Why? Why Would I Expect Cam Newton To Understand The Concept Of Earning A Call?

LBS- “I was really baffled by what was said to me,” Newton said after the game via The Charlotte Observer. “I was rolling out trying to string out the play and create some type of opportunity to get a completion and the defensive lineman, you know, kind of hit me. It was close. It was right on the cusp. Was it a late hit? I don’t know. But the response that I got was, ‘Cam you’re not old enough to get that call.’”

The play happened when Newton rolled out to throw a pass to Greg Olsen in the fourth quarter and was hit by the Saints’ Tyler Davison. 

“I’m looking at him like what? Jesus. I didn’t think you had to have seniority to get a personal foul or anything like that,” Newton said. “You just have to be accountable. It’s one thing to be frustrated in a situation where you see a personal foul on the opposing quarterback get called, and then for me when it’s something around the same range and for that flag not to be called, it’s…I’m ticked off. Really.”



That guy. That guy in the fucking camouflage suit ranting and raving about one single non-call in a game that littered with hundreds of judgment calls. That's the fucking guy the Saints lost to. I swear, every time I watch Cam Newton win a game I am amazed that his superior athletic ability is able to overcome his complete and utter lack of brain cells. It's not so much that the Saints stink. It's that they stink against people as hatable as Cam Newton. It's that they stink against a guy whose fashion choices make me want to take a screwdriver to my eyeballs. It's that they stink against a guy that stares in shock when a ref explains to him a concept that has been prevalent in all sports for as long as they have been played professionally. It's they they stink against a guy that's "ticked off" about not getting a call in a game which his team won anyway. 

Let me break this down for you Cam. You don't need to have seniority to get a flag thrown in your favor. You need seniority to get a flag thrown in your favor when a guy taps you with his pinky and you go flying 10 feet into the distance. You need seniority to get a flag thrown in your favor when you redefine the word embellishment with one single play. The reason a Tom Brady, or a Peyton Manning, or a Drew Brees, or even a Luke McCown gets that call is because the referee, in this case Ed Hochuli, trusts that their physical reaction was based on the severity of the hit. Basically, you get the benefit of the doubt when you aren't constantly begging for the benefit of the doubt. It's less about age and more about maturity. Cam Newton simply hasn't earned the right to get calls in questionable situations. The fact that he was crying about it postgame is a testament to the reason it happened in the first place. "Older", more mature players leave the football on the field, and don't bring their problems to the podium. Especially when it had no bearing on the final outcome of the game. The day Cam Newton stops making a spectacle of himself, and starts respecting the integrity of the game, very well may be the day that Ed Hochuli begins to respect him as one of the better quarterbacks in the game.