I couldn't think of a better way to word this, because it seems boring and in line with what nearly everyone I hear talk about Cam Newton says. I like Newton. He was fun to watch in college, and he has been fun to watch in the NFL. He is a freakish athlete, and although I do question some of the hits he takes and the ways he sometimes flies into the air trying to gain the extra yard, to this point in his career, he has shown that he is definitely tough enough to continue to bounce back up time after time. As a fan, I have no problem with the sometimes excessive touchdown celebrations, and I think the vast majority of football fans feel the same way. The work off of the field, and giving footballs to young fans after he scores, all of these things make me like him. However, does Cam Newton care what I think? No. He shouldn't care about what any fan outside of Carolina thinks about him. There are people he needs to respect as far as their feelings toward him, and I am still not sold that he respects them enough as he should.
When an NFL player goes out on the field each Sunday, he has to worry about and respect both his teammates and the players on the opposing team. As we have seen throughout his career, Newton has certainly been able to gain respect from his teammates and coaches. Since Newton has won so much as a player, we have seen more good than bad. However, there have definitely been times prior to this season that Newton's attitude has been questioned. We have seen Newton with a towel over his head, sitting by himself on the bench during tough games, and we saw it again this past Sunday. While I didn't think it was a problem as we saw it live, what he did during his postgame press conference definitely cannot be overlooked.
Newton has referred to himself as the future face of the NFL, and I think that is entirely possible. The Tom Brady/Peyton Manning era is getting closer and closer to being over, and I think guys like Newton, J.J. Watt, and Odell Beckham are becoming household names, even to people who do not follow football very closely. With being the face of the biggest pro sports league in the country comes a lot of responsibility, and I think Newton still has much to learn as far as that goes.
Being the face of the league not only means being respected by his peers, but also being respected by the members of the media that cover him. No matter what anyone wants to believe, guys like Newton get paid all of that money for their play on the field and the results they produce, but you don't earn that salary for four quarters every Sunday. With the money comes the responsibility to be able to deal with such a platform off the field as well. That is why when Newton walked off the stage only a few minutes into his postgame press conference, I still have to question his ability to deal with all of that responsibility being placed upon his shoulders.
After the game, defensive end Frank Clark of the Seattle Seahawks, as well as defensive coordinator Wade Phillips of the Denver Broncos both posted on Twitter remarks that were in essence, laughing at Newton for losing the Super Bowl.
And before I go on, I just need to say this about both Frank Clark and Wade Phillips.
First, to Clark: You said that you were happy Newton lost and you couldn't wait to play against him. Really? You actually played Carolina twice this year, and he beat you both times, once being in the playoffs. Keep your mouth shut and let your play do the talking before you bash Newton.
Second, to Phillips: You are old enough to be my grandfather. Why are you even on Twitter in the first place? You are obviously a great defensive coordinator who just won a Super Bowl, but you are also a man that has been involved in football longer than Newton has even been alive. Stop it with Twitter.
Now, back to my original point. I think what Clark and Phillips made public are feelings that are shared by many of the peers of those two men. I think that opposing players dislike Newton for the way he acts on the field, and I think many opposing coaches feel the same way. As Newton said all season, if people feel the same way, then the best way to stop him from acting like that was to beat him on the field. What happened on Sunday was just that. The Broncos stopped him on the field. How he conducted himself during his abbreviated postgame press conference only adds fuel to the fire of opponents that want to see him fail. I don't mean fans of opposing teams or people like me who envy his stature and can only write about him. I mean his peers. The ones he actually has to deal with day in and day out. And as much as he may not want to admit it, members of the media are in many ways his peers. On Sunday, he dealt with them in a very unbecoming way.
I have heard supporters of Newton bring up the fact that he made it a point to seek out Peyton Manning on the field following the final play of the game and give him a hearty congratulations. That clearly shows that he has respect for an all-time great player like Manning. Those people also defend his actions after the game by saying that he wasn't just pouting like a child, he was merely being himself. He has even come out and said that he does admit he is a sore loser. And I think that all superstar athletes are definitely sore losers. The winning attitudes of guys like Michael Jordan and Tom Brady and Kobe Bryant is what makes them great. Not only do they want to win, but they want to rip your heart out of your chest as they do so. And I think Newton feels the same way. However, the saying about what really defines you is not about how many times you get knocked down, but instead how many times you get back up applies here to Newton.
Peyton Manning responded to throwing the game ending interception to Tracy Porter and getting annihilated by the Seahawks to come back and win Super Bowl 50, a game that will likely send him off into the sunset as a two-time champion. Tom Brady recovered from two extremely tough Super Bowl losses to come back and win the Super Bowl last season. Kobe Bryant has won multiple titles, and even though the 2016 Lakers are a disaster, he still goes out there every night because he knows that his legacy would be tarnished if he played out this final chapter like a sore loser. LeBron James dealt with losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals in 2010 by coming back and winning two rings. What I am really interested to see now is how Newton bounces back from this Super Bowl loss.
In professional sports, nothing is guaranteed, and that is particularly true in the NFL. Only a few years ago, Colin Kaepernick was the talk of the league and on his way to a Super Bowl. His 49ers lost that game, and it seemed like despite the loss, Kaepernick still had a very bright future ahead of him. However, we saw indeed that nothing is guaranteed, and as Tony Kornheiser laughingly put it, now you can't even trade Kaepernick for a ham sandwich. I do not think by any stretch of the imagination that Newton will fall off a cliff like Kaepernick did, because he is far more talented, but nothing is guaranteed. Dan Marino lost a Super Bowl when he was young and never made it back. Will Newton face the same fate? It's possible.
So, with Newton, are we facing some petulant child who only is likeable when he wins? Or are we simply facing what the future of American professional sports is? As of right now, I think that the future faces of our biggest leagues are Cam Newton, Stephen Curry, and Bryce Harper. Curry has so far been seemingly flawless, but he has not yet had to deal with a crushing loss like the one Newton suffered. Harper has been great in the good times, but he surely has a temper that flares quite easily. So maybe Newton and Harper are just the way of the future. Maybe young kids will just want to grow up and not care about expressing their feelings as sore losers.
Like I said before, if you are a professional athlete, then you are a sore loser. Some guys might answer all the questions the right way, but on the inside, they are burning with anger. Some might come away from Sunday and just call Newton authentic. Others will call him petulant and unsportsmanlike. No matter what you think, you cannot deny the fact that Newton is all smiles when times are good, but the polar opposite when times are bad. You cannot also deny that although most teams have had trouble stopping him, teams that actually do stop him are more than willing to rub it in his face. That simply comes with the territory of being boisterous and outspoken.
I don't have a problem with him celebrating when he is winning, and if no one can stop him from doing so, then more power to him. I also think that this past Sunday was a clear illustration of why his detractors feel the way they do. One thing I know for sure now is that Cam Newton is a sore loser, and depending on the point of view, this could be viewed in a positive way or a negative way. If you are Michael Jordan sitting back watching him walk off the podium, you understand that as a professional superstar athlete, losing kills you inside. However, if you are a beat writer trying to simply get a question in so you can be quoted in the newspaper the next morning, you hate him for it.
Winning solves everything, but how someone responds after coming up short is a true measure of their character, and Cam Newton is going to have to deal with the fact that for the next seven months, he is going to be seen as a sore loser. The only way to change that will be to step on the field on Week 1 of next season and be on a mission to make this Sunday's press conference a forgettable footnote in the legacy of a potentially superstar quarterback.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers made it three straight wins last night against the Devils, and they now sit third in the Eastern Conference. Next up is a trip to Pittsburgh, where Sidney Crosby has been on an absolute tear. The Rangers are now officially exactly two months away from the close of the regular season, and with the trade deadline approaching, the team might make a few moves to prepare for the stretch run.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Arizona signed Tyler Clippard yesterday, and now with Clippard, Daniel Hudson, and Brad Ziegler, the 7th through 9th inning jobs seem to be potentially set. This seems like the final piece of the offseason puzzle for the Diamondbacks, but with the way the team has spent this offseason, that may not be the case. Either way, Arizona's pitching staff has been improved by leaps and bounds since the conclusion of the 2015 season, and now that football season is officially over, I cannot wait for pitchers and catchers to report.
Daily Giants/NFL Update: Obviously, the Broncos won the Super Bowl, and it seems like Peyton Manning is going to ride off into the sunset just like his boss, John Elway. Although it isn't set in stone, I think Peyton needs to accept the fact that it is not likely to get better than this as far as endings go, and he will have a wealth of opportunities ahead of him once he retires. Manning has the competitive fire, but this is too perfect an ending to ruin.
As far as the Giants go, the offseason is already underway. I think we will see the end of Jon Beason, and I think the team should cut ties with Victor Cruz as well. The team needs help on defense, and between the draft and free agency, Jerry Reese needs to make a splash this offseason.
Daily NBA Update: I was looking forward to the first matchup of the season between Golden State and Oklahoma City, and we got a great game that ended with the Warriors coming out on top. I hate to send repetitive, but with about a week to go until the All Star break, the Warriors have now gotten off to the best 50 game start in NBA history, as they stand at 46-4. They have the Rockets and the Suns before the All Star game, and those seem to both be winnable games. However, once the second half gets underway, Golden State opens with six straight on the road, including trips to play the Clippers, Heat, Hawks, and Thunder. There are two seven-game road stretches for them on the schedule this year, and this upcoming trip will be the second one. Golden State went 6-1 during that first stretch, so what we see from them in the upcoming weeks may very well define how their quest goes to put together the best regular season in NBA history.
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