Cam Newton has been wildly successful this season despite numerous critics of his play. Some of Newton's critics were so harsh that his mentor, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, believed their reviews were racially motivated. Newton wouldn't play up the race card in an interview for next month's issue of ESPN The Magazine, instead pointing to people's bias because of past failed high-pick quarterbacks -- although there is a catch to what he says. "I can't sit up here and look at it like, 'Oh man, my critics are racist,'" Newton said. "I blame JaMarcus Russell and to some degree Vince Young. If you have the opportunity to make that kind of money doing something you love to do, why would you screw it up? I'm trying to be a trailblazer. If Baylor's Robert Griffin decides to come out, I want people to say 'He can be the next Cam Newton' instead of 'He's going to be the next JaMarcus Russell.'"