He left after hearing a Broncos player speaking nearby. Panthers vs Broncos at Levi’s Stadium in Super Bowl 50The disappointment on Newton’s face was as noticeable as the lack of flair in his postgame attire.
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Newton will always be a singular player, especially in a game that is shading ever more towards uniformity.
Of the quarterback’s 13 answers, 11 were three words or fewer.
“We just didn’t play good enough”.
Come back even more excited and know what your mission is. We had our opportunities. We dropped balls. We turned the ball over, gave up sacks, threw errant passes.
For 18 weeks, Newton behaved as if every game were a party and he was the life of it. He couldn’t wait to scamper for a pivotal first down and rise up with a little shimmy, a wink and a stylish point toward his opponent’s end zone.
He didn’t get a lot of help offensively, but the running narrative all season long-against plenty of solid defenses, mind you-is that he wasn’t getting much help to begin with. Asked why the Panthers didn’t play like they have all season, when they led the league in scoring (31.2 PPG), he said.
Now that images of Cam Newton’s sullen post-Super Bowl Q&A session have gone viral, at least one national media outlet writes, “Newton has gone from Superman to the Incredible Sulk”. But represent the awesome God you serve through your words….
One play will haunt Newton more than any other, and more than his post-game blow-off, too. They’d rather talk about his Versace trousers, his touchdown celebrations or his ability to leap over defenders at the line of scrimmage. When Devin Funchess sat down instead, a camera man from a local station said “this is fucking ridiculous” and we moved en masse to No. 6, and when Ryan Kalil sat there we tried our luck at podium No. 4, where Newton finally shuffled on stage. He said Newton’s quarterback’s athletic skill and physical talent often overshadow the time he puts in trying to get better. His voice could be heard above everyone else’s from the Carolina interview area, which was separated from the Broncos’ area by a black curtain. Better questions would have been, why was our passing off, even when you had time to throw? “That was the game plan”, Harris said. And from the opening kickoff, Newton looked overwhelmed. The newly crowned league MVP finally shook his head as Harris spoke and then walked off. Whether Harris’ comments pushed Newton into leaving, only the quarterback can say.
For a moment, Newton stayed silent.
It’s one thing to give fuel to Sanders, an NFL Network analyst who regularly and shamelessly makes outlandish characterizations and inserts himself into stories. “It’s going to hurt everybody for a while”. “And then off of the field, since he’s gotten here, he’s been everything that you would hope”. Bad for Newton, and bad on the Times, for turning what is entirely a discussion about sportsmanship into a discussion about skin color. “We’ll be back”, he said.
Denver had 16 players who had played in the Super Bowl compared to seven for Carolina.
I know you’re disappointed not just for yourself, but for your teammates. And we also know as professionals that’s part of the business. No you didn’t because you just wanted to see a man lose because he had fun playing a game all year.
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Still, you can count me as a fan of everything about Cam Newton’s football persona. ABC7 News contributed to this ESPN report.
