Richardson is a dinosaur. He wants things to stay status quo, and in the NFL it ain't gonna happen. You do realize the Yanks and Mets prohibit facial hair, right? The Reds did until '99, and the Marlins did until just a few years ago. Owners of NFL teams have the exact same rights man. He may be a relic, but until someone else takes over he's the boss. With that said, I'm sure you're also aware ow the fact that Hank and Hal CARRIED ON GEORGE'S "no facial hair below the lip" policy. What idiots, huh? These are athletes. Is Richardson silly for bringing this out to the media? Are you so thick as to NOT realize that this story is just more of Mike Florios regurgitated CRAP...? And it's about a conversation between Jerry Jones, and Richardson on the Charlie Rose Show. Richardson brought up nothing... IMO, absolutely. Why worry about Cam having tats? At this point, if he has not inked himself, I doubt he goes all full sleeve on us...he might get a tramp stamp though. I digress.
Cam needs to grow up and become a man for several reasons. He is now a guy tagged with saving that franchise. He has had issues with his maturity before. If he gets a tat it will not sway his ability as a QB. If he does, who cares. But he is now a leader in the huddle, and all the "fake" stuff that has been associated with his personality needs to go.
Cam has done nothing wrong. And he is no slave. Wow.
Richardson is a crusty old man, and is one of the guys who was hardest to persuade during the CBA meetings. He should worry more about the win/loss column, than worry about Cams appearance. It's HIS business... Who the hell are you to tell him how to run a football team? Childish. Unless Richardson thinks Tats makes you incapable of leadership, and incapable of being respected, incapable of getting a job done professionally. In which case, as I alluded to, Richardson is a dinosaur who will go the way of extinction. Owners like him will fade away...gone.
This thread is so full of reading miscomprehension, and foolish ideaology it makes me laugh. Ironic much...?
READ...and if Brees gets full sleeve tats, he will not lose one ounce of marketability. You just don't "Get It"... Unless he gets a tat on his face. But even then...I HIGHLY doubt it. Brees is a proven commodity. A winner. And Cam ISN'T... Yet.
If Cam wins games, nobody will care. He is a football player. Just don;t screw up with all those tats. Beause then guys like Richardson will say, "I KNEW IT! THOSE DAMN TATS!"
Boid... I promise not to enlighten you any longer. You win. **waves surrender flag**
I'm really thinking you have never actually read the article from
April. Richardson admits to being an old coot "stuck in his ways", but he doesn't sound like Hitler - that's for sure.
Enjoy:
_________________________________
Owner puts Newton on the clock
By Tom Sorensen
tsorensen@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Friday,
Apr. 29, 2011Tom Sorensen has been a columnist at The Observer for 20 years and has been at the paper for 25, writing about nearly every sport in the Carolinas.
Tom Talks
E-mail Tom
704.358.5119
Carolina Panthers first-round draft pick Cam Newton, right, gestures for a hand slap from Adam Smith of Make-A-Wish during an NFL football news conference at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., Friday, April 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Bob Leverone)
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More Information
Cam Newton's introductory press conference
NFL Draft 04.28.11
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Hoover makes pick for Panthers
Cam Newton begins his 'interesting ride'
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Scott Says: Kurt Warner not a fan of Newton
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Three Heels, Pack's Irving taken in draft
Poll: Cam Newton, yes or no?
Scott Says: Should Clausen give Newton No.2?
NFL draft: Archive of stories
Draft center: From Sports Network
Inside the Panthers: Latest updates
Full Panthers coverage
The most famous piece of furniture in Charlotte, and perhaps the NFL, is a clock at the home of Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson.
The clock ticks loudly and - and I rarely ascribe human traits to inanimate objects, but this clock has a personality - indignantly. When a Carolina Panther offends his employer, Richardson invites him to his house, not really asking, and sits him in a chair. Richardson doesn't talk for a while. The slow and stubborn ticking is all the player hears.
When Cam Newton visited Richardson April 4, he asked only two questions. The first was, "Is that the clock?"
How did Newton know?
"Everybody in the NFL knows about the clock," Richardson says.
Richardson and I talk Friday afternoon. We sit at a table on his patio. In front of us is a vast lawn as smooth and lush as an Augusta National green.
Richardson did not select Newton on Thursday with the No.1 pick in the NFL draft. General manager Marty Hurney did. But Richardson could have vetoed the selection.
So the April 4 meeting was not without import.
Richardson is 74. Newton will turn 22 May 11. The younger repeatedly called the older sir.
"Are you calling me sir because you're trying to impress me?" Richardson asked.
"I'm calling you sir because that's the way I was raised," Newton said.
Richardson said he didn't want to talk about the past.
Newton thanked him.
If the Panthers draft you, you'll be part of our family, Richardson said. We'll move forward.
Richardson wants to move forward. Last season, the Panthers went 2-14. There was infighting within the organization. There was criticism from once-respectful fans.
He also is co-chair of the NFL committee that is negotiating with, and fighting against, the NFL Players Association, trying to reach accord on a collective-bargaining agreement.
Richardson says two prayers every night before bed.
The first is, "Help me not to judge." The second is, "Help me."
Not passing judgment is, Richardson admits, a challenge.
He says: "The society we live in, things get said and repeated. Because somebody says it, it becomes fact."
He told Newton: "Things have been said about me that aren't true and that I don't like. I know things have been said about you."
Back on the patio, Richardson says: "I'm not a choirboy. I've never said I was. And I don't want a roster of 53 choirboys. I told Jeremy Shockey (Carolina's new non-choirboy tight end), 'Don't change your personality. It'll be good for the team. I could do without the tattoos, though.'"
Richardson asked Newton if he had tattoos or piercings, and Newton said he did not.
Newton was flown to Charlotte on Friday morning and driven to Bank of America Stadium to meet with Panthers coaches and staff, and the media.
When he encountered Richardson, they embraced.
"Just getting a hug from Mr. Richardson makes it more official," Newton said about being a Panther.
"Did you get crazy after the draft and go out and get any tattoos or piercings?" Richardson asked. "Do I have to check you for anything?"
"No sir," said Newton.
During their April 4 meeting, Richardson asked Newton to tell him the best advice he's received.
Newton, who is 6-foot-5, extended his large hands.
"This is my circle right now," he said.
The circle was wide.
Newton drew his hands in and made the circle tight.
"Get it down to this," he said.
"That's about the best advice you could get," said Richardson. "If you come here, you'll have all the support you'll need."
Richardson asked Newton what mattered most - being drafted No. 1, or becoming a Panther.
"No, sir, I want to play for the Carolina Panthers," Newton said.
"You don't want to play in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, some place like that?" Richardson asked.
"No sir," said Newton. "I would be very happy to come here and make my career here."
The first question Newton asked was about the clock. The second was about Jimmy Clausen. Clausen became Carolina's starting quarterback as a rookie last season.
"How will Jimmy Clausen feel if you draft me?" Newton asked.
"He will handle it like a gentleman and he will compete as hard as he can," Richardson said.
The door to the patio opens and Richardson is told he has a telephone call. It's NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. He excuses himself.
When Richardson returns, I ask: Do you like Newton?
"A lot," he says. "A lot.
"What really got me is a few days after we talked I got an envelope from Federal Express. There was a letter in it, three handwritten pages. An agent obviously didn't write it."
Richardson said Newton did.
"He referred to things we talked about," said Richardson. "It was very personal and very thoughtful. No player who has come in for a (predraft) interview has ever written a letter. It showed he listened.
"So when you put all this together, it was not difficult."
The door to the patio again opens, and Richardson is told his guests have arrived. He asks me to accompany him. Waiting are Rosalind Richardson, Richardson's wife, and Jackie and Cecil Newton, Cam Newton's parents.
Everybody shakes hands. Cecil is about to sit. Suddenly, he stops and looks up.
"Oh-oh," he says. "Is that the clock?"
