Following what was a disastrous performance in Super Bowl 50, Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is likely going to continue drawing criticism from his naysayers throughout the offseason.
It’s just the way the ball bounces after a player of his ilk struggles so much on the game’s grandest stage.
However, it’s Newton’s post-game presser following the 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos that has the football world up in arms.
Newton lasted just over three minutes answering questions from reporters before storming off the stage in a fit of frustration. To say it wasn’t a good look for the reigning NFL MVP would be an understatement.
While the football community continues to debate Newton’s actions, one of his opponents spoke out on the quarterback in pretty strong terms.
Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan had this to say on Fox Sports Radio Monday in discussing Newton’s post-game press conference with hosts Brian Noe and Brady Poppinga:
“If he don’t wanna be a man, then he don’t wanna be a man.”
This comes on the heels of current NFL analyst and former linebacker Bill Romanowski making news by calling Newton a “boy” in a tweet late Sunday night.
As to where Romanowski chose to take his criticism to a whole new level, the Broncos linebacker simply suggested that Newton has not matured from a point earlier in his career where said criticism itself was legitimately lobbed at the quarterback on a consistent basis.
No matter where you stand on Newton’s press conference, we can all agree that it wasn’t the best of looks for a man that’s considered the leader of the Panthers both on and off the field.
Whether we decide to dissect it with continued criticism and suggestions that it indicates a larger issue with Cam, well that’s up to individual interpretation.
Newton wasn’t happy about his performance in the Super Bowl. He had just lost the biggest game of his life after putting up one of the worst outings of his career.
Maybe we can give him a bit of leeway before delving head first into a six month-long criticism cycle of the quarterback.