Is Cam Newton ready to be a captain? That's questionable. His demeanor has fluctuated a lot in his first two years, as we all know. I'd like to see him put together a solid year of team-first, no-pouting play. But he wants to be a captain. He's trying with some success to be a more positive, accountable player. Here's Joe Person's thoughtful story on the issue. And in fact, the Panthers actually wouldn't have to push someone else aside for Newton to assume that role.
According to the NFL, 23 teams elected season-long captains each year and nine changed it up on a week-to-week basis. The Panthers were one of the 23, with season-long captains Jordan Gross and Steve Smith on offense, Jon Beason and Thomas Davis on defense and Jordan Senn on special teams. Charles Johnson then was appointed a "substitute" captain after Beason went down with a season-ending injury.
But the NFL actually allows six season-long captains, not five. A number of teams take advantage of that and use all six slots, including New England, Denver, Kansas City, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Arizona.
Some teams add another special teams captain to have two on each of the three units. Others have three offensive captains or three defensive captains. The Panthers' captains are decided by a team vote in late August or early September, once the final roster is set.
Gross and Smith are shoo-ins for captaincy in 2013 -- their respect level is just too high for either to be replaced. Same thing with Beason and Davis. Among other logical candidates for captaincy this year would be Ryan Kalil, Greg Olsen, DeAngelo Williams, Luke Kuechly, Charles Godfrey and Johnson (as a permanent addition, not a substitute). So it's a crowded field, but of the 23 teams that declared permanent captains last year, 18 of them included their starting quarterback in that role. That group included such relative youngsters as Blaine Gabbert, Jake Locker and Sam Bradford.
When will Newton be ready for such a role?
"I don’t know," Gross said. "When the team’s ready I guess."
And that's absolutely correct. The coaching staff wants Newton to lead, but it should never mess with the results of a captaincy vote. Newton has to show his teammates, day in and day out, that he is a leader, and then the "C" on his jersey will come naturally. I'd guess it won't happen this year, but likely will by 2014.
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9 years ago
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5 comments:
Fowler swings and misses yet again. How many poorly written and thought out articles in a row can Scott write?
So Beason is a shoe in? Beason is not respected like he once was. Especially bei g selfish this off season.
Before the haters have a chance to freak out and express their Cam loathing lets try to be clear about one thing. He wants to earn a C. He didn't say he already has. You want this attitude from him. He has the talent and charisma to be a leader if he applies himself. I hope he gets it. We all should hope he gets it.
I agree. You must look at the entire body of work (especially the intangibles) before you really know for sure that you have a leader that you'd like to represent for the TEAM. Cam may have the physical qualities, but he has a LONG way to go as far as the intangibles that (I feel) are more important. Cam still puts himself first, is a sub-average leader on & off the field, and obviously has not earned the respect of his teammates to be worthy of the "captainship" position. Cam, you're in the NFL now -- things work a little different because you have to work hard to EARN anything you want. Good luck.
Unlike Andrew Luck...
...Cam is not ready.
The Panthers don't just give it away. I think all you have to do is go back to the last game last year to see Cam taking a leadership role. Apparently he also gave the last locker room speech of the year and no one was ignoring him. He may not get the C this year but that isn't going to mean he isn't leading it's just hard to get past Smitty and Gross. Probably won't happen until one of them step away.
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