Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton has made the most of a record breaking rookie season, bringing the woeful Panthers back from the brink of obscurity. The face of the franchise is now using his chiseled good looks in the world of marketing, joining with athletic sportswear company Under Armour for a new commercial spot featuring Dipset producer AraabMuzik. The commercial (see below), “Cam's Night Out,” shows off the first-year starter clad in form-fitting Under Armour gear, taking to a football field to work out on the weekend instead of partying and living off the trappings of fame in a tongue-in-cheek play on words. Rhode Island producer AraabMuzik shows off his signature on-the-spot beat crafting in the clip as well, banging out music on his MPC and providing a busy soundtrack for Newton to work out to. Cam shows off his athletic prowess, and the UA Highlight Cleat, in a variety of high energy poses before ending off in boastful fashion.

Last night the New York Knicks lost their first game since new sensation Jeremy Lin became the starting point guard. In the games that the Chinese-American Harvard grad has taken over he’s broken several NBA records and put the Knicks on a seven-game winning streak.”Linsanity” took hold of the sports nation and he seemed unstoppable.

However, after losing to the New Orleans Hornets 89 to 85 ESPN.com wanted to point out that the rising star was indeed fallible, but in a very questionable way. The headline to the story of the loss read “Chink In The Armor,” referencing both the loss and taking a swipe at Lin’s Chinese heritage. “Chink in the armor” is a common phrase used to refer to a weakness, specifically a narrow  opening in one’s defenses that leaves them vulnerable. It originates back to the 1400-1600s when knights would fight in armor. However, “Chink” is also an ethnic slur used against people of Chinese and East Asian descent.  The play on words was obvious, and showed poor judgement on the part of the writers and editors.

After public outcry the sports company issued the following apology on their website:

“Last night, ESPN.com’s mobile web site posted an offensive headline referencing Jeremy Lin at 2:30 a.m. (ET). The headline was removed at 3:05 a.m. We are conducting a complete review of our cross-platform editorial procedures and are determining appropriate disciplinary action to ensure this does not happen again. We regret and apologize for this mistake.”