In the three months since the Super Bowl, the only time we've kinda/sorta heard from Carolina Panthers' quarterback was in Ebony Magazine.
Newton will hopefully be available later this month at OTAs, and if not, he'll at least chat a bit during June's minicamp. When he does decide to chat, he'll be asked about obvious topics like Kelvin Benjamin's return, the infamous postgame press conference, and perhaps, if he's learned anything from Jordan Speith.
But something I'm looking forward to asking Newton about — and I know I'm not alone — is what's up with his Instagram captions?
•MÄKEürAMB1TiON• •ÄworkaholicADDiCT1ÖN• •winningW1LLbëÄNeverydayTRÄDiT1ÖN• #iWmW -1OVE #camNEWTONällstär7ön7TEAMvsANY1 #CÖM1NGsoon
A photo posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on
"•ISÿöüS1NGLEôrWHAT•iNEEDaG1RLfrom THEcountry•iNEEDaG1RLfromKENTUCKY• iNEEDaSHAWTYfromHOUSTON•iNEEDa G1RLwhoGÔN 1OVEme •iNEEDaG1RLwhoGONEtrustME •SOME1to__😜__me• SOME1toMAKEmeFEEL 1UCKY‼️" -drake #iWmW -1OVE
A photo posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on
As Team Newton has ramped up its social media presence this offseason, it's been done in a very Newton way. Has he created his own language, and is there a rhyme or reason for it?
Before we learn the answers to those obviously pressing issues, a couple Panthers fans have come up with a way for fans to emulate their team's quarterback.
Launched last week but mostly lost in the hubbub of the draft, mvp-posts.com lets users "post like an MVP."
So if I wanted to write this sentence like the league's reigning MVP, the site would spit out this:
•sôIFiWANTÊDtôWR1TÊthisSÊNTÊNCÊl1kéTHÊléàguésRÊ1GN1NGmvp,THÊs1téWÖULDsp1tÖUTthis•
"It's an HTML form that takes user input and runs it through a custom JavaScript function called "dabOnEm();," explains Joel Kuehn, a Charlotte-based web designer and developer, who also built BBR version 2.0 last summer.
If you, like me, aren't exactly sure what Kuehn means, here's a somewhat dumbed-down explanation:
"It converts the text to special characters and patterns like Cam uses," he says.
"This was a collaborative project my friend Taylor Nall and I did. We are both web designers & developers, and Panthers fans, and thought it'd be a fun web tool to make a converter for people to use."
MËandMŸlittleFR1END;learningFROM @dr.evanantin ABOUTdifferentCREATURES! YÄboyFØCüSED! #ÂLLinW1THčäm #iWmW -1OVE
A photo posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on
•aH1NTof: cämLEErøy •W1THäDÂBof: drãgõnF1Ycäm #iWmW -1OVE #ALLinWITHcam
A photo posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on
Kuehn and Nall came up with the idea weeks ago but only recently hammered out the code as a little side project.
"We decided to try to get it done to release for the draft as a tongue-in-cheek way to encourage new players joining the league to go ahead and up their Twitter game to MVP-level," Kuehn says.
Newton — or whoever is helping him with his social media accounts — has started adding emojis to some of his posts. So while Kuehn and Nall did find a few patterns, the code isn't cracked just yet.
"Cam probably chooses each one of his post's characters one at a time," Kuehn says. "After analyzing his posts for patterns, our best hunch is he's making choices based on the look and flow — Whatever he's feeling at the moment."
That makes some sense. Newton wants to live his way, play his way and •pôstHiswày•
iTRA1NmyWAY•iP1AYmyWAY•iL1VEmyWAY #iWmW -1OVE #dontBEaPUPPET #beBO1DletŸÖÜRlifeBEto1d
A photo posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on