Hey, Cam Newton.
If you’re going to dab-the-dab when you win, you also have to blab-the-blab after losing.
A bitterly disappointed Newton was barely audible while addressing the media following his Carolina Panthers’ 24-10 upset loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.
Gone was the flamboyant, happy-go-lucky guy NFL fans grew to know during the 2015 season. That guy was replaced by a sulking, sad dude we hadn’t seen since Newton’s rookie season.
With his head down and sweat jacket hood pulled up, Newton gave his haters all the ammunition they need to keep him under fire until the 2016 season begins next September.
Can you put your feelings into words? “We lost.” Would you have done anything differently? “No.” What did coach Ron Rivera tell his team? “He told us a lot of things.” Did the Denver defense shut down Carolina’s running lanes? “No.”
With that, Newton called it a night and walked off stage.
Of course, Newton’s display of poor sportsmanship does not excuse former NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski’s tweet “You will never last in the NFL with that attitude. The world doesn’t revolve around you, boy! #CamNewton.”
That’s what Newton will be hearing from many fans for the next few months – thinly disguised racial barbs based on the fact that the “uppity” Newton was put in his place.
Fair? No. To be expected? Yes.
That’s why Newton needed to address the media with a suit and a smile on and just survive those few terrible minutes.
Last year, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson faced the media with style and grace after what was probably the most painful loss for any team in Super Bowl history. The worst play-call in Super Bowl history turned into the most devastating turnover in Super Bowl history.
Yet Wilson, coach Pete Carroll and other Seahawks didn’t put on the pouty face.
Newton, with all his talent and Hall of Fame potential, is still a work in progress. He failed the test of grace-in-defeat last Sunday, but hopefully he’ll learn from it.
Meanwhile, in Inglewood …
St. Louis’ loss of the Rams is a major victory for Inglewood, California and its African-American Mayor James T. Butts. The L.A. suburb he governs has a population of 110,000, of which more than 90 percent of those residents are minorities. Latinos comprise about 50 percent of its population and black 43 percent, according to 2014 U.S. Census data.
The median income for Inglewood is $50,000, while L.A. County averages $56,000 and the state of California $62,000, respectively.
Rather than wait on Rams owner Stan Kroenke or the NFL to lead them by the hand – or nose – Butts and city leaders had experts compiling economic and environmental impacts of a major stadium project. This was BEFORE Kroenke officially announced his stadium plan. Several of these reviews had been completed by the time we ever heard of our “task force.”
If Kroenke had sought public funding, Butts was adamant that it was not going to happen, saying the city’s plan “doesn’t ask for, nor will ever be offered, any public funds.”
Butts displayed leadership skill sorely lacking in our region. He won. We lost.
His trophies include an estimated $1 billion per year for the local economy and 40,000 new jobs, many of which will continue long after the stadium is complete.
The ancillary restaurants, retail outlets and concert venue will create thousands of permanent jobs. The project is expected to bring as many as 2,500 new residential units and a 300-room hotel, plus office and retail space, multiple lakes, and 25 acres of public park space.
Inglewood, its black mayor and its 90 percent minority population are moving forward. We should be happy for them.
Orlando Pace to enter Hall of Fame
Congratulations to former Rams offensive lineman Orlando Pace for selection into the 2016 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. My guess would have been that quarterback Kurt Warner would have gotten the call before Pace.
It’s difficult to quantify how an offensive lineman earns HOF status, especially those that played before all the crazy computer analytics became a part of sports. Basically, Pace dominated his man Sunday after rough-and-tumble Sunday. He beat up defensive linemen, and then he beat them down.
Warner will enter the Hall of Fame, probably next year. He would not have a chance without Pace protecting his blind side, regardless of the HOF-worthy careers of Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt.
Also entering the Hall will be former Tampa Bay Bucs and Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy, the first black coach to win a Super Bowl. Former Colts receiver Marvin Harrison is also Hall-bound.
Brett Favre was a first-ballot winner and Ken Stabler finally received enough votes. He should have been voted in years ago. He didn’t live to cherish the honor.
Former San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. will be enshrined for helping construct that franchise’s 1980s-early ‘90s dynasty. Voters conveniently overlooked the fact that in 1998 he pleaded guilty in federal court to a felony charge. He admitted that he paid former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards and his son a $400,000 bribe in order to win a casino license.
DeBartolo was sentenced to two years on probation, paid $1 million in penalties and testified in the Edwards’ extortion trials. He also was forced to surrender 49ers ownership.
Kevin Greene, a Granite City South graduate, and stand out with the Carolina Panthers will also be inducted to the Hall in August. Greene might be best remembered for attacking assistant coach Kevin Steele on the Panthers’ sideline during a home loss to the Washington Redskins in 1998.
People have all kinds of problems with HOF finalist Terrell Owens, but he was never arrested and certainly never attacked a coach. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?
Alvin A. Reid is a panelist on the Nine Network program, Donnybrook and appears on ABC’s The Allman Report and several sports radio shows. His Twitter handle is @aareid1.
