Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a prob

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Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a prob

Postby Beernpotatoes » Thu Mar 17, 2016 8:13 am

Losing sucks. When I lose, and thank the Lord it doesn't happen often, the hardest part is walking out of the courtroom. I’ll have just spent the better part of a year preparing for a trial -- conducting discovery, wrangling pretrial matters with opposing counsel, jockeying for favorable evidentiary rulings from the court, tracking down witnesses, reading thousands of pages of deposition transcripts and records, and sometimes learning an entire new field of science/medicine so that I can question opposing experts -- all so that a jury of strangers can rule against me for reasons that I will never know. Maybe we didn't have the better case, maybe we didn’t get the rulings from the judge, maybe they didn’t like my necktie. I’m exhausted, defeated, and questioning my career choices. I just want to go home, open a beer, and sit with my dog.

But when I have to get up and walk out of the courtroom, I'm going to come face to face with my client -- and possibly his or her family. "What happened?" "Why did they rule against us?" "Why would the judge not let me talk about that thing that happened? " "Why was the other side allowed to say whatever they wanted?"

Those questions very quickly give way to accusations. "You screwed it up." "I told you we should have called that witness." "I told you we should have used that document." "YOU lost my case. This is YOUR fault."

In my world, it's not a football game. It's real life, and my client could be going to jail or losing their business or getting stuck with tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills that they can never recover. I don't have the luxury of pouting and whining and storming away in a temper tantrum. I have to man up, take the criticism, and calmly advise my client about their rights and the options available to them.

At the Super Bowl, Cam Newton lost. He lost a child's game, and he was paid millions of dollars even though he lost. When I lose, I often get nothing. Then, he went into a press conference, pouted, whined, and stomped out after a few minutes. And the NFL talking heads criticized him for it mercilessly.

The criticism was fair, but it didn't go nearly far enough. It is hardly first time that a group or organization turned on one of its own in response to a falter. The most sanctimonious, holier than thou speech of all came from none other than Deon Sanders, the man who practically invented excessive showboating.

The real problem lies with the NFL and a professional sports culture that glorifies poor sportsmanship and teaches it to kids.

Two years ago, I was watching the Washington Redskins play the final game of one of their worst seasons in franchise history. It was cold and rainy, there were maybe 400 fans in the entire stadium, and the Redskins were losing. Then, one of the Redskins' defenders made a good, solid, open field tackle. After which, he jumped up and started dancing around like he had just won the super bowl. For who? He clearly could not have been having any fun playing in that game. The fans certainly weren't enjoying the game. It couldn't have been for the cameras - the TV audience was probably smaller than the audience in the stadium. So why did he get up and do a victory dance in the middle of one the worst games of the worst season in franchise history? Because it was automatic. It's what the NFL does. The NFL taught him to make a jackass out of himself on live TV.

Everyone is talking about Cam Newton's poor showing at the post-game press conference, but no one mentions the Bronco's receivers doing little dances after each first down in a game where the Bronco's offense could only have been described as "not as terrible as Carolina's." It's stupid, it's embarrassing, and it's poor sportsmanship.

And the NFL loves it. They encourage it. They replay these celebration dances over and over in the highlight reels. They teach young kids that it’s cool to be a poor sport and a jackass. They glorify it. Sure, there are rules against excessive celebrations and against taunting. But a legitimate celebration of a win isn't poor sportsmanship. If I win a case, I want to go out to a nice restaurant with my wife, or take a day off, or even just enjoy a glass of good bourbon. If you score a game changing touchdown or make a key play to stop the other team from winning, by all means, throw your fists in the air and give a triumphant yell.

The badly choreographed dances, however, are not legitimate expressions of victory. They are what they are: pre-planned showboating for the sole purpose of making a spectacle out of yourself and taunting the other side. It is jackassery. It is childish. It is unprofessional.

Do I think the NFL should ban it or change the rules? No. No I do not. I think they should shame it, refuse to indulge the players who do it by refusing to show it on TV, and the NFL talking heads should call it out for the poor sportsmanship that it is.

But most of all, I'd like to see the fans start booing it. We should expect better behavior from a bunch of grown men who get paid a damn lot of money to play a child's game. I'll bet you a dollar that little Cameron Newton watched Deon Sanders dance around like a jackass when he was kid and thought to himself, "I wanna be just like him."
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Absentia » Thu Mar 17, 2016 9:14 am

I couldn't disagree more strongly. Frankly I'm amazed that more sportswriters don't get punched square in the jaw for waving a microphone in somebody's face right after their biggest failure was broadcast on live TV and asking some of the stupidest questions ever spoken out loud. It doesn't seem reasonable to expect a guy to be in full-on high-adrenaline warrior mode for 3 hours, have his dreams and aspirations kicked in the balls, then go and do a perfectly respectful press conference 5 minutes later.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby iMURDAu » Thu Mar 17, 2016 1:26 pm

I have to disagree with Absentia. Its the reporters job to get a reaction quote. Its been that way since newspapers started covering professional sports leagues. If you can't handle losing then don't play. Its a game. Its not life or death despite how you may mentally prepare for the contest.

This whole season Cam went around giving footballs to kids after he scored, doing his Superman dance, and laughing about how easy he made it look. He can dish it out but he can't take it. I think the Broncos receivers were dancing to rub salt on the Panthers. The Panthers who were described by Steve Young as being the most relaxed team he's ever seen before the Super Bowl. Too much confidence = cockiness. When cockiness loses it can't deal. He's not the first QB to lose a Super Bowl afaik there are around 40 different Super Bowl losing QBs. Jim Kelly lost 4 in a row and didn't act like a whiny brat. Fran Tarkenton, who btw Cam can get on his knees and give thanks to for casting the mobile QB mold, lost 3 Super Bowls and didn't pout. John Elway suffered two of the worst blowout losses before he won a Super Bowl and he acted professionally.

If Scott Norwood can handle it like a professional then why couldn't Cam?

^ is what the banner I'd pay a plane to fly over Carolina home games would state.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Doodle Dee. Snickers » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:01 pm

I also have to /strongly/ disagree.

The thing about Cam Newton is, I felt terrible for him. His team let him down, the one touchdown they got was pretty much squarely on his shoulders, and most importantly, the entirety of the NFL seemed to want him to lose because it wouldn't be a storybook ending if the potential GOAT had to lose instead of becoming the GOAT.

Seriously, when he got the MVP award, there was like...five seconds of him giving a speech, then thirty minutes on what Peyton Manning said in rebuttal. The Panthers had been getting shit all season for not being good enough even though they had the best record entering the postseason, the best QB in the league, and everyone's now going to remember the storybook win by the QB who was so bad that the team basically had to win in spite of him.

But more to the point: Cam Newton's antics don't really harm anyone, and the NFL has propped up MUCH worse role models. When I think of bad sportsmanship, I think of people actively trying to goad or injure people. Or, hey, remember when Ray "I was party to a double homicide and now work for ESPN and do commercials" Lewis was the football god in Superbowl Whichever Was the One Where They Beat the 49ers? Didn't he take the MVP that year, too?

At the end of the day, though, it's a dude getting excited and being emotional doing the thing he loves. What's the real harm in that?

Frankly, Cam Newton, for the one fit he (arguably) was somewhat justified in throwing, is also one of the most generally well-tempered, likeable and charitable QBs in the league. And that's worth noting.
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Last edited by Doodle Dee. Snickers on Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby sunglasses » Thu Mar 17, 2016 3:21 pm

I'm with Doods on this.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Deathclaw_Puncher » Thu Mar 17, 2016 4:57 pm

What does the Generalized Occupational Aptitude Test have to do with football?
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby iMURDAu » Thu Mar 17, 2016 5:35 pm

Ray Lewis being falsely accused of murder is hardly a display of sportsmanship in any sense of the word.

Cam Newton acted like a sore loser. You can't constantly be a sore winner and a sore loser and expect to be respected. Look at Conor McGregor who acted like a complete asshole before his fight in which he got subbed in the 2nd round by a more experienced fighter. He basically blamed his loss on not being able to do enough damage to a heavier fighter which makes sense because he never fights 25 lbs. above his weight.

This is currently his career defining moment. Look if any of us acted like that in a workplace how would it go over? Peyton lost 2 Super Bowls and I missed the part where he whined like a baby. Oh it didn't happen. But I'm willing to bet it ate at him. If he had lost this latest one we'd all be saying how Brock Osweiler should've played instead but I guarantee Peyton would've took it in stride because he has confidence. Not cockiness, arrogance, and a sense of entitlement.

The worst part is that Cam doubled down on his lack of grace. Its like dude they gave you a chance to look good for the kids who look up to you. How could you set a bad example like that? Sorry Cam but we've had 50 Super Bowls and only one whiny baby post game presser. Just the one.

Act like you've been there before and act like you'll be back again. That's what Barry Sanders said about scoring touchdowns.

Also what about his excuse of not wanting to get hurt being why he didn't dive for his own fumble? What kind of team player is that? What a loser!
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Doodle Dee. Snickers » Thu Mar 17, 2016 11:38 pm

iMURDAu wrote:Ray Lewis being falsely accused of murder is hardly a display of sportsmanship in any sense of the word.


Um...if by 'falsely accused' you mean 'he rolled on his friends as part of a deal to get out of prison time', then sure.

And my point was the the NFL has had far worse players starring as the face of the game. Just to talk about players that can't stand losing: Tom Brady is the whiniest crybaby this side of the Mississippi, and the league seems to have survived hoisting him onto their shoulders for years.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby iMURDAu » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:23 am

When did Tom Brady sulk and walk out of a news conference following the Super Bowl? Cam dabbed all over until he couldn't and then it was time to cross his arms and stomp out of the room like a toddler. Sore winner, sore loser.

What does off the field issues have to do with acting unprofessionally in uniform? Leonard Little killed a woman and got a 2 game suspension. Greg Hardy was a highly coveted pickup according to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He did worse stuff than Ray Rice just not on camera. Shit, Laura Bush killed a man but who cared about her being First Lady for 8 years when Ray Lewis was alleged to have been this killer along with his buddies who got acquitted! I could sit here and type endlessly off the top of my head about great NFL talent who were fuckups off the field but never showed it on the field or in the press. O.J. Simpson a murderer? GTFO not the guy from the commercials and Naked Gun movies!

Plenty of famous pouters exist in sports but that is the last thing everybody saw of Cam Newton. Defending his behavior by saying he's not the only one or that other people do worse things doesn't make it okay.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Doodle Dee. Snickers » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:32 am

iMURDAu wrote:When did Tom Brady sulk and walk out of a news conference following the Super Bowl? Cam dabbed all over until he couldn't and then it was time to cross his arms and stomp out of the room like a toddler. Sore winner, sore loser.

What does off the field issues have to do with acting unprofessionally in uniform? Leonard Little killed a woman and got a 2 game suspension. Greg Hardy was a highly coveted pickup according to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones. He did worse stuff than Ray Rice just not on camera. Shit, Laura Bush killed a man but who cared about her being First Lady for 8 years when Ray Lewis was alleged to have been this killer along with his buddies who got acquitted! I could sit here and type endlessly off the top of my head about great NFL talent who were fuckups off the field but never showed it on the field or in the press. O.J. Simpson a murderer? GTFO not the guy from the commercials and Naked Gun movies!

Plenty of famous pouters exist in sports but that is the last thing everybody saw of Cam Newton. Defending his behavior by saying he's not the only one or that other people do worse things doesn't make it okay.


Laura Bush? Where did that come from? Did she used to play football? I could see her being a free safety. Or did you just try to "There are starving children in Africa" me?

Right, let me simplify this. The literal topic is a player who is considered the face of the NFL. Since Ray Lewis also served in that capacity at one point (whereas Ray Rice didn't, nobody even knew who Greg Hardy was until he became a problem, OJ was disgraced after his trial, and Laura Bush was a First Lady), my point is that Cam Newton storming out of a press conference is hardly the worst thing that has ever been done by an NFL player that the NFL has been trumping up as their poster boy. It's not really a big deal.

And I love this "Doesn't make it okay," like I'm defending Donald Trump or Kim Jong Un or something.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby iMURDAu » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:15 pm

Your point is that others have done worse, my point is that still doesn't give Cam an excuse to act like that. I get it if Cam's your boy and you'll defend him because the media was ignorant of Carolina's existence until the NFC Championship game but he's a sore winner and a sore loser.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Taluun » Fri Mar 18, 2016 12:37 pm

Speaking as someone who doesn't watch any sports (not even stuff like the superbowl), has no idea who Cam Newton is, and in general is just ignorant of most things sports. I don't see what the issue is exactly with how you guys are describing his behavior. Showboating isn't rude to anyone as long as it isn't done to taunt them. Fuck newspapers attempts at getting reaction quotes (I see this as no different than paparazzi trying to get pictures of celebrities in weaker moments). I see no reason why a person should have to sit around if people are going to be rude to him (as it sounds like people were doing at the press conference)

Sure it would be ideal if people who perfectly composed 100% of the time but I am not going to go around faulting people for silly things like that when the moments they lose their composure don't actually have real world effects.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby iMURDAu » Fri Mar 18, 2016 2:41 pm

Nobody was rude to him. http://nypost.com/2016/02/07/cam-newton-now-must-face-a-sickening-reality/

There's the whole video. He dipped when someone brought up him not going after his own fumble. That's a legitimate question that fans wanted an answer to. Its his job to take questions, its an athletes job to give reaction quotes. They get paid millions to play a game so I don't see why its rude to expect them to do what has been done by almost every athlete who came before them. There's always been some athletes who had an open dislike of the media but they were consistent with it. Eddie Murray and Rasheed Wallace come to mind.

When he was winning he wanted the spotlight on him. When he lost he wanted the spotlight to disappear. Sorry but he's gotta deal with the spotlight always being on. When I'm at work I can't just run away if a customer asks a question.
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby Beernpotatoes » Fri Mar 18, 2016 6:28 pm

I hadn't realized that this article was published. I wrote it the morning after the Super Bowl. Anyway, I am flattered that something I wrote has generated this much response. Thanks, guys!
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Re: Why Cam Newton IS the face of the NFL, and why that's a

Postby 52xMax » Sat Mar 19, 2016 7:36 pm

I think the NFL would benefit even more if instead of Cam Newton their new face was Fig Newtons.
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