Hot Take Police: People Love Rob Gronkowski Because He's White, Lambaste Cam Newton Because He's Black
BOSTON (CBS) -- Rob Gronkowski, in case you hadn't heard, hosted a party cruise over the weekend, and it went about exactly how you might expect. Loud music, lots of neon, lots of dancing, and lots of promiscuity. Whatever floats your boat, right?
Well, despite the trip being a presumably harmless gathering of willing participants, somebody has found a problem with it.
"Gronkowski is white. Cam is black. People love Gronkowski. Cam gets lambasted."
Oh!
This sounds like a job for the Hot Take Police!
The story, written by Matthew VanTryon, pointed out the "double standard" in how the two football stars are perceived and treated nationally.
This isn't the first time Gronk has done something stupid (and yes, his antics are stupid. They aren't overtly wrong, he isn't committing any crimes, but they're all stupid.) There's the dancing. The grinding. The pictures with the porn stars.
And yet everyone just shakes their heads, chuckles and says, "Oh Gronk." He's the frat guy that does stupid stuff all the time but gets away with it. He can push the envelope further than any professional athlete in sports today. In fact, the more he pushes the more people love it. It's the Gronk show, coming to a Twitter feed near you.
Contrast the reality of New England's beloved playmaker with Carolina's quarterback.
Gronk spikes, Cam dabs. Gronk dances, Cam gives footballs to kids. Gronk opens his mouth and begs people to see him. Cam decides he doesn't want to open his mouth after the toughest loss of his career. Gronk wins no matter what he does. Whether Cam wins or Cam loses, he never really wins.
...
Newton's blood must boil when he sees what Gronkowski is able to get away with. He probably asks himself why he gets treated so differently.
...
Newton gets treated differently because Newton is black. Gronkowski is white. And if you think I'm wrong, just imagine Newton asking some people to "bang in front of everybody."
That's one hot take!
"This is so dumb," officer Fred Toucher noted. "Is this man at all aware of where this situation took place? It was in a carefully crafted image that has been sold as a lifestyle party on a boat featuring people of age in what it is advertised as an overtly overly sexual situation. They're acting like he just went into a fast food parking lot and started waving 10 grand around."
Officer Toucher also noted that Gronkowski took some heat for dancing and partying following the Patriots' Super Bowl loss in February 2012 in Indianapolis. Officer Rich Shertenlieb added that Gronkowski took some grief for posing for a photo with a porn star.
Officer Toucher said it's simple: Gronkowski has branded himself in a very specific, party-animal type of way. Newton has not. It's like two famous singers with two different reputations hosting very different concerts.
"Listen, [Luciano] Pavarotti, if he's still alive [he isn't], can't have a cruise with chicks [getting wild]," Toucher said. "But KISS can. You understand, there's different career paths, and you're kind of selling a different sort of product."
A listener posed a fare question: "How can you call it a double standard when one half of the equation is an absolute hypothetical?"
That's something the Hot Take Police will discuss back at the station. Meanwhile, you can listen to the segment below: