Quarterback Cam Newton has come under fire this season as he and the Carolina Panthers have struggled. Hall of Famer Warren Moon says the second-year player is getting too much of the blame and claims there's a troubling racial undertone to the criticism.

"I think a lot of this is because so many people want to say 'I told you so' about him but couldn't because he was so good last year," Moon told Yahoo! Sports. "I think people are overreacting. How can he be a bust? He just had one of the great years a rookie has ever had, and now he can't play? Come on."

Newton has been a target of particular criticism for the visible frustration he sometimes shows during games and in his postgame news conferences. Panthers receiver Steve Smith even publicly criticized Newton for sulking on the sidelines during Carolina's lopsided loss to the Giants in Week 3.

Moon, however, said he is especially concerned because when Newton's demeanor is compared to that of other quarterbacks, it's often to other black quarterbacks.

"I heard somebody compare him to Vince Young. It's the same old crap -- it's always a comparison of one black to another black. I get tired of it. I get tired of defending it," Moon told the website.

"If you want to compare him to someone because of his demeanor, compare him to Jay Cutler. There are a lot of guys who whine and moan. Cam's not biting anybody's head off or pushing his linemen (as the Bears quarterback did during a Week 2 loss to the Panthers). He's just disgruntled, and not handling losing well, because, think about it, he basically didn't lose in college," Moon continued.

"I don't think Cam's as bad as Cutler, because Cutler looks like he doesn't give a damn sometimes, or he's yelling and cussing at someone. Cam, he just looks down when they're losing."

Moon, in an interview with ESPN's "SportsCenter" on Wednesday, clarified his comments.

"I think race is a little bit strong. I think stereotype is a little bit more of what I was talking about," Moon told ESPN. "If we're in a day and age when all quarterbacks are supposed to be equal, why can't we start comparing quarterback to quarterback, not just black to black and white to white?

Moon said the quarterback Newton is most comparable to is Ben Roethlisberger, but the Steelers quarterback doesn't run as well as Newton.

"I would compare those two as far as their gifts," he said.

Newton had a checkered college career before the Panthers made him the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2011. He was reportedly facing possible expulsion from the University of Florida -- he attended the school for two years, playing in one game in the Gators' BCS national championship season of 2008 -- for academic cheating, when he transferred to a junior college in Texas in spring 2009. From there, he signed with Auburn and had an outstanding, Heisman Trophy-winning season and led the Tigers to the national championship.

But Newton's time with Auburn was not without controversy. His eligibility came into question before the 2011 SEC title game, when it was revealed his father and a former Mississippi State player asked MSU for between $120,000 and $180,000 to play for that school out of junior college. Newton was cleared of any wrongdoing by the NCAA.

The Panthers are off to an NFC-worst 1-5 start that triggered the firing of general manager Marty Hurney on Monday. Moon said it's not Newton's fault that Hurney was fired.