Comments on: Jerry Richardson to Cam Newton: No tattoos, no piercings

By: ehaislop

ehaislop — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:00:38 +0000

Okay so I agree with the whole no visible tattoos in the normal workplace but the NFL is a lot different you don’t apply for a team like you do in a normal job you’re DRAFTED so I think the players can look however they want to and not have to pay the price because they got selected to a team with a strict coach.

By: leapyrman

leapyrman — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 20:39:35 +0000

Aren’t there baseball teams that dictate whether a player can grow a beard? The NBA says the players must wear “normal” clothes before and after games. As a citizen in the corporate world, if I wear tattoos, I can rest assured there are jobs I will never be allowed to fill especially if I face the public in any capacity.

Why all the indignation because the owner wants the face of his franchise to be Wheaties cereal cover material? If you had something worth 500 million dollars, would you be worried what any of the posters on PFT thought?

By: discosucs2005

discosucs2005 — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 05:19:53 +0000

If he wants to cut all the players on the panthers with tattoos or piercings than he can tell Cam not to have any. If not, than he’s way out of line.

By: 808raiderinparadise

808raiderinparadise — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 20:28:35 +0000

6 of 19 against the bengals. he should be allowed to get a “BUST” tattoo on his forehead.

By: greenmodulars

greenmodulars — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 05:15:12 +0000

Big Cat Richardson said he was aggressive in FREE AGENCY- Ha, signed NO ONE NEW-ran off Julius Peppers whom Chicago loves and traded for Gregg Olson which is not a free agency signing– To dictate what a person can do is ok if you dont sell and make your HUGE PROFITS from Grease filled Bonjangles doublely fried chicken & Hardees Big Fat burgers which is cloggin up arteries in the south causing heart attacks & OBEeSITY- And he basically didnt get crap for his hardass stand in the CBA – Cam Newton must be thinkin your players suck and no wonder this team sucks- he is smoke and mirrors- what he gonna say when they go 1-15? AGAIN

By: quirtevans

quirtevans — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 13:40:02 +0000

You meant isn’t in the last sentence, phaktor. And, with that change, you’re right.

No one can reasonably claim that a tattoo on a player’s butt affects his “appearance”. And the CBA limits the team’s rules in this regard to reasonable rules about “appearance”.

Someone made a decent point about piercings, though. That could be construed to be a health and safety issue, particularly in a contact sport. The easy solution is to remove non-visible piercings when you put on the uniform.

By: phaktor333

phaktor333 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:23:44 +0000

I know there are those who will argue the New York Yankees ‘no facial hair’ rules if one wants to play for the organization. That is fine. However, the players that chose to go there generally are free agents and choose to acquiesce to that rule. They trade 90% of their drafted prospects anyway, but the guys they do bring up go along because that is the standard in the locker room amongst the veterans. With Cam Newton, I understand Jerry’s position; he wants a clean cut guy to represent the franchise. However, what Cam does with his body outside the realm of being in shape, keeping himself healthy and making sure he is prepared to lead the team effectively, is none of the owner’s business. However, there is a middle ground..no visible tattoos. Artwork on his neck, arms and any area that is exposed outside of normal clothing and the uniform should be cool.

By: 2ndaryinsanity

2ndaryinsanity — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 23:04:52 +0000

To: BIGTROUBLE…how dare you judge people here in such a manner? Claiming that our jobs mean nothing & that “monkey’s could do it.” You know NOTHING about any of us….some are firefighters who run into a burning building to save lives & property. Some are police officers who are willing to take a bullet to protect your stupid a##. Paramedics and school teachers who work long hours for peanuts, because they want to make a positive impact on other people’s lives. I could go on with many more examples, but hopefully even your ignorant and mean- spirited brain can understand. People are giving examples of how things are in the workplace for non-professional athletes…because (some of) these athletes are often out of touch with the reality of their fans’ lives.

By: pantherguy344

pantherguy344 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 22:36:29 +0000

Turning this into a race issue is completely absurd. If my memory serves me correctly Jerry was a big supporter of the rooney rule. He hired a latino hc, drafted an african american QB, and steve smith adores him(and he hates everybody). He doesnt care about Shockey’s appearance b/c Shockey isnt on sportscenter on a daily basis wearing a panthers jersey. If he is quoted correctly there was no ultimatim, so there should be no issue. So what if hes old school. He grew up during WWII for crying out loud. Id be grouchy too if i was in my 70′s. And as for the senile comments, he’s made more money than the Beatles selling burgers and biscuits.

By: tre4rere

tre4rere — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 21:01:17 +0000

It is completely up to the owner how his team looks, just as it is in any business. But it is rediculous to think that people would watch the NFL less if all the players had tattoos and piercings. When bosses complain about tattoos and such it is because they feel the tattoos are embarassing and they dont want to lose business. With regards to the NFL, people would watch it still if the players wore snuggies instead of uniforms.

By: quirtevans

quirtevans — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:18:27 +0000

deegizzle –

You’re right. I made that point in another post. A direction to a single employee isn’t a policy. A policy has to be written and has to apply uniformly to everyone in similar circumstances.

And no, the circumstance can’t be a policy that applies to #1 draft picks or star quarterbacks.

By: steveb9995

steveb9995 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:04:11 +0000

Those who say Richardson can run his business as he sees fit, that they’ve had jobs that forbid tattoos, etc. should remember–and how could they forget–that Newton, as a union member, is covered by a collective bargaining agreement that sets out the conditions of his employment.

Unless the contract says so, Richardson doesn’t have any business telling anyone how they can look.

By: deegizzle

deegizzle — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 20:00:13 +0000

To everyone that keeps talking about “my company’s policy handbook has this”…This doesn’t apply to this situation because Cam is being singled out. If this is Richardson’s “policy,” why isn’t the whole team held to this standard?

I’m not arguing the merit of the request with this post, but I do think you’re off base if you’re throwing out the “companies have policies” line here.

By: buckybadger

buckybadger — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:59:38 +0000

It is a joke people support such dumb rules to be enforced on someone.

By: buckybadger

buckybadger — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:58:17 +0000

@oldhamletman, than he has to put those rules in for everyone and not single people out. There are laws against being singled out like that. Never bothered him about Steve Smith’s tats.

By: oldhamletman

oldhamletman — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:43:09 +0000

you don’t get labor protection for discrimination against tats, piercings, smoking, having kids, being a Nazi or any one of a multitude of personal traits…

the guy owns a team and has a right to employ whomever he chooses to as long as he doesn’t discriminate on a very specific set of items……. end of story.

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:32:10 +0000

Are you guys Fn kidding me? More people think the owners have the right to tell a guy if he can get tattoos and piercings or not? Wow the readers on this sight make me sick sometimes. You are the biggest herd of sheep I have ever seen. You guys side with the people in power on everything. If the owners made rules about when the players where allowed to go number 2 you would probably approve.

By: titan40

titan40 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:08:00 +0000

LMAO @ mrmilstead, haven’t seen a comment that good in a while.

By: pigeonpea

pigeonpea — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 19:05:40 +0000

realitypolice says:
The difference is you can also go to another restaurant that allows tats and piercings.

Cam Newton has no opportunity, zero, to find gainful employment in his chosen field other than to work for JR.

I guess it is a fair assumption you have never heard of the CFL, UFL or Arena Football League.

By: pigeonpea

pigeonpea — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:53:42 +0000

Richardson is an idiot. As long as there continue to be other players on his team with tats or piercings, Newton can make a clear-cut case for discrimination if he is disciplined for getting either himself.

The reality is if Newton is playing top-level ball, Jerry isn’t going to say jack-sh!t to him about his appearance, much less bench him for it. If Newton busts, he’ll be off the team regardless if he has any tats or not.

End of Story.

By: Mr. Wright 212

Mr. Wright 212 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:51:06 +0000

I actually don’t mind this and agree with the sentiment. As the face of the organization for (presumably, if everything goes well) the next 10+ years, if not for life, you want to roll out a conservative image.

By: colinsnooks

colinsnooks — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:24:39 +0000

This is funny. These JR backers are really excited about being model employees and doing what your boss says. Then again, they are probably just like me, wasting time at work, reading and posting on PFT. Then again, most of these comments that hate on people with tattoos really sound like Abe Simpson. They should call this site OldFogeyTalk instead.

By: hobartbaker

hobartbaker — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:07:05 +0000

Facial feature distorting PEDs are allowed though.

By: mrbluedevil04

mrbluedevil04 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:52:30 +0000

As a Panthers fan, this is one of the biggest non stories i have ever read on this site. Even Cam Newton is winning football games, him being tatted up will have nothing to do with it. A winning QB gets the endorsements, so as long as he win games then his endorsements will be there.

By: bigtrouble

bigtrouble — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:29:22 +0000

so if tom brady went out this offseason and got tatted up then got piercings all over his body, the pats wouldnt want him???

By: bigtrouble

bigtrouble — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:22:55 +0000

no one cares about your jobs or your bosses rules
you ppl mean nothing, could find a monkey to do your job

By: danyboy1016

danyboy1016 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:16:24 +0000

I for one do not mind a boss/owner being allowed to dictate to his employees what they can or can not wear, decorate, etc… Cam was drafted and signed a contract with the team to play in Carolina. Being drafted by a team does not give Cam his only option look at Eli Manning he was not originally drafted by the Giants. What makes you part of the team is not the draft but the contract that is signed, which most NFL contract do have a morality/ dress code clause look at Plexico Buress and others who violate their teams contracts by doing stupid things.
And to those who say there is no place that would fire an employee over tattoos and such I can name several Two are family entertainment venues namely Walt Disney who has strict policies against and Universal Entertainment. Also look to the military, sure soldiers, sailors, and airmen get tats, but if they are visible like on the face or hands they are subject to article 15 under the USMJ destruction or harm to Government Property like the individual who could be reduced in rank and subject to discharge.

By: granadafan

granadafan — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:10:21 +0000

Richardson is just helping Cam be an entertainer and an icon….. to middle aged white people, just like himself.

Kudos to Cam for being well dressed and respectable to a potential owner.

By: asublimeday

asublimeday — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 17:08:14 +0000

“and no rap music. And I don’t want you hanging around that no-good tyrone or that shank shaquanda!”

By: denverdude7

denverdude7 — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:56:59 +0000

Better keep him away from LameBron James then.

Some of that ink might rub off.