Cam Newton thinks an unexpected trait is keeping him from being employed in NFL

Cam Newton speculated his appearance may be keeping NFL teams away from signing him.

Despite being the most important player in Carolina Panthers franchise history, Cam Newton finds himself in his mid-30s and firmly out of the NFL.

Newton is a college football legend after his historic 2010 season at Auburn. He also was a transformative franchise quarterback in Charlotte for the better part of decade in the 2010s. While injuries, particularly to his throwing arm, have knock him down several pegs, Newton remains one of the most captivating quarterback personalities the league has ever seen. He is truly one of one.

When asked by CBS Sports’ Josina Anderson as to why he is not in the league right now, Newton believed his longer hair may be a contributing factor. Newton was famously clean-cut during his illustrious prime in Carolina but has since decided to let it grow over the better part of the last few years. Long hair isn’t for everyone, but the Jacksonville Jaguars don’t mind it with Trevor Lawrence.

I appreciate Newton speaking candidly about his appearance in great detail with Anderson here.

"“It’s been hinted. And I’m not changing. People have hinted to where they say like, ‘Cam, we want you to go back to the 2015 clean-cut Cam.’ But, that was a different me. The thing that is always mentioned is, ‘Cam, you’re scaring people with how you look.’”"

Here is entire video clip in which Newton told Anderson about why his hair might be an NFL issue.

Given that I am one of many long-haired FanSided employees, I am in full support of Newton here.

Cam Newton believes his long hair is what is keeping him out of the NFL now

Look. I think there is way more at play here with Newton than I really want to get into, but I don’t know if appearance is as driving of a factor in getting him back in the league as he thinks it is. It probably has more to do with the notion that he can’t throw anymore. It’s okay, I can’t either. It’s tough being a 30-something with longer hair from Atlanta and you can’t really throw anymore…

Besides Lawrence letting it flow bro down in Duval, Justin Herbert doesn’t go to the barber regularly and I don’t consider Lamar Jackson’s hairstyle to be clean-cut. It doesn’t matter to me. All I care about is if they can play ball and lead 50-something alpha males into battle on any given Sunday. I understand the quarterback position is different, but let’s not have a bad hair day here.

Ultimately, Newton was never going to have a long shelf life in the NFL, mostly because of the manner in which he played. He could most certainly throw it with the best of them, but running and eventually throwing mechanics led to his demise as a franchise signal-caller. The good news for him is he is still incredibly captivating and will be able to make a living outside of the lines now.

Don’t cave and cut your hair to appease to someone who didn’t believe in you anyway. You do you!