Six-foot-five Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is one very big kid at heart

For football fans living outside the 704 area code, Cam Newton’s demonstrative touchdown celebrations can be a real sore point. Carolina Panthers fans, not surprisingly, see his antics in an entirely different light, but not simply owing to Newton’s donning the black and blue.

What the majority of the country may not yet have gleaned is that Newton is an oversized 27-year-old kid. Seen through this lens, Newton’s apparent transgressions, like his post-Super Bowl super sulk, seem far less egregious.

A video posted by Cam Newton (@cameron1newton) on Apr 27, 2016 at 4:38pm PDT

As a kid, Newton likes to hang out with other kids. Take for example, his randomly hopping the fence back in April at the Community School of Davidson to play catch with kids at recess…

…or his going bowling with Noah Woepke to make his wish come true…

…or hosting 14-year-old Sami Culberg at the Panthers’ practice facility…

…or crashing 10-year-old Elijah Hughes’ halloween party in an ice cream truck…

…or dancing with 6-year-old honorary head coach Braylon Beam.

Then there’s Newton’s Sunday giveaway program, which he started spontaneously a few years back after scoring a touchdown at Bank of America Stadium.

Newton’s gifting of touchdown balls to young fans seated near the end zone rubbed off on teammates and became a regular thing for the Panthers.