Cam Newton scored a touchdown this past Sunday against the Tennessee Titans and did an end-zone dance, which drew a dumb letter from a mother in attendance who was outraged that her nine-year-old daughter had to see this:
Or...wait, sorry. Wrong video. Though it would've made more sense, nobody got mad about that. What I meant was that her daughter had to see this:
That mother, Rosemary Plorin, fired off an open letter to The Charlotte Observer, which in-turn sparked a bunch of identical online think pieces. Needless to say her not so well thought out words went viral. A couple excerpts included:
None
Because of where we sat, we had a close up view of your conduct in the fourth quarter. The chest puffs. The pelvic thrusts. The arrogant struts and the ‘in your face’ taunting of both the Titans’ players and fans. We saw it all.
Those words, originally intended for the Charlotte-area, went national, which was bad for Plorin, but at least the intended target actually saw it. Asked about what he thought about the controversy (if that's what you want to call it) Newton gave a very easygoing response, and even offered up an apology...for whatever reason, saying:
"Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. You can’t fault her for that. It is what it is. If she feels offended, I’ll apologize to her, but at the end of the day, I am who I am. I’m not doing it to be disrespectful to nobody, more so just doing it just to shine light and get people a smile and having fun doing what I do."
After viewing Newton's answer, Plorin has re-thought her position on the Panthers' quarterback. She sent out an email to a reporter who asked for her response to...Cam's response:
“I watched the video of Cam Newton responding to media questions about my letter to him earlier this week. I really appreciate his comments and his respect for my thoughts, and I was impressed with the sensitivity and graciousness with which he spoke. I am sorry I didn’t understand him better until this week. It is clear from his remarks that he recognizes his leadership role, both on and off the field, and that he truly cares about the kids watching him. I respect his comments just as much as he did mine, and I wish him nothing but continued success on the field and in life.”
Anyway, now that that's gone full circle, let this whole stupid saga serve as a warning for the next time you feel like firing off an open letter over an end-zone dance.
As much as you want to, and as important of a subject as it is, it's just not worth it.
[via News Observer]
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