Jeff Garcia criticized Cam Newton for wearing flashy clothes after struggling on the football field. It is one of the most hackneyed and outdated tropes in sports.

Garcia works as an analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area, and was discussing the San Francisco 49ers’ 33-6 rout Sunday of the New England Patriots. Before the game, Newton was photographed entering Gillette Stadium with a sharp burgundy vest, red scarf and top hat. Garcia said Newton should tone down his attire, due to his on-field struggles.

“Why are you dressing like that to bring more attention to yourself?,” Garcia said. “I’d be trying to ask the equipment managers ‘Put me in your jock sock cart and sneak me in the back door and I’ll show up on the field and do the best that I can.”

Later in his rant, Garcia made it seem as if he’s been waiting to unload on Newton for a while.

“This just goes back to a couple years of just watching this guy and seeing him at the podium, but yet what he’s doing on the field does not translate to being that guy,” he said.

NBC Sports Bay Area deleted the video from its Twitter. A spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Concerns over Newton’s image have been omnipresent throughout his NFL career. His entree to the league came in early 2011, when he sat down with then-Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, who wound up taking him No. 1 overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.

Richardson says he instructed the Heisman trophy winner to refrain from getting earrings and tattoos. Instantly, Newton was confronted with the extra burdens he would carry as a Black quarterback.

In addition to performing on the field, he would be expected to conform off of it.

But Newton has refused to do that, and during his nine seasons in Carolina, he was routinely confronted with criticisms over his increasingly flamboyant attire. He was ripped last season for sporting a scarf last worn by Lucille Ball in 1957 following a loss, and benched in 2016 for failing to comply with the Panthers’ team dress code.

The barbs directed towards Newton for his fashion or behavior didn’t stop in Carolina, either. Earlier this year, Boston sports talk radio hosts Michael Felger and Tony Massarotti ripped Newton for his elaborate touchdown celebrations.

Newton has continually explained his affinity for fashion. He launched his own clothing line in 2013, just as he was entering his third NFL season. In an interview with Esquire at the time, he talked about how his parents instilled the importance of dressing for confidence.

“Growing up in Atlanta I always had a sense of what fashion was, a sense of style — my parents always talked about the importance of making a first impression and that’s stayed with me,” he said.

In a recent interview with the Boston Globe, Newton said he dresses boldly to express himself as a person — and show the world he’s more than a football player.

“I think for me, or us, and when I say us I mean football players, we are bottled into this kind of stereotype that we’re masked athletes and a lot of people do not understand the person underneath the helmet, so to speak,” he told the Globe’s Jim McBride. “And I’m really into fashion. I’m all for it. So, when I have my opportunity for people to see me, I just want them to be able to see my expression and to have me express myself in a way that does not require me to open my mouth.”

It’s clear Newton views his wardrobe as a means of personal expression. He’s reached incredible heights in his career, winning the NFL MVP in 2015. His career in Carolina didn’t end because of scarves. It ended because of injuries to his shoulder and foot.

Those nagging injuries could still be holding Newton back in New England. He’s thrown for one touchdown and six interceptions over his last three games. But his pre-and post-game outfits are irrelevant. Garcia’s comments are insulting to Newton’s freedom of expression.

But when Newton was asked Monday about Garcia’s words in a radio interview with WEEI, he answered with class. Newton’s classy response says even more about him than his eclectic outfits.

“Well, you know what’s crazy? I agree with him and the fact that he’s a former player, he has every right to say that and until that happens so be it,” Newton said. “I know I come off to so many different people in different ways and that’s fine. You know what, he’s exactly right. But, I’m not changing the way I dress.”

The detractors have been screaming about Newton’s clothes for years. He hears them, but isn’t listening to them. It’s how he’s been able to stay on grand NFL stage for 10 years, and be unapologetically himself.