-Unitas-Signed-Official-Football/dp/B0043Y78P4
it was a nice moment, maybe he signs it for them sometime.
he'll win a lot of fans by
1. winning
2. being a great person and nice to kids and fans.
What a bum. Great example for millions of kids? Maybe he needs to explain himself? Stop the illicit media from using kids to rehab scammers.
Come clean & tell kids "do not do like me ... study hard in school dont lie dont cheat dont steal make good grades dont take money illegally... be honest ..
come on scott, you removed my joke.
i liked what Cam did, i was right there soaking it up.
wow..... surprised at some of the negative comments here, but I suppose I shouldn't be. I hated the "S"elebration dance myself at first until I realized a simple truth: Cam Newton IS Superman. The fact that he lets us know it when he scores is simply a demonstration of his knowledge of the fact and his willingness to sacrifice himself to make the gesture mean something (something he has proven many times when he refuses to slide).
So the detractors can say what they like.... show me another rookie qb who has done what Cam has.... actually never mind; you can't since he now owns most of the relevant rookie records.
What has Newton "done," 5:58? He won't be getting his team to the playoffs like Roethlisberger and Ryan and Sanchez did. He won't be setting any kind of QB rating record as a result of his inefficiency and inaccuracy. You're impressed because he puts up a lot of yardage on a lot of throws for a losing team? Sorry, but I'm not.
There aren't nothing better to get your ball signed for all those player that you consider your favorite.
At least they are quite honest and they want to share the ball that it will be something that it will cost a lot of money on ebay.
A minimum of they may be quite truthful and they also desire to share the particular ball that it will end up being a thing that you will be charged a lot of money in craigs list.
I know one of the boys and a couple of weeks after they got the ball they got to go and get it signed by Cam.
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