Long drive today. Ended up listening to Jabooby and Jalen or some shit on ESPN radio. Was going to pass it by, but I heard them starting to talk about Cam. I found what they said to be pretty interesting.
They don't know how good he could end up being, but they know that he's changing the rules. That he's on the verge of putting his face on the Mount Rushmore of black quarterbacks and could eventually be on the Mount Rushmore of all quarterbacks. Nothing like him has ever been seen, they said.
He's got the flash and elan of a Deion Sanders. And is just as good.
He's got the style and flair of a Joe Namath. And tons more physical skill.
He's got the charisma and quotability of Terry Bradshaw. And more physical skill.
He's got the escapability of Randall Cunningham, but is a true quarterback.
There's never been anybody in the NFL with his physical makeup. The closest person they could come up with in terms of body style was Lebron James.
They think he's going to do things no player in NFL history has ever done because he's got the best parts of all these greats in history. They said he is one of the few from the league who could truly cross over into movies when his career is done....
And he's ours.
Glad he's getting the recognition for all the shit we were all saying during the 2010 season. For some reason, the league narrative on him has shifted. Maybe with the Hardy/Rice/Peterson violence issues, they simply need a non-violent, philanthropic face of the league.
He's got to stay healthy. I like that Cam doesn't run nearly as much as he could. But he still takes some hits and he dishes them out well, but even the toughest, strongest running backs in the league get banged up.
But if the Panthers can get healthy and get a few receivers, I think Cam could replicate the kind of success he had in 2010.
Imagine if he hadn't taken more hits than any QB during his time in the league. Imagine if his primary receiving target was someone other than an aging, dwarvish WR (sidenote: I love Smith's game and fire, but he's not a WR1). Imagine if his OC wasn't Mike Fucking Shula.
He could have been the league star much earlier. In the right situation, he might have been the first rookie QB to ever win a SuperBowl.
He's overcoming all the of the institutional deficiencies of the Panthers organization to drag them to a championship.
He is fucking Superman.