Despite producing perhaps the greatest season in NFL history for a rookie quarterback, it sure looks like the honeymoon phase of Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton's career in Carolina is over.
The Charlotte Observer ran a cartoon in their paper on Wednesday in which Newton is seen striking his "Superman" pose to reveal a T-shirt underneath ... with a "Hello Kitty" logo. Newton's thought bubble reads: "I like to pretend there's a big 'S' on my chest."
This comes on the heels of Newton sulking on the Panthers bench to end last week's game, but this cartoon seems as out of touch as the existence of newspaper cartoons in general.
Would we see an Indianapolis paper take on Peyton Manning in his second year or even a New York paper take on Eli Manning like this? Did the St. Louis Post-Dispatch mock Sam Bradford last year? All of those No. 1 picks did less than Newton as rookies.
Newton's rookie season is the one that all rookies are now be measured by. Just three games into an up-and-down year, it's clear the locals expect a lot more out of him in 2012.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.