Carolina Panthers' Cam Newton dapped before he dabbed
Before there was dabbing, there was dapping.
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been nicknamed the “Dab Daddy” after popularizing the dance move this season. And although “dabbing” was developed by the rap group Migos, Newton’s high school coach said he gave a similar name to the boisterous on-field celebrations Newton enjoys.
DAP.
“Dumb Ass Penalty,’’ said Dallas Allen, who was head football coach at Westlake High School in Atlanta where Newton starred. “Celebrations weren’t allowed. That was one of my rules. We weren’t going to get a 15-yard penalty because of what I called DAPs.”
But even then, there was no stifling the Panthers quarterback who is headed for the Super Bowl as one of the NFL’s most polarizing players. Allen recalled Newton bombing teammates with water balloons and turning off the lights when he walked into the crowded gym.
“He was always having fun,” Allen told Paste BN Sports. “You could find Cam hanging out with the little kids, having a good time. …Everybody on the field might think they’re at work, Cam having fun.”
During the Super Bowl, Allen figures to see yet more demonstrative behavior from Newton that once would have constituted a forbidden DAP.
“Now, it’s a totally different story,’’ Allen said. “They don’t get fined for that. I just think he’s having fun. I don’t see anything wrong with it.”