Big dents to their bank accounts for helmet-to-helmet hits on Cam Newton aren’t deterring Denver Broncos defenders Brandon Marshall and Darian Stewart.
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Both Marshall and Stewart were fined by the National Football League on Wednesday.
Nearly as soon as the Denver Broncos beat the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, the result of the Super Bowl 50 rematch was lost in the debate over the way several Broncos players did not get penalties for helmet-to-helmet contact to Panthers quarterback Cam Newton and whether or not the Carolina coaching staff and game officials properly followed concussion protocols involving Newton near the end of the game.
Stewart was penalized 15 yards for his hit that left Newton shaken with 36 seconds remaining, although because the quarterback was flagged for not getting his pass to the line of scrimmage, the infractions offset.
Marshall was fined $24,309 for illegal use of a helmet. ESPN’s Ed Werder reported that another source indicated to him that Marshall would likely face a standard fine as well. “That’s it. Winning. Winning football games”, Newton said.
Although Newton isn’t anxious, the NFL can ill afford to drop the ball when it comes to player safety, especially in the wake of Wednesday’s announcement that the league has invested $100 million in an initiative focused largely on preventing and learning about head injuries. I’m not here to worry about retirement plans.
“I’m anxious about winning”.
“On the referees’ side, I can’t worry about that”, Newton said. I’m not here to worry about workers comp. I’m not going to rehash my beef with the lack of the officiating crew’s responsibility being questioned, but needless to say I find it deplorable that they weren’t punished for their part in this fiasco. This is a physical sport.
“I understand I was kind of shocked, hurt”.
The NFL and the NFL Players Association both said they were probing the response by medical personnel during the game.
The Panthers were the first to taste the offerings of quarterback Cam Newton’s new food truck, “Smokn’ Aces”.
“But he’s a hard player to tackle, he’s so big, and when he runs, he leans like a running back, coming right at you”. “Whatever coach asks me to do, I’m going to do it to win football games”. “It was like, ‘if only I had this play back”. Sometimes I’ve been hit and they have been called.
Further, things got testy this week when the media questioned Panthers head coach Ron Rivera as to why Newton was allowed to continue playing after taking several shots to the head.
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“I think some players feel like they have arrived when they hit Cam”, he said.
