Cam Newton has not been shy this season about his disappointment for the way Panthers games have been officiated. He has been complaining (and rightfully so) about the hits he has been taking as a quarterback that aren’t resulting in penalties or even fines for the defensive players. There have been plenty of questionable hits on Cam that should’ve resulted in a flag but on the other hand, one of the hardest hits he took, which was against the Falcons at the goal line, was Cam’s own fault and a clean hit. Russell Wilson, who uses his athletic ability to extend plays the same way Cam does, was asked how he feels about the refs and he completely disagreed with Cam and almost felt like he was taking shots.
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Going back to week one, Cam has been taking hits to the head or below the knee that should have been flagged. His frustration boiled over last week when he promised the media he was going to talk to commissioner Roger Goodell over the lack of flags. He feels he isn’t being protected the way he should he as a quarterback and feels its unfair he is judged differently by refs because of his size.
Cam said he did in fact speak with Goodell and seemed happy with how the conversation went but this will be an ongoing issue to watch the rest of the season. As I mentioned earlier, Russell Wilson feels it’s the players responsibility to protect themselves and doesn’t feel refs are doing anything wrong.
“No, I don’t feel that way,” Wilson said. “I just try to play smart football. I think I’ve said this before, but if I didn’t want to play football, if I didn’t want to get hit, I’d be playing tennis. That’s just one of those things — you know you’re going to get hit, and you know you’re going to take some tough hits every once in a while, and you have to hang in there. At the same time, it’s a rough game, and you always want to make a smart decision and get down, get out of bounds.”
Wilson is damn near half the size of Cam but doesn’t feel that has anything to do with his thoughts on the matter. He did try to make it clear he is only speaking for himself and not Cam but the whole comment about tennis and not wanting to get it seems like a slight jab at Cam.
“I haven’t seen his particular situation,” Wilson said. “Honestly, I try to stay away from watching ESPN and all that, but I know for me — trying to get down, slide, get out of bounds, all of that, because those guys are chasing after you.”
I’ll leave it to you as far as how to feel about Wilson’s comments but he is right about one thing. He always makes sure to get down and avoid contact whereas Cam sometimes seems to invite contact when he runs with the ball. He might want to take notes from Wilson on that but regardless don’t expect Cam to let this issue go just yet.
