The Super Bowl is known for a lot of things -mostly food, friends and football.
But there have also been a large number of blowouts to crown the NFL champs.
Enter 2016. Expect a blowout.
But this won’t be one of those you want to turn off and find a 227 rerun on cable TV. No way, no how.
Super Bowl 50 is one you will want to savor, watch to the end and see the greatness that is Cam Newton.
My pick is that Newton will lead his Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl title with an impressive 38-17 victory over Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in Northern California.
It could be one of those moments you will remember forever. Like when Doug Williams was the first starting black quarterback to win the Super Bowl in 1988.
Williams was pure magic in being named MVP. Williams passed for a SB record 340 yards and four touchdowns. In doing so, he became the first player in Super Bowl history to pass for four touchdowns in a single quarter and four in a half.
How ironic. Williams’ Super Bowl legend-making came against the Broncos in a 42-10 blowout.
For sure, the Broncos have changed since then. But that city will have to endure another drubbing with the world watching.
It hard to imagine that Denver will be able to stop Cam at this point. No one has.
In going 17-1 to this point, Newton has shown a skill set not seen before. He’s not a running QB because he can’t throw. He runs simply because he can.
And can he throw? Man, can he throw the football.
This past regular season, Newton threw 35 touchdowns and rushed for 10 more. He was the first player ever to accomplish the feat (30 passing TDs and 10 rushing TDs in single season).
He also became the only QB ever to have 300 yards passing, five TD passes and over 100 yards rushing in the same game.
The numbers are gaudy, bloated.
So is Cam’s game. His confidence and swag match is game. Best of all, Cam is Cam and doesn’t care about what others think. He’s going celebrate, dance and dab to his own beat.
He’s also proud being different, being black. Cam won’t apologize for it, either.
Black America is in love with Cam Newton. It loves his style, flair, hard work and greatness.
This won’t be a blowout to turn away from. You will want to see as much of this man play football as possible. Many will want to see what he does next.
He’s not a side show or circus. Nope. He’s the main event and everyone knows it, especially the Broncos.
This isn’t Tom Brady and the New England Patriots who the Broncos knocked off to get here. Brady was a statue in the pocket and was hit and knocked down by that Denver defense often in the AFC championship game.
Even so, Brady was still in the red zone three times in the fourth quarter, but only came away with six points. Given the same scenario, Newton will cash in and cash in big.
Instead of realizing what Cam is going to do with the world watching, many will fall for the easy story.
They will want to stroll down memory lane and root for Manning to have a Hollywood ending to his career.
They want the old, broken down QB to ride off into the sunset with his second Super Bowl. It would put Manning in the record book as the only NFL starting QB to win two Super Bowls with two different teams.
It’s understandable why it has never happened before. If you were still great, you would have never left the first team you won the first SB with.
Enter Manning 2016. He not very good, a shell of his former self. And in this case, he will have to bring an “A” game to beat Newton.
Manning doesn’t have that anymore. Hence, expect the Panthers’ defense to intercept and score against Manning’s weak arm.
Manning also can’t move, another legendary statue that’s ready to be knocked down.
Super Bowl 50 will be ugly, indeed. But don’t turn away. Watch every second of Cam as he comes of age.
