It’s only natural that the officials see Newton, as imposing a quarterback as there is at 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, in a different light than his mostly smaller counterparts.
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Perhaps the worst of the repeated shots came during the Panthers’ final drive, when Denver Broncos safety Darian Stewart launched himself into Newton head-first, making helmet-to-helmet contact.
When the play calls for Newton to run the ball, or he decides to take off on his own, there’s not much officials can do.
Look, we all know that no one wants to be responsible for costing the team a win by holding out a star, especially if that star is the most visible player in the league and he’s leading a late drive in a one-point game. “There is a protocol”, Rivera said. “It’s kind of like what happened to [former National Basketball Association star] Shaquille O’Neal”. “… Because he’s a big guy, they think he can take it”.
Rivera, who played linebacker for nine seasons with the Chicago Bears, said he experienced some of that prejudice playing high school basketball. The best way to do that is by penalizing the type of hits that create the need for such testing early in the contest before things get out of hand, as they did on Thursday night when the Denver defense was allowed to run roughshod over Newton.
“The frustrating part of that is sometimes the acceptance of that happens, ” Rivera said. “It was nothing intentional at all.In fact I got this blood on my finger”. He’s a little different. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the last one was in Week 11 of the 2014 season against Atlanta.
“It’s not my job to question the officials”, Newton said.
There is protocol and “I do what the doctors tell me”.
“I’m not just going to always say it’s race; I’m not going to keep fanning the flames of race in every situation”, Cecil said.
As Florio also notes, while the reluctance may be understandable, there has to be a way to ensure the protocol is followed, regardless of the juncture of the game. The league “concluded there were no indications of a concussion that would require further evaluation and the removal of the player from the game”.
ENGLEWOOD-Cam Newton was hit four times in the helmet by Denver Broncos defenders Thursday.
“So it does hurt, ” Rivera said. “I really like this officiating crew, so it wasn’t something I know they did intentionally, but it’s not fun getting hit in the head”.
Anderson converted a fourth-and-one play in the fourth quarter to give the Broncos a fresh set of downs inside Carolina’s two-yard line and then charged his way into the end zone to put Denver in front for the first time.
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Veteran tight end Greg Olsen called Steratore a great ref, but echoed other Panthers teammates when he said: “We’ve got to treat Cam like a quarterback”. “Don’t question my integrity when it comes to those things, OK?” I take it very seriously. “So I was just trying to be aggressive and make him feel me”. “It’s up to the doctors, just so you understand that”. “I think the league got it wrong”, Kubiak said.
