More than 110 million people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl 50 on February 7. Atlanta’s own Cam Newton, quarterback for the Carolina Panthers, fell to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos with a devastating score of 24-10. Throughout the season, Newton was energetic and always seemed to have a positive attitude, however, Denver’s defense got the best of Newton that night.
After the game, players usually have a press conference and talk to reporters about how they’re feeling and what is going on in their heads. However, Newton was not too cooperative in his press conference. Before the press conference is even over, he walked out.
Yes, he was upset but so were the other 49 “runner-up” quarterbacks who fell short of a Super Bowl ring. Instead of thinking negatively and pouting during his conference, he should have thought of the positive. He had an incredible season with 35 touchdowns, and an average of 39.8 rushing yards. Not to mention he was also named the league MVP the day before the Super Bowl.
Although Newton had a great breakout season, it does not top Peyton’s 18 years of professional football experience. Throughout his entire career, he has had a total of 539 passing touchdowns. Newton was also not prepared for Denver’s undeniably persistent defense causing them to turnover the ball a total of 4 times during Sunday’s game. A strip-sack from Von Miller led to the Broncos’ last score which pretty much sealed the game for them.
Newton did not win this game, but he had a great season. That can not be taken away from him. No matter the reason, he should not have walked out of the press conference.
The media has constantly been trying to find something wrong with him and paint him in a negative light. Walking out gave them even more to talk about. “Bad attitude,” “cry baby,” or “sore loser” are all names that people would call him for walking out.
In a separate press conference, Newton addressed why he walked out and those criticizing his actions stating: “Who likes to lose? You show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.”
Nobody wants to immediately talk about a big loss. Professional athletes are just like the rest of us and have feelings just like we do.
