A hot topic in NFL circles right now is how Cam Newton is being treated by officials. After the Panthers’ blowout win over the Cardinals on Sunday, Newton made the point that the hits he’s getting aren’t drawing roughing the passer penalties, whereas other quarterbacks are getting those calls. Some around the league agree, and others don’t.
One of the more vocal dissenters is Steelers right tackle Marcus Gilbert, who essentially told Newton to stop whining:
“Ben gets hit more than anybody in the league, and he never complains. C’mon, man. This is the game of football,” Gilbert said. “If you’re out there and you’re scared to take a shot, then don’t be out there, especially if you’re a running quarterback. [Defenses] are going to take shots at you. Just the way, his style of playing football, how he celebrates, I guess he gives the guys a chip, like let’s go hit the reigning NFL MVP.”
Gilbert is right, in a way. Big Ben and Cam both play relatively similar styles of football and both do get hit quite a lot (Big Ben is still on the shelf after getting injured when the Steelers played the Dolphins), but Roethlisberger’s teammates have never complained about their quarterback getting hit too often. Oh wait… they did.
Gilbert was briefly a teammate of Newton’s at Florida and is currently in his sixth NFL season, which means he entered the league one season after Steelers teammates complained about the abuse Roethlisberger was receiving. Guess that didn’t cross Gilbert’s radar:
“If you don’t like it, then tell the coach or the coordinator to change the whole game plan,” Gilbert said. “Try to do something to protect you, because back a couple of years ago, when Ben was getting hit a lot, we had to change our offense a little bit, put in a little extra protection to help him stay upright because he is the franchise player.”
Though what Gilbert isn’t quite right about — and what is also true for his quarterback — is that most of the big and borderline hits Newton has taken have come when he’s in the pocket rather than on the run, but that doesn’t seem to matter to him.
“If you don’t like it, then tell the coach or the coordinator to change the whole game plan,” Gilbert said. “Try to do something to protect you, because back a couple of years ago, when Ben was getting hit a lot, we had to change our offense a little bit, put in a little extra protection to help him stay upright because he is the franchise player.”
Whatever your stance on Newton’s comments are, all quarterbacks take a similar beating every week but some it seems get more calls than others. Newton certainly feels the hits he’s taking aren’t drawing flags, and others aren’t.
[ESPN]
