Cam is getting a ton of flak for being sad, dejected, upset, and short in his post-game interview. What do people expect for a man who just lost the biggest moment of his career?
He's not the first person to lose a Superbowl. Do you think all the previous players who lost did not also feel angry/sad/dejected/etc? Do you think his own team mates did not also feel those things? Yet none of them ever stormed off the stage like that or treated the media (and by extension the public) like that. Like it or not press conferences are part of the package of being a professional athlete. Especially for someone like Cam who painted a massive bulls-eye on his chest with his words and antics as a self proclaimed icon he absolutely should have faced the music.
In his own words "I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon." So no he does not get to play the I'm just a football player card. Icon is essentially another word for role model. Is that the way kids are to deal with losing? Say what you want about how athletes should not be role models...that does not change the fact that to young minds they absolutely are. He is the face of the Carolina Panthers and potentially one of the main faces of the NFL brand as a whole in the very near future. So yeah I believe he has a responsibility to suck it up like every other player has and did and sit there to answer the questions to the best of his ability or else take well deserved flak for being a sore loser.
I was actually rooting for Denver in this game because of Cam Newton. I don't hate him like I do that Tom Brady. I actually dislike Peyton more, because the more that came out about the HGH incident the more guilty he seems (Seriously why would any innocent person send goons to harass the parents of someone else?). I have no issue with Cam, having fun and posing after touchdowns and the like. (Provided he doesn't do it while losing...that always rubs me the wrong way). However in the past few months his interviews made it seem like his ego had just been getting too inflated by his success. There is a line between being confident and having some swagger and being annoyingly cocky/arrogant. I mean take for example the way he blew off the late night talk show correspondents like he was too good to partake in any of their antics. He was the only one. With a win I feared he would permanently cross that line. Where as I hoped with a loss that maybe he would grow a little an learn a bit of humility. Eat some humble pie, accept his fair share of the blame, acknowledge his weaknesses, and maybe actually start to be more of a person I could feel good rooting for more often. Instead...nope. Just like he never admitted or accepted any blame for the college scandal with his father (even well after the fact when the NCAA already stated they could not do anything) he pretty much dodged all responsibility for the Superbowl loss. On top of that he pretty much insulted his own coach by stating that Rivera did not say anything worth mentioning. Really disappointing that even days later he still does not get it.
"I don’t dive on one fumble because the way my leg was—it could have been [contorted] in a way,” Newton said. “OK, you say my effort. I didn’t dive down. I fumbled. That’s fine. But we didn’t lose that game because of that fumble. I can tell you that.”"
Pathetic. Even if he admitted that he did not dive for fear of injury but now acknowledged even the possibility that was the wrong decision...I could at least respect that. Instead he doubled down. Still not admitting any fault on the play or accepting any direct blame for the loss thrown his way. $cam Newton at his finest.
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