It cracks me up when athletes reference bad guys from movies. Do they do it on purpose? Are they looking to be villainized? We like to cheer on a hero, so why would you assume the personality of a criminal? It seems to defeat the purpose of being a pro athlete, who is looked up to by millions.
Cam Newton, quarterback for the New England Patriots, used to pattern his act after Superman. His nickname was “Super Cam,” and he famously mimicked Clark Kent opening up his shirt to reveal his super “S” after scoring an impossible touchdown. Whenever he came on the field, the Panthers played John Williams' classic Superman theme song. No longer. Now Newton’s quoting Bane in an IG Hype Video, and I find that to be … strange:
The Bane quote, as voiced by Tom Hardy, comes from The Dark Knight Rises. And it’s delivered during a moment when Bane is getting the upperhand on Batman (Christian Bale), tearing down every safety net the hero thought he had, crippling his spirit before crippling his body. Naturally, this is pulled from the comic books. It's a classic Batman story, when the hero gets his back broken by Bane, and needs to find the inner strength to heal and persevere. It’s about as brutal of a scene as one could imagine seeing in a Batman movie, the lowest point for our hero, and a moment from which he needs to recover.
Watch it here:
Cam Newton also needs to recover. The former Carolina Panther and one-time league MVP has been playing the "victim" card ever since being dropped by his last team. Newton has been plagued by injuries that have shortened his most recent seasons, so he adopted the mantra that the league has slighted him, forgotten him, and doubted him. It has kept him off of pro football rosters, mainly because team doctors couldn't properly analyze his health and determine whether he was able to play to his fullest potential. It’s exactly the type of motivation that usually catapults star athletes.
But again, shouldn’t he be using an inspirational Batman quote? To play out his analogy, Bane would be the rest of the league, keeping Batman Cam down! C’mon, Ace Boogie. Get your metaphors correct before you go throwing around super-powered quotes! Unless you are tired of being the Good Guy, and are ready for teams to fear your evil side. Either way, it should be fun to watch.
It’s a great time to be a Batman fan. Robert Pattinson is bringing the Caped Crusader to the big screen in The Batman. Michael Keaton is rumored to reprise the role for The Flash in a story that would introduce the multiverse into the DCEU. And fans of Ben Affleck’s more physiucal interpretation will get more from that character in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, coming to HBO Max. As for Cam Newton, we’ll see how his transition to the New England Patriots goes, if professional sports are ever able to start again.
