Cam Newton is not nearly as disliked as he says, but he appreciates you believing him

Cam Newton is playing everyone in this room for a fool, and the most impressive part is, he appears to be the only one aware of it. Quite the feat, really, right up there with his evolution into one of the greatest offensive forces in the sport’s history.

He is a thoroughly likable young man who has convinced us to portray him as hated. He is a Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion in college, the No. 1 pick in the draft and one of the league’s most popular players — No. 2-selling jersey, behind only Tom Brady — but has manipulated the media to mostly present him as the underdog.

He receives, in other words, as much love as any professional athlete or celebrity in America today, yet is rarely if ever called on it when he references criticism.

“I’m pretty sure a lot of people know about the criticism I’ve received since day one,” Newton is saying.

In so many ways, the conversation around the 50th Super Bowl has become about Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning making his way to the end and Newton — the Panthers quarterback, responsible for 50 touchdowns during the regular season and playoffs — ripping the door down as the next face of the NFL.

Newton is as ubiquitous as any American athlete, and yet even without being particularly active on social media or using other ways to work around the mainstream media, he has been able to create this character of the attacked hero — a role he is entirely comfortable playing and must know only makes him more popular with the people he’s trying to reach.

The public references of Newton’s critics outweigh his public criticism in an overwhelming way, and this would undoubtedly be easier to see if sports entertainment was less of a constructed reality TV show.

It’s either that or a tone-deaf, stubborn obliviousness from fans and reporters introduced to Newton five years ago during his meteoric season at Auburn in which a wider audience learned of a stolen computer that got him kicked off the team at Florida and a recruitment that allegedly included his father asking for money.

When Newton said the thing about being “an entertainer and icon,” it was all many needed to write the narrative in ink. It was also the sort of annoying but harmless thing that is only taken as a fatal character flaw in the paranoid and overly conservative world of professional football.

When Newton became a celebrity, it was against this backdrop of past misdeeds. But that was so long ago — the year Auburn won the national championship, Manning was still with the Indianapolis Colts — that without Newton’s constant references to criticism the story would’ve been rewritten long ago into redemption.

Because today, Manning is calling Newton the face of the league for the next decade. Newton will almost certainly win the MVP. He is playing on a $103.8 million contract with the Panthers and will make $11 million more this year through endorsements. Only Manning does better. Criticized? He’s one of the most loved athletes in America.

“I don’t ever hear anything bad about Cam,” Broncos defensive back Chris Harris said. “Everybody loves Cam. I’ve always cheered him as one of the guys you want to see have success in the league.”

He is one of the league’s most charitable players, regularly spending free time with his foundation or with random acts of kindness and has not had any legal problems in his professional career. There’s a reason beyond his football talent that he is a spokesman for a hospital, fragrance line, yogurt company, video game and sports drink. He is wildly popular, and deservedly so, even as he constantly and sometimes subtly pushes the story of working against so much criticism.

The way such a big deal was made from a patently ridiculous letter to the editor of the Charlotte Observer is the best example of all. (A woman complained that Newton was a bad role model to her 9-year-old daughter because of the way he acted after touchdowns). Did you hear anyone saying the woman had a point, that cheerleaders wearing as little clothing as possible are better role models for her daughter than a football player who celebrates touchdowns? Or instead, did you hear a lot of people mocking and dismissing the letter as self-righteous and out of touch?

For Newton, though, the whole thing fit perfectly into what he presents. He is the criticized superstar, his openness and acceptance of this only endearing to more fans against the ghosts of exaggerated condemnation.

There are any number of possible reasons for Newton pushing the criticism narrative. The first is, it works. So many of us in the media love conflict, and we especially love when athletes talk about conflict. We’re an easy and willing audience, and besides, referencing the haters is the proudest and longest tradition in sports. It’s a safe place, one that allows creativity and big dreams, because if you fail that’s what was supposed to happen and if you succeed, then, well, isn’t that amazing?

Criticism can be like a soft pillow to land on when you fall, in other words. To be sure, Newton has his critics, but so does every athlete and celebrity. Google “Tom Brady” and “whiner.” The biggest difference with Newton might be the way he engages in it, even welcomes it, and seems to drink it in.

Maybe, just maybe, Newton knows what he’s doing here.

“I just want to become relatable,” he said.

Newton has done a splendid job at that, using the cover of dubious hate to become so widely loved. His presentation of criticism is an irresistible narrative, and has become sports media’s favorite straw man.

As he entered the league, he announced he wanted to be more than a football player, and his “icon” word choice has — depending on how you look at it — masked or enhanced his ability to do it.

He’s played us all, one of the league’s most popular athletes effectively telling the world he’s constantly picked on, and getting enough people to believe that it’s become part of his identity and likability.

“I’ve said numerous times, I prayed to have a stage where people would listen,” he said. “And I pray to God I do right by my influence.”

It’s hard to think of many who’ve done better.

This story was originally published February 2, 2016 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Cam Newton is not nearly as disliked as he says, but he appreciates you believing him."