As of today, you could argue Cam Newton is the face of the NFL. With Tom Brady a full-on villain to most of the league’s fanbase and Peyton Manning freeballing on his couch for DirecTV and Papa John’s, the Carolina Panthers quarterback is currently the standard-bearer for NFL’s brand and, bu God, they should do more to protect it. I’m not one to call for the wuss-ification of the sport we all love, but enforcing the actual rules of the game equally isn’t asking for too much and Newton, in nearly every game he’s in, does not get the calls his QB peers do.
This will be the topic on plenty of sports radio segments, newsprint and internet space will endeavor to analyse from every conceivable angle over the next week as we process what we saw in Thursday night’s Panthers 21-20 loss to the Denver Broncos. One thing is for certain and no one, not even the NFL is arguing the point; the refs screwed up by not calling helmet-to-helmet hits against Cam Newton.
As the old saying goes, "You can't stop Cam Newton. You can only hope to contain him by repeatedly pummeling him in the head"
— Eric Stangel (@EricStangel) September 9, 2016
Friday the NFL reviewed the tape and admitted that Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall should have been penalized for a headshot against Newton in the third quarter of the game. They also admitted that a hit by Von Miller later in the game could have been called, but was more of a “judgement” issue.
There was also the mysterious “offsetting” call in the fourth quarter when Broncos safety Darian Stewart blasted Newton in the head right as the QB was called for intentionally grounding the ball. The result of the two flags was a glorified do-over. I’m not sure what the NFL rules are in that situation, but the resulting offsetting penalties call is ridiculous and deserves a look in the offseason if the refs interpreted it correctly. “Intentional grounding” as a call was created to keep the QB from escaping a sack by tossing the ball away, giving the defense the sack yardage and loss of down they would have acquired with the sack. If that’s the case, then the personal foul call should have come after the face, been 15 yards from the point of the hit, and an automatic Panthers first down.
There is very clear video that at least two #Broncos defenders – Marshall, Stewart – launched themselves to hit Cam Newton in the head
— Ed Werder (@EdwerderRFA) September 9, 2016
Newton, for his part as he often does, deflected criticism aimed at other people. He’s that kind of guy. When he was asked about a “racial” component to negative opinions of him as a player this offseason, he shrugged that off completely even though it’s undoubtedly part of it. Newton is the bigger man, not just physically, and, if anything, that should make him even more valuable to the league.
“It’s not my job to question the officials,” Newton told reporters after the game. “I really like this officiating crew, so I know it wasn’t something they did intentionally. But it’s not fun to get hit in the head.”
Newton’s dad Cecil had no qualms about sharing his opinion on the NFL and the referees in regards to his son’s health and well being.
“I’m beginning to question the consistency of how games are being called,” Cecil told ESPN Friday. “And who they would call this particular play against versus this particular player. Was Cam treated differently from other quarterbacks? In this case, yes he was, clearly. Anybody who has followed the game for any length of time and has a working knowledge of how the game is to be played would agree with that statement.”
Filed to ESPN: just spoke to cam newton's father. he said he's "grossly disturbed" by what he saw last night. story to post shortly.
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) September 9, 2016
As a person who has a working knowledge of how the game is to be played, I would like to state emphatically that I agree with Cecil Newton’s statement. He’s damn right it would be called differently for another quarterback.
Just last year NFL ref Ed Hochuli told Newton to his face after an uncalled late hit that he “wasn’t old enough to get that call.”
Newton is a big guy, 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds. He’s roughly the same size, if not bigger, than a few of the men tackling him and I really think that’s a factor in some of these “judgement” calls. I don’t think there’s a racial component here, just an unintentional thought that Newton can take the hits because of his physicality. And while I’m sure his body can take more punishment than Tom Brady’s, that has nothing to do with enforcement of the rules. Newton should be treated like every other quarterback. It’s as simple as that.
