Failures – To Get Away From It All

Cam Newton’s career as an NFL quarterback came to a tragic peak in the 2016 Super Bowl. His offense played poorly against one of the best defenses of the century, but the Carolina Panthers still had the ball late with a chance to win. On a third and nine, Newton fumbled the ball, and as it skipped on the turf, Newton had a chance to dive for it. But a defensive player was closer on the ground, and Newton backed away.* The Denver Broncos recovered the ball, scored another touchdown, and the Panthers would have the biggest loss in the history of the team.

For sports media, the even greater crime by Newton was after the game. Newton started to answer their questions, but he abruptly left the scene and wasn’t to be seen again that night. Pundits pounced on him in the coming days, not only his hesitancy on the fumble, but poor sportsmanship by leaving the press. He’s the quarterback. The leader. He should set an example. And so on. Talking heads on ESPN condemned Newton with shouts of indignation. The media gave the public a villain in Super Bowl 50, his post-game exit was almost as big a headline as the game itself.

Rolling my eyes at the righteousness of the journalists, it was hard to not to feel sorry for Newton. He’d just had the worst moment of his career, if not his entire life. Hundreds of millions had watched his mistake on the field, and the publicity of the scene made the embarrassment hard to compare. To me, if anyone from such a moment feels the need to find a hole to hide in, they have my support. Go ahead and rest. Clear your head. Find your family, and take a night to breathe and process what just happened. Then come to us the next day a little refreshed with a better frame of mind. The media will have plenty to talk about in the first 24 hours, without needing your point of view. Any of us would hope for a measure of grace in the situation.

Super Bowl 50 was eight years ago, but this has always stuck in my mind as I can see myself avoiding the media as Newton did. I’m a sore loser, and I’ll wear emotions on my sleeve as embarrassment dominates my thoughts. The anger comes not so much from losing itself, but the times when I feel like I humiliated myself. Maybe my score was dead last, or maybe there was some obvious move that I missed. The failure feels like a reflection of myself, whether from a lack of skill or intelligence. Self-criticism will swell in me, and so it’s easy to relate to what Newton may have felt. His shortcoming came in view of the entire world, and it seems right to me that he should have had the chance to get away from it.

Maybe the most memorable example of an athlete defying the mandates of press conferences is Marshawn Lynch. Running back for the Seattle Seahawks, Lynch had no interest in talking with reporters. He would defy the rules, and even when complying, he would wear his helmet with a black eye shield down to cover his face. The NFL gave him hefty fines, declaring his shyness unacceptable. Good grief, just leave him alone, I would think as ESPN reported the fines. After retirement, Lynch would make a host of appearances in commercials and other media, almost as a dig on the NFL. I’ll be in the news when I want to be. Seeing him any time on screen was a treat. Like Newton, I would hope Lynch has the chance to do as he pleases in relations with media.

All of this isn’t to say that reporters were wrong about Newton’s shortcoming in the game. His hesitation to go for the ball would go down as one of the more frustrating moments in NFL history. An assumption in any sport is that athletes will do anything possible to keep their chances of winning for the team alive. For Newton to back away from the ball with no effort to recover was inexcusable. The defensive player may have had the advantage, and even if Newton recovered, the Panthers’ odds of winning the game were slim. Still, surrendering the ball handed the win to the Broncos. For any professional athlete, driven through years of pee-wee leagues, college and pros, to not go for the ball was as surprising as it was heartbreaking. The wide world of sports had good reason to feel disappointed in Newton.

Also, in fairness to the Carolina Panthers, it’s understandable they or any team would want their players to be available to media. For the purposes of team promotion and appeasing customers, a sports business should want their stars to be on camera. How much more for a team that just played in America’s biggest event. For Newton, he was an NFL quarterback. A natural leader, not only for his team, but for a billion-dollar company with millions of customers who were disappointed with their performance. The Super Bowl is the biggest of such moments, with the economic prosperity of employees and third-party business riding on the athletes. It’s a daunting responsibility, but it’s one that athletes take on when suiting up and signing contracts.

For Newton, being the leader in the spotlight would diminish rapidly. He was never the same after the Super Bowl, with his performance declining in the few years left of his career. It may have been a coincidence that his descent followed the Super Bowl. Maybe his teams just happened to be worse, or his health declined as he became older. Still, the fumble seemed so cataclysmic, it’s hard not to wonder if there was a connection to his downward trajectory. Either way, it’s a shame for him. Newton portrayed himself on the field as Superman, pretending to tear off a Clark Kent suit when scoring a touchdown. He was boasting, but it was a fitting comparison. His talent willed his teams to success, and so to come so close to the mountain top, feels like a tragedy that would hurt any of us.

With such a descent from Super Bowl 50, I’ll always have an empathy for Cam Newton. Even if he missed the mark of good sportsmanship, sore losers like me can relate to him. To brush off mistakes and move on with confidence, is a virtue I never learned. So even if I’m in the wrong, people will still have my blessing to find a place to hide from the world. No matter how justified it will be to critique their performance or demeanor, my gut will tell me to let them get away from it all. We’ll hear back from them soon enough, refreshed and ready to move forward.

*https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytwAalH7vec