Don’t worry, Cam Newton won’t give up his signature move.

The Panthers’ lightning rod quarterback told WFNZ in Charlotte this week that he won’t dab anymore after touchdowns, first downs or meltdowns. That’s okay; he may have invited it, but everyone from Roger Goodell to Roy Williams tried it on camera over the last few years. Newton’s real signature move is the keeper.

When he scores a touchdown, home or away, he runs to the end zone stands, finds a young Panthers’ fan and gives him the NFL football. That is the coolest move of all time, and no one will dare duplicate it because it belongs to Newton and only Newton. The NFL missed its chance to stop it and fine Cam after the first few times. Then the league discovered what a PR boyish bonanza it is.

Some teams have their own version of the Lambeau Leap; when a Green Bay Packer scores he leaps, backside first, into the seats and lets the fans pound on him for a few seconds. There are cheap imitations of that all over the NFL, but have you seen anyone else but Newton hand footballs to wide-eyed kids? That would be like stealing Santa’s sled and Reindeer. However he came up with it, that is all Newton needs because it has made him a hero beyond all his other controversies. Footballs for young fans? Absolutely genius.

Maybe the NFL has told Newton confidentially that he could continue doing that because it was the best feel-good ploy in the history of the game, but he would have to pay for every football he handed out. That wouldn’t phase Newton, who according to Forbes was the 7th highest-paid athlete in the world in 2015. His nearly 100 million dollar contract, plus his sky-rocketing endorsements, put him in elite company with LeBron James, Roger Federer and Kevin Durant.

So if Newton decides, like the old Brylcreem commercial said, a little dab will do you, or no dab at all, people may wonder what his next celebratory move will be. But his signature will remain, and everything else will be gravy.

Some pro jocks toss their wrist bands and head bands into the crowd, some baseball players give away their batting gloves. But nobody personally delivers an official pigskin to a young forever fan. Newton can dab or not dab, it won’t make a dang of a difference. He’s already found the leather bullet.

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