Warren Moon, the first African-American quarterback to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, told CBSSports.com that he believes some of the criticism of Auburn quarterback Cam Newton is based in racism.

"A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based," Moon, who is Newton's adviser, told the website. "I thought we were all past this. I don't see other quarterbacks in the draft being criticized by the media or fans about their smile or called a phony. He's being held to different standards from white quarterbacks. I thought we were past all this stuff about African-American quarterbacks, but I guess we're not.

"Of course there is racism in every walk of society. We've made a lot of progress in this country. But racism is still there. I just thought in the sports arena we were beyond it. I think the way Cam is being treated shows we're not."

A draft profile in Pro Football Weekly published this week blasted Newton. Under the category of negatives, Newton was described as "very disingenuous -- has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them."

The profile also said that Newton "lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness."

Nolan Nawrocki, the author of the Pro Football Weekly draft profile, called Moon's take "absurd" in an interview Thursday with ProFootballTalk.com. He said the publication said some of the same things about Carolina Panthers quarterback Jimmy Clausen last year when he was described as "scripted and disingenuous in interviews."

"I think the best evaluators in the NFL are colorblind in their assessments, and we treat it the same way. We're not trying to take shots at anybody. It's all about getting the evaluations right," he said.

Moon said he doesn't believe NFL teams are discriminating against Newton, but Moon is upset about the public perception of Newton.

Moon told the website that Newton unfairly is being compared to recent draft flameout JaMarcus Russell just because they share the same skin color.