Even in the NFL, Cam Newton’s size, strength, and speed can make it seem unfair for the players he shares the field with. It is a great thing if you’re Newton or the Panthers that you have such a prodigious talent on your side, but it does lead to referees seemingly applying a different set of rules to the young signal caller.
He took repeated, well-publicized cheap shots to the head in the season opener against Denver, and seldom drew a flag, even in an era where league-mandated quarterback protection is at an all-time high. He was also forced to miss time with a concussion earlier this season, and in his first game back from the bye week this Sunday against Arizona, he was the victim of more unpenalized hits.
He initially brushed off a question about Calais Campbell’s low hit, but eventually expanded on his answer to the The Charlotte Observer.
“It’s really taking the fun out of the game for me,” he said. “At times I don’t even feel safe. And enough is enough. I plan on talking to commissioner (Roger) Goodell about this. And I don’t know what I have to do.”
“The story of my life ever since I came in is, ‘Oh, oh, well, we missed that one. I’m sorry. I’ll try to get it.’ That’s bullcrap. As a player in this league, if we do something stupid we get fined. If you do something derogatory to somebody else, we get fined. I just can’t keep accepting, ‘Oh, we missed that one.’ Or ‘I apologize for doing that.’ Or ‘I didn’t see it.’ That’s horsecrap.”
Here’s a gif of that hit for reference:
https://twitter.com/CauldronICYMI/status/792807630813040642
It’s frustrating to watch Newton take these hits without repercussion, so one can only imagine how difficult it must be to actually be taking those hits. Especially in comparison to his fellow quarterbacks, Newton said he doesn’t believe he is being treated equitably, and with evidence like this it is hard to disagree.
“When you constantly see the hits, when you constantly see flags being picked up, when you’re constantly seeing flags not being thrown, and to see other quarterbacks getting lesser physical hits, then it’s taking the fun for me out,” he said.
“When I see other guys get calls, they don’t have to be no MVP. They don’t have to be this, that and the third of being this type of tier of a player. I look at how they get hit and for every hit that they get that’s called, I can match a hit in my career that I didn’t get called.”
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