With six games left in the season, the Carolina Panthers are on pace to make history. Yes, there’s the opportunity to go 16-0, which would be an impressive feat indeed. But the Panthers are threatening to do something far more notable, something that was thought to be impossible in Roger Goodell’s NFL. They could be ... hold onto your butts ... an NFL team that is legitimately fun.

If you are not entertained by Cam Newton’s outstanding play this year, or if you don’t like that his performance on the field has allowed him to dance in the end zone and wear a fox tail from his personal end zone, then you can save yourself some time and click away from this column straight away. Maybe there’s an article somewhere out there championing Andy Dalton for looking out for America’s children and the “integrity” of the game as it faces an onslaught of harmless post-game comments. A column like that, or your angry aunt’s Facebook feed, might be more your style.

For the rest of the sports world, Cam Newton is entertaining. He’s fun. Believe it or not, entertainment and fun is kind of what draws most fans to sports in the first place. No little kid falls in love with football over concussions, TV timeouts, uniform violations, charity initiatives that give little money to charity, daily fantasy controversies, Greg Hardy, tone deaf commissioners, incomprehensible rules on what constitutes a catch, torn ligaments, missed extra points, touchbacks, backup quarterbacks or endless video replay. Yet all that is increasingly what defines the NFL. If not for players and personalities like Cam Newton, who actually dare to openly enjoy the game, the modern NFL would easily supplant church as Sunday’s most yawn-inducing institution.

Some players dance after touchdowns, some players hand the ball directly to the ref. Neither one is wrong. Variety is the spice of life and all that, right? At least Cam Newton didn’t focus group test his post-TD celebration first like Russell Wilson likely would have for maximum branding. Yet there still remain people upset that Cam Newton “dabs.” He just played a game on Sunday against a team called the REDSKINS and Newton, the smiling guy on the undefeated team, is the big problem? It’s a remarkable world we live in.

The 2015 Panthers are so much more than Cam Newton, though. Even if you’re part of the vocal anti-dabbing community, or if you remain unable to get past him taking a laptop when he was 19, there’s plenty to like about Carolina.

Love old-time, hard-hitting defense? The Panthers are fifth in the NFL in points allowed. Prefer explosive offense? Despite losing star receiver Kelvin Benjamin for the season to injury in August, Carolina is somehow third in the league in scoring at 29.9 points per game (and that’s sure to go way up with another game against the Saints remaining on the schedule).

Are you a fan of fat guy touchdowns? The Panthers have Mike Tolbert. Enjoy the films of Sandy Bullock? The Panthers employ Michael Oher. Appreciate funny Twitter accounts or just anything that craps all over Dan Snyder? Then you should follow @Panthers. Want to watch a shutdown cornerback who isn’t completely overexposed? Check out Josh Norman. Like players who are active in the community? Carolina gives you Greg Olsen, Charles Tillman and Thomas Davis. (And Newton, too. Yes, it appears that post-TD dabbing doesn’t necessarily make a man rotten to his core.) Are you entertained by fun names? Carolina has a guy named Star and another called Fozzy. Entertained by fun names and have the sense of humor of an 11 year-old boy? Carolina’s practice squad features Cox and a Ball. And are you just a little bit worried that the Panthers have too much fun, considering even head coach Ron Rivera dabs on folks? Do not fear. They have Derek Anderson as Newton’s backup, so he’ll make sure they “take this shit serious”.

Barring Roger Goodell implementing emergency rules that ban non-league approved enjoyment, the Panthers could go down as fun a team as the 1999 “Greatest Show On Turf” St Louis Rams. That team featured a supermarket stock boy turned NFL superstar in Kurt Warner, do-everything back Marshall Faulk and a head coach in Dick Vermeil who seemed to react to most every touchdown by sobbing uncontrollably. That was a fun NFL team to root for and watch.

Before the ‘99 Rams, the 1985 Chicago Bears were the NFL’s fun benchmark. They featured Walter Payton, Refrigerator Perry, Jim McMahon, Mike Ditka and The Super Bowl Shuffle, a song released three months before the team actually won a title. Just imagine Cam Newton dropping a rap anthem right now about winning the Super Bowl. The heat generated from the takes would boil Earth’s oceans. But in 1985, the general reaction to the Bears video was: “Ha. That’s fun.” Maybe Ronald Reagan’s America really was a utopia after all.

We need the Panthers. They are the NFL’s best shot at beating the Patriots and our greatest hope for making the NFL fun again. If that’s not enough for you, consider that they’re playing the Cowboys this week on Thanksgiving. Cam Newton can humiliate Greg Hardy and Jerry Jones in front of the entire nation. If that’s not worth dancing over, then nothing is.