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The Whole Story Behind Cam Newton

The real story of Cam Newton

photo taken by Adrian Curiel

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Cam Newton’s relationship with the media continues its misunderstood narrative this week after the New England Patriots announced releasing the former MVP and their current quarterback. Many news outlets have painted Cam as a failure and washed-up quarterback, but Trevor Moawad, world-renown performance expert, reminds us that language is the carrier, and when you speak negative thoughts aloud, it can make those sentiments 10x more potent than simply thinking them.

Negative language has since diminished Cam’s value. The question then comes to mind is, do we have the right to paint Cam Newton as only a football player? He is still human, of course. Should the results of on-field play determine the final verse of one’s life story, let alone Newton’s in the NFL? These are all questions we believe to be of great significance this week. Newton is just one prime example, but many other athletes that have “dropped off in performance” have received similar dis-sentimental reactions.

Yes, it is the job and duty of many in the sports industry to evaluate player’s performances constantly. But is it their job to judge character based on performance? Cam Newton has always been more than a good player on the field. Cam is an outspoken community member and has used his platform as a professional football player to provide inspiration and hope. Cam’s passion for helping others and using his story as motivation should not be overlooked or dismissed for anything less than it is: honest, genuine, and inspirational.

Mentors like Trevor Moawad would encourage us to use Cam as an example when talking about performance-based language. This new way of thinking includes those in the media as well as friends and family that follow various sports leagues; by replacing negative phrases with positive ones, you can begin to see things differently – talk about Cam’s leadership qualities, what he looks like after his starting role in the NFL as of now we are all unsure of his return.

There is a difference between saying, “Cam Newton is completely overrated,” and saying, “Cam Newton as an NFL starting quarterback may not be of caliber anymore.” Our language, especially in media, changes the narrative of a story. Cam may not be the Cam we once knew and remembered, but he is still Cam, still human.

There will always be a way to talk about how you feel without using negative words or phrases addressing or targeting another person’s character. Labeling and focusing on Cam’s football talent and performance no matter what role he holds next in his career or life are unacceptable. And remember this for all athletes because it could easily be your story next.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. llmb

    September 5, 2021 at 4:16 pm

    Excellent narrative of always treating people with respect & humanity, no
    judgement & focus on more empathy.

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Daily News

The Freeman Era Difference

Verbal general or coaching revolutionary? Analyzing the approach of new Notre Dame Football Head Coach, Marcus Freeman.

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If you are a Notre Dame fan or just interested in reading our write-up on the recent coaching change out of South Bend, I promise we will get to that, but I want to start here.

I want to start with a story about Bill Buckner.

For those unacquainted, Bill Buckner let a ground ball go through his legs in the 1986 Worlds Series for our younger audience.

After the error, the Mets would defeat the Red Sox, Buckner’s team, and claim the title in game 7.

Buckner would be the most excellent scapegoat in sports of the 20th century.

However, disturbingly enough, Buckner, two weeks before the series with the Mets in an interview with Don Shane from WBZ-TV, said, “The dreams are that you’re going to have a great series and win. The nightmares are that you are going to let the winning run score on a ground ball through your legs.”

To squash all assumptions, no, this story is not about manifestation.

It’s about mentality.

Marcus Freeman, a week ago, took over as the head football coach for Notre Dame.

In his opening statement to the media upon accepting this most prestigious position, Freeman did anything but what the media has seen over the years.

Instead of promising championship runs and accomplishing unimaginable feats, Freeman, in his opening remarks, made clear that his primary concern was to ensure that everyone knew that the primary driver of success for Notre Dame Football would be the players.

“Being the leader of this program is about understanding that to be successful on this journey, it’s going to take others, and we’re going to have to do this as a team.”

Freeman, above all, has maintained the view that at the heart of Notre Dame football is a set of values reflective of the university’s education and institution.

When we generally look at the broader population of collegiate athletes, the identity of the players, fans, coaches, and community is that they came here to play sports.

But Freeman has reminded his players and the nation that athletes, despite previous identities, do not come to Notre Dame to play football.

They don’t even come to contribute to change.

They come to be changed by Notre Dame.

Freeman has taken the typical achievement-based reward system within sports that convince athletes that they’ll only receive love, acceptance, and notoriety from on-field success and now challenges the men in his program to see themselves as a part of something much bigger than football.

Yes, football is important. And Freeman doesn’t take that for granted.

But as the “players coach,” he reminds his team and us all that football is just something they do.

The overall manner in which his team handles themselves academically, socially, and spiritually is what he seems to demand the high standards of most.

Wins and national championships will be the byproduct of developing mentally consistent and strong players.

Although Marcus Freeman could be some verbal general or someone who knows how to say all the right things, Freeman seems to truly understand the depth of an athlete’s mind beyond most.

So back to Buckner for a moment.

Buckner’s nightmare comments made shortly before making one of the most unforgettable errors in baseball history raise the question that making that error was not one of his worst nightmares. Would the outcome be different that night?

None of us can answer that.

However, I believe athletes’ identities mustn’t be contingent upon the results of a game.

As Marcus Freeman makes his debut shortly in the Fiesta Bowl, could Notre Dame’s new leader bring the Irish their national championship with the approach to developing high-level people before athletes?

In the spirit of sport romanticism, boy, I hope so.

You can catch Marcus Freeman’s debut on January 1, 2022, as Oklahoma State takes on Notre Dame on ESPN.

We wish you all a very happy and blessed holiday season!

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Athlete Reflections

Addressing the Future of Baseball in 2021

QnA with 50 Year MLB Coach and Scouting Veteran, Jerry Weinstein.

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Image credited to Weinstein Baseball

 

This week I caught up with Jerry Weinstein, a long-time baseball buff, to say the very least. Jerry began his coaching career back in 1966 as a freshman coach at UCLA, and today, after an unprecedented coaching run that found him atop leading Team Israel in the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifiers, he now finds himself a part of The Colorado Rockies Player Development System as a Scouting Special Assistant.

With fifty-plus years of experience in the game of baseball at the highest level, I thank Jerry for answering our audience’s question amidst a time of significant adjustment for the game of baseball. Upon receiving this great opportunity, I wanted to hear from our audience and have their questions answered by Jerry. Dictated by your questions, this was the extent of our conversation:

What behavioral issues do you run into with players at the professional level, and what can we do as coaches when we have these players younger to foster better habits or character?

“We have fewer behavioral issues at the pro level because there is so much internal competition & there are really no fallback options. The organization has the leverage. With that being said, it’s all about choices & owning those choices realizing that there are consequences for poor choices. Transfer of blame is not an option. The key is establishing standards of behavior & consistently holding the athletes to those standards.”

What are we doing now in the industry that is hurting participation and the retention of good athletes in the game of baseball? As we witness, athletes to the likes of Kyler Murray choose not to pursue baseball professionally.

“Retention-Make it fun. Connect with the players as people & not just players. Be positive. Know what you are doing. Allow for individual differences. Be organized & have enough help to keep players moving in small groups. Short-tempo practices & games. Make it competitive. Player-centric environment. It’s more about them than the scoreboard. It’s a collaborative effort between players, coaches & parents.”

What are your thoughts on the game of baseball missing out on talented players with the shortened draft and college rosters overflowing? With 1,525 draft selections in 2010 and only 160 in 2020…

Professional baseball does not miss very often. Maybe they don’t get slotted the way they end up, but good players do not go unseen. If they are playing somewhere, they will be seen. It may be in an Indy League where many late bloomers & players from lower-profile programs thrive. If they have tools or are playing up to professional standards, they will be seen. The problem lies in the fact that we are losing a lot of the better athletes to other sports. We need to do a better job of attracting those athletes & retaining them. MLB is making a real effort in that area in the inner cities with its RBI program. I’m concerned that the current Travel Team movement has priced a lot of the economically challenged families out.

 

I want to once again thank Jerry for his priceless insight and wisdom. His generosity in answering these questions I know will go a long way for our audience memebers. The game of baseball, perhaps having always faced unprecedented times, now faces reconstruction and rebranding efforts post pandemic. With the universal designated hitter (DH) now active in both the American and Nation League, the game of baseball now looks to another evolution in rules for greater growth amongst fan bases and most imporantly, youth. Baseball’s ability to keep promising athletes in the sport will set the horizon the future of baseball is destined for.

 

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Baseball

The San Francisco Giants 107 Win Season Should Be Remembered for More Than Painful Ending

Recapping the Incredible Run of the 2021 San Francisco Giants

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Image by: Robson Hatsukami Morgan

The San Francisco Giants season came to an end in game 5 of the NLDS against the Los Angeles Dodgers this past week.

The game ended in San Francisco with the Giants down just one run on a check swing appealed and called a strike against the hot bat of Wilmer Flores. It is by no means a surprise that much of sports media has run with the Giants’ season-ending call.

Some even rank the Giants among the top teams in MLB history to have the most painful season-ending loss. But the fact of the matter is the ’21 Giants might have pulled off one of the most impressive seasons in MLB History.

From the resurrection of Buster Posey to the resurgence of past greats like Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, Gabe Kapler’s squad should be beyond proud of their efforts. Kapler not only led his team to 107 wins after the team had finished with losing records for the last four years but utilized vital players off the bench like Donovan Solana and Austin Slater to plot many late-inning comebacks.

The ’21 Giants also saw the birth of unlikely heroes unforeseen going in Spring Training like Kris Bryant, who was picked up at the trade deadline, and LaMonte Wade Jr., whose late-inning heroics all year, earned him the title “Late Night Lamonte.”

Overall, to let the Giant’s season go to waste or be manipulated to provoke fan and public reaction because of one “highly disputed” call would be an act of great injustice. The fact also remains that no one game comes down to any single call; the Giants had missed out on multiple scoring opportunities before the 2-1 deficit.

And at the end of the day, the Dodgers had just played better baseball that evening; Gabe Kapler said after the game, “I have no regrets, congratulations to that very talented squad on the other side.” We hope to acknowledge the magic the San Francisco Giants created this season for the fans and world of baseball and remind people never to be swayed by the narratives of “BLOWN CALL RUINS SEASON” columns and tabloids. Congratulations to the 2021 San Francisco Giants!

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