Tension. 

This word resonates now in society like no time in the last 40 years. The unrest within the collective is at a tipping point, and in the midst of it all, more voices continue to become heard, in a number of ways. 

Black Lives Matter. I can’t Breathe. Phrases branded into the skin of a country bent on equality; a symbol of the fight undertaken by a new generation of men and women ready and willing to embrace the future. 

At this point, the cultural paradigm shift promotes new activism in a somewhat mysterious fashion; now athletes have become prominent voices heard in regards to these topics.

In steps the NFL’s controversial, Cam Newton. 

This season he has become a lighting-rod of attention. From dancing in the end zone to the so-called, frivolous distribution of football, the man now finds himself at the center of any, and all, heated conversations. 

The establishment calls for fines, calls for the character to be reprimanded and calls for such action to be stricken from the game, to cast sentinel football’s integrity.

What integrity, I ask? Explain to me how a league seemingly ok with beating women, fatal drunk driving, wide-spread drug use, blatant cheating and ethically deficient former players can claim such accolades.

What the NFL stands for is “dollar dollar bills yall”, no different than the driving force in the society that has built the organization into a multi-billion dollar juggernaut. But, you are telling me Newton, a highly paid young man earning the NFL all those dollars should not have fun?

This conflict is yet another depiction of the differences in social opinion. He is fighting the ideas of the old few, while living in the area created by the “new-new”. 

My argument is that this Super Bowl 50 has a number of subliminal meanings that will influence society. 

That is with, if the outcome is as I predict, a Carolina Panthers victory.

The magnitude of this is undeniable. Peyton Manning, the old guard, the personification of the white establishment, versus the millennial, the “dabber”, the hybrid known as Cam Newton; two men set to battle in the most historic football game since the inaugural contest of its kind.

A victory for Cam is a victory for many, and in a society waiting for leadership based on intelligence, skill and bravado rather than tradition, connections, and skin color. 

This is a battle he needs to win.