By Barry Wilner / The Associated Press
SAN JOSE, California—Cam Newton wants any discussion of black quarterbacks in a Super Bowl put away.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback on Tuesday emphatically tried to lay to rest any relevance of an African-American quarterback appearing in the National Football League’s (NFL) championship game.
During a series of questions by a media member that bordered on confrontational, Newton finally said to the reporter: “It’s not an issue. It’s an issue for you.”
Carolina’s All-Pro quarterback, seemingly tired of the topic, added: “We shattered that a long time ago.”
This was the third time Newton had to deal with the subject since the Panthers made the Super Bowl. He didn’t need to point out that several other black quarterbacks have led their teams to the big game: Doug Williams, Steve McNair, Donovan McNabb, Colin Kaepernick and Seattle’s Russell Wilson the past two years.
“I don’t even want to touch on the topic of ‘black quarterback’ because this game is bigger than black, white or even green,” the fifth-year Panther said. “We limit ourselves when we just label ourselves just black this, that…. I want to bring awareness because of that, but yeah, I don’t think I should be labeled just a black quarterback. It’s bigger things in this sport that need to be accomplished.”
Speaking at a media session ahead of this weekend’s NFL decider, Newton said race was relevant only in his ambition to be role model for children.
“When I go places and I talk to kids and I talk to parents and I talk to athletes all over, they look at my story and they see a person—African-American or not—they see something that they can relate to. They see a guy who went a different route than just going to a major Division I school and flourishing there.
“But I just want to become relatable, you know what I’m saying? It’s bigger than race. It’s more so of opening up a door for guys that don’t want to be labeled, that have bigger views and say: ‘Well, I’m in this situation, I’m living in this environment right now, but I also want to be an artist, I want to be a poet. But I don’t have the means, you know, to necessarily do the right things at that point.’
“As for me, I just want to give those people hope.”
Lady Gaga, meanwhile, is set to sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The NFL told the Associated Press on Tuesday that Gaga will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the Carolina Panthers will take on the Denver Broncos.
Academy Award winning actress Marlee Matlin will perform in American Sign Language during the national anthem.
Super Bowl 50 will air on CBS, and halftime show performers include Coldplay and Beyonce.
Gaga’s upcoming performance during the Super Bowl is another notch in her belt: She won a Golden Globe for her role in American Horror Story: Hotel last month and she’s nominated for best original song at the Academy Awards on February 28 with “Til It Happens to You,” the song she wrote with Diane Warren for the sexual assault documentary, The Hunting Ground. The song is also nominated for a Grammy at the February 15 awards show, where Gaga will pay tribute to David Bowie with a performance.
Last year Gaga wowed audiences at the Oscars when she paid tribute to “The Sound of Music” with a show-stopping performance. She won her sixth Grammy for her collaborative jazz album with Tony Bennett, and she was named woman of the year by Billboard.
Tony-winning actress and “Let It Go” singer Idina Menzel sang the national anthem at last year’s Super Bowl.
Image credits: AP