This Could Be The Real Reason Cam Newton Walked Out Of His Press Conference

Cam Newton critics, mostly silent throughout the 2015-16 season, save for their blatant dislike for the Dab, came out of the woods following the Panthers’ 24-10 loss to the Broncos in Super Bowl 50. There were the usual lazy narratives — Newton is arrogant, disrespectful to Peyton Manning, etc. — but Newton’s post-game press conference dug up the angle that Newton is unprofessional and childish. If you missed it, a visibly upset Newton walked out of his presser.

However, it turns out post-game interview logistics, of all things, could have been the reason behind Newton’s decision to walk out mid-interview. Speaking in the next “room” — and emphasis is definitely being added here — was Broncos cornerback Chris Harris. Per a transcription of Harris’ post-game comments, the cornerback talked about the Broncos’ game plan of shutting down Newton, which includes Harris asking the question, “Can you throw the football?”

In the video below, one can clearly hear Harris speaking:

Still hurt from losing the biggest game of his life, Newton understandably had a hard time listening to that. Not helping matters, surely, were the utterly useless questions he was being asked:

Piecing all of this together might explain why Newton reacted the way he did. The separate conversation is whether he should have behaved that way at all. Frankly, there’s not a great answer. (Lest we forget, too, Newton isn’t the first player to react poorly to losing a Super Bowl.)

Ultimately, Newton critics will continue to fan their stance with moments like last night. That won’t change. He’s received grief before for how he’s handled himself in post-game interviews after losses. His leadership during tough times was brought into question long before Sunday. There are many reasons why people don’t like Newton, but they all tend to find the same things to rally around. That’s one of them.

Similarly, Newton supporters will find context to support his actions. That was evident this morning. And that won’t change.

Most importantly, though, it’s not likely Newton will change any time soon. He’s an emotional player, win or lose. To ask him to be more “professional” — whatever arbitrary standard that may be — is to ask him to change who he is. Maybe Newton learns from this experience and approaches post-game interviews differently moving forward. Or maybe he doesn’t. He certainly doesn’t owe anyone a facade to please the masses.

Athletes are competitors, and some competitors don’t lose as gracefully as others. Fans and media, in fact, want players to be competitive all the way up to the moment they want them to win or lose gracefully. Some can do it, some can’t, but DNA is a hard thing to modify. 

To be clear, Newton didn’t handle Sunday night’s loss well at all. He didn’t play well, either. Both of those things are non-debatable and rest assured no one feels worse about the outcome of the game than Newton. He’s worked hard most of his life, harder than any of us could know, to get to this point… and he came up short. But the question we need to ask ourselves regarding Newton’s post-game reaction is whether we really care about so-called professionalism in a job that’s unlike any other in the world — or if we’re just pretending to care.

Because if it’s the latter, Newton’s reaction makes him more honest than the rest of us.

(Via BMWeezy13)

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