Just who is Cam Newton?

That question has tried to be answered all week in the lead up to football’s finale on Sunday.

He’s the biggest lightning rod in all of sports — and he likes it.

Which is fine, because he’s a 6-foot-5, 250-pound man. He can handle it. He’s a defensive end playing in a quarterback’s body.

If a team doesn’t like Newton dabbing or taking selfies, they will either stop him or take him out. And frankly, I’m surprised that we haven’t heard more about the latter from opposing defensive players this season.

But Newton is about to enter the world’s biggest stage on Sunday. Super Bowl 50 will be broadcast in 230 countries and CBS is devoting more than 11 hours of coverage to the big game.

If Newton isn’t a household name around this country by now, he will be by Sunday night.

And that scares me because there’s a generation of kids that have and will fall in love with the strong and speedy quarterback.

Why? Because it’s only a matter of time before a kid in middle school or high school dabs after a first down or after a score. He will get penalized by the officials and likely get berated by his coaches.

With all due respect to Charles Barkley, professional athletes are role models — like it or not. Kids grow up identifying and dreaming about certain players and mimicking their every move.

Newton may never wear a whistle around his neck, but he is about to become a pseudo coach for a whole generation of kids — both white and black. And the longer those kids see a Heisman Trophy winner, a national champion, an NFL MVP and potential Super Bowl champion dance and wear out selfie sticks, they will start to think that behavior is commonly accepted.

And like I said before, I don’t have a problem with Newton doing those things in an NFL game. If an NFL player got enraged enough, he would send a message to Newton and anyone else that football games aren’t a place to get noticed for “Star Search.”

Now flip that back to the kids. How many opposing defenses are going to stand and watch someone dance and take selfies? It won’t take long before someone lays a punishing blow, which could injure someone severely or result in an all-out melee on the field.

We’ve seen sportsmanship erode at the youth level for a few years now. Kids have become more demonstrative and more aware that their reactions from a big play could end up on social media for all to see.

And now we’ve got an elite quarterback that is trying to win his first Super Bowl title — and he’s doing it by being demonstrative while riding the coattails of social media.

Newton knows when the cameras are humming and he knows when the lights are on. There’s a reason why he decided to wear the loudest pants you’ve ever seen exiting the team airplane in California or why he tied a towel on his head for the Opening Night media bonanza. It’s because he knows you will watch the reality show circus.

All Newton is doing is fine-tuning his brand. He’s Deion Sanders on steroids, and he’s always searching for the next endorsement opportunity.

However, kids aren’t a reality show. They’re still trying to figure out the game and teenage life.