Like the Chicago Bears 30 years ago, the Carolina Panthers have taken the NFL by storm. But one of the key members of the 1985 Bears believes that one of the key members of the 2015 Panthers is spending too much time trumpeting his exploits.
Specifically, the MVP of Super Bowl XX would have a specific response to the touchdown celebrations of the NFL’s likely current MVP.
“It’s disrespect,” defensive end Richard Dent told Jarrett Bell of USA Today.
So what would Dent have down about it?
“I’m going to knock your ass out of the game. That would’ve been my approach,” Dent said. “At some point in the game — not with a cheap shot — I’m going to try to get a shot that puts you out for the day. That’s the risk when you want to showboat all the time.”
Dent has some simple advice for Newton and those who would be inclined to excessively celebrate.
“Act like this is what you’re getting paid to do,” Dent said. “But these kids, that’s what you get in the Twitter, Facebook world. It’s ‘Look at me!'”
The irony, of course, is that Dent and the Bears pulled the ultimate ‘Look at me!’ move with The Super Bowl Shuffle. Recorded on December 3, 1985 — nearly two months before they played in the Super Bowl — the notoriously bad (but nevertheless Grammy-nominated) song included this verse, “sung” by the guy who’s now bashing Newton: “The sackman’s comin’, I’m your man Dent. If the quarterback’s slow, he’s gonna get bent. We stop the run, we stop the pass, I like to dump guys on their [ass].”
We can only imagine what a then-55-year-old former Super Bowl MVP would have said about Dent and his teammates at the time.