Panthers ask, 'Who is the franchise GOAT?' Fans ask, 'Why isn't Cam Newton an option?'

Tom Gatto

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Panthers ask, 'Who is the franchise GOAT?' Fans ask, 'Why isn't Cam Newton an option?' image

NFL fans on Twitter broke out their finest Cam Newton GIFs on Wednesday after the Panthers omitted their longtime quarterback from a poll to decide who is the greatest player in franchise history.

Carolina went with Julius Peppers (reply), Steve Smith Sr. (retweet) and Luke Kuechly (like). Maybe the limited Twitter voting options forced an impossible decision.

It couldn't have been because the Panthers released Newton last March after nine seasons and that Newton has made it clear the breakup wasn't amicable. No way that was the case, right?

MORE: Former Newton teammate says Panthers mismanaged injuries for years

Anyways, here's the best of "Um, Cam?"

Carolina could have gone full Zoom call and added Newton, Greg Olsen (another less-than-happy exit), DeAngelo Williams (ditto), Thomas Davis and the late Sam Mills, among others. (Christian McCaffrey still has a way to go.) Instead, it went with just three, and the MVP and Super Bowl quarterback didn't make the cut.

If that was done just for the clicks, then, well-played, Panthers. If that was done because of how the breakup went, then, well, that was a . . . catty thing to do.

Tom Gatto

Tom Gatto Photo

Tom Gatto joined The Sporting News as a senior editor in 2000 after 12 years at The Herald-News in Passaic, N.J., where he served in a variety of roles including sports editor, and a brief spell at APBNews.com in New York, where he worked as a syndication editor. He is a 1986 graduate of the University of South Carolina.