Does a potential franchise player's physical image matter to you?

[Colts01]

Cam Newton has the potential to become the face of the Carolina Panthers' franchise. So before the team drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick, owner Jerry Richardson wanted answers to some questionWhen Newton replied "No sir, I don't have any," Richardson told Rose he told the quarterback: "Good. We want to keep it that way."

Richardson first revealed his conversation with Newton in a Charlotte Observer interview in the spring after the quarterback was drafted. The April 4 meeting came just weeks after the team had signed tight end Jeremy Shockey, who has several tattoos.

"I'm not a choirboy. I've never said I was. And I don't want a roster of 53 choirboys," he told the newspaper in April. "I told Jeremy Shockey, 'Don't change your personality. It'll be good for the team. I could do without the tattoos, though."
s -- including the quarterback's physical appearance.
Espn/Associated Press .

Does the physical appearance of your teams franchise player matter to you?

[Amy]

No. And the appearance of the 53rd guy doesn't either. All that matters is that he gives his all (except for Moss! He can give 75 percent! ) when he's on the field.
I personally think Jerry Richardson's comments were out of line, but that's me.

[msclemons]

It doesn't matter too much to me but I can see why it would matter to a team. You don't want the multimillion dollar face of the franchise to look like a reject from Hot Topic. That person is going to be putting butts in the seats and jerseys on the backs of old fat guys like me.

The NFL has also made a conscious effort to avoid looking like the NBA. Whether you agree with them or not (I don't) the NFL execs feel the image of the star players in the NBA has kept that league from being more popular.

[SpartaChris]

What Clem said.