Any divorce between a franchise quarterback and his team is bound to be awkward. The way the Carolina Panthers have handled the release of Cam Newton has only made things worse, though.
Yesterday, the team shared a poll on Twitter asking fans to pick their “goat” in franchise history. The three options they provided were Julius Peppers, Steve Smith and Luke Kuechly.
Choose your 🐐 pic.twitter.com/aegiRthSFQ
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) June 17, 2020
All three were outstanding players and deserve to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
However, the decision to exclude the only league MVP in franchise history was baffling, even if he was cut a few months ago. Countless fans on social media have been letting them know how they feel about it.
🖕🏿😤🖕🏿 I swear out of all the disrespect @CameronNewton has recieved in 2019 & the offseason I thought you people would not continue the trend…Guess not….It's ok though every True @Panthers fan know QB1 was & is the greatest thing to happen to our ungrateful Franchise! pic.twitter.com/X9MeOwBhm0
— PanthersBoomin704 (@boomin704) June 17, 2020
ESPN summed up some of those feelings on Get Up today.
“Goatgate” is picking up steam.
— John Ellis (@OnePantherPlace) June 18, 2020
This was always going to be a weird transition into a new era, but pretending that Newton doesn’t exist isn’t going to help.
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