Keller @ Large: Cam Newton's Growing Ego

BOSTON (CBS) - Cam Newton is the quarterback of the national champion Auburn football team and winner of last year's Heisman trophy as the best player in college football.

In addition to being a gifted athlete, he's handsome and articulate, with a likely unlimited future as a star of TV ads and corporate endorsements, assuming all goes well in the NFL.

But Newton may have a budding problem -- his apparently out of control ego.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

During a brief interview yesterday with a Sports Illustrated writer, Newton made the following statement: "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon."

Hello, Lebron James, are you in there?

The kid is 21 years old, and he sees himself as "an icon" already.

Some veteran players were quick to flag the comment as a warning sign of uncontrolled head-swelling, pointing out that he hasn't accomplished anything yet at the pro level.

But I have a question for Newton's critics -- what on earth did you expect?

We've created a sports culture that identifies potential sports stars at a ridiculously young age -- how old was Tiger Woods when he first appeared on TV as a golf prodigy, two?

From that moment on, they are told in every way possible that they are special, icons in the making you might say, given special treatment, and singled out for excessive praise by all.

No wonder someone like Newton comes to believe that they're iconic before it's even clear what they represent beyond yet another set of quick feet and fast hands.

You see the same thing happening in politics, where the trappings of power and the excessive deference accorded to big-time pols almost invariably goes right to their heads.

And in the Oprah-fied pop culture of today, where self-esteem is king, why wouldn't any Joe or Jane come to believe they're something special, even if they aren't?

So, don't be surprised at Cam Newton's off-the-charts narcissism. He's just an icon of what the culture of me has created.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.