As a general rule, I don’t make excuses for poor behavior….mine or anyone else’s—regardless of likeability. So when Cam Newton, whom I like, decided a swift exit from the microphone following his team’s defeat to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 was acceptable….it was hard to imagine a situation in which his departure made sense.
Time and time again Cam has let us know how he doesn’t like losing. What I’ve apparently missed is the part where someone, anyone, has asked him to do otherwise. There’s a huge difference between losing and accepting it as fate. With losing comes opportunities to learn….how to want better, how to get better, how to be better….
Throughout the season, all of the hoopla surrounding Cam’s end zone dancing didn’t get a second thought in my mind. Hmmm, seemed to me if the dances only occur after he scores, the formula is simple—stop him! As the lessons of Algebra teaches, the work involved in solving a formula is often painstaking….but it can be done! Atlanta got it right…at least once. Yet, it took a meaningful game 19 for the Broncos to solve the “No Dabbing” formula en route to a championship!!
It was poor logistical planning on the league’s part to have the opposing teams in such close proximity following the game. In fact, had Cam mentioned it while being interviewed, a valid point would have been made. It is nonsensical to argue with numbers though….the Panthers WERE shut down, Cam WAS shut down, receivers DID drop catchable balls, Cam DID NOT hustle for the ball after being stripped…..the scoreboard DOES NOT tell tales!
The postgame interview for those who’ve come up on the short end of the stick has got to be grueling. A fifteen minute grace period is better than zero minutes…yet, the rawness of emotion still makes it too close for comfort. It falls in that non-favorite category of employees worldwide —“Other Duties as Assigned”….grin and bear it…or frown, if you will…but bear it you must.
It is a struggle to think of a more gut wrenching loss than that of Russell Wilson’s last year…on the heels of a pass thrown by him, no less, in the last nanosecond of the game. Or this year’s winning qb Peyton Manning being taken to the shed a mere two years ago. In the end, both endured the postgame ritual with class. Nobody is asking Cam to be either of them….instead, the message is—professionalism is a requirement of being a professional!
Congrats to the Denver Broncos, Super Bowl MVP Von Miller and a sea of orange fan base that showed up at the victory parade in the type of numbers that would make a campaigning politician green with envy!!
