ESPN: Cam Needs to Be Himself

[fieryprophet]

http://espn.go.com/b...s-to-be-himself

If you thought the flap over San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith's comments about Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton a few weeks back was the start of a feud that would linger for years, you missed the whole point by a mile.

Although some Carolina teammates got upset when Smith implied that Newton’s record-setting rookie statistics were overblown, Newton didn’t miss the point at all. In fact, without ever mentioning Smith’s name, Newton acknowledged the basic premise was right Tuesday when asked about his goals for the 2012 season. The question begged for a plural answer. Newton chopped it straight down to the singular.

“Winning,’’ Newton said. “That's all we play this game for is to get that W. That's it.’’

There was no mention of following up a 4,000-yard passing season with a 5,000-yard season. There was no mention of breaking his own record for rushing touchdowns in a season (14) by a quarterback. There was no mention of anything statistical at all. All Newton wanted to talk about was winning.

“In my job description, it says win at all costs,’’ Newton said.

See, no matter what the critics said about Newton before the Panthers took him first overall in the 2011 draft, and no matter how angered teammates and fans might have been about Smith’s comments, Newton truly is all about winning. He always has been and always will be.

“I’ll tell you this about Cam, everything about him is real,’’ said Carolina quarterbacks coach Mike Shula. “He’s the same with me, the other coaches, the other players, the media and everyone he interacts with. He’s just real all the time. And part of Cam being real is that he hates to lose as much or more than anyone I’ve ever seen. When he wins, he has a lot of fun. Winning equals fun in his life. That’s what drives him.’’

[rayzor]

i see him this coming year being the confident infectious winning leader he was at blinn and auburn.

no more mr. mopeyhead.

[Frizzy350]

I kinda like that when things look bleak, cam looks bleak. he knows he needs to get serious and block everything out to get the team back in the game. i'm sure he'll be a bit more active with the team and coaches when things go awry, but i don't want him to forcefully change how he handles the game just because it looks better for the media.

[rayzor]

I kinda like that when things look bleak, cam looks bleak. he knows he needs to get serious and block everything out to get the team back in the game. i'm sure he'll be a bit more active with the team and coaches when things go awry, but i don't want him to forcefully change how he handles the game just because it looks better for the media.

i think they want him to change how he handled the game last year. that was atypical cam newton and much of it was a side of him that i don't want to see again.

it didn't bother me too much because i had faith it was something he would grow out of. it's not asking him to just "accept" losing as part of the game or accept it at all. it's alright to be disappointed, but shake it off. wipe the dust off your feet and move on to the next play/game.

dude didn't know how to handle losing. i don't want him to get comfortable to it and i definitely want him to remember how losing felt and tasted and i want him to be committed to not experiencing that again and i want the rest of the team to feel the same way. when they do lose again, and they will, i just don't want them to walk around all bummed out with a towel on their heads to cover up their pouting. get mad. get over it. get better.

[TruCatzFan]

He won't give a fug what his personal stats are If we win it all. I can tell you that. Either way he'll be fine, the team will be fine...and we will be fine.

There will be fans of "our own team" that will blast him if he has even the slightest drop off in production win or lose. I don't care though. Want to see him make better decisions with the ball and his body when he takes off. Everything else and his ability and hard work will pay dividends.

[Frizzy350]

i think they want him to change how he handled the game last year. that was atypical cam newton and much of it was a side of him that i don't many want to see again.

it didn't bother me too much because i had faith it was something he would grow out of. it's not asking him to just "accept" losing as part of the game or accept it at all. it's alright to be disappointed, but shake it off. wipe the dust off your feet and move on to the next play/game.

dude didn't know how to handle losing. i don't want him to get comfortable to it and i definitely want him to remember how losing felt and tasted and i want him to be committed to not experiencing that again and i want the rest of the team to feel the same way. when they do lose again, and they will, i just don't want them to walk around all bummed out with a towel on their heads to cover up their pouting. get mad. get over it. get better.

if he's acting the same way when he was losing to alabama and orchestrated that incredible comeback in college, then im all for him doing it in the NFL.

[rayzor]

if he's acting the same way when he was losing to alabama and orchestrated that incredible comeback in college, then im all for him doing it in the NFL.

that's what i'm talking about..and he did that on a lot more than one occasion at auburn. it seemed he specialized in orchestrating comebacks there.

[cultclassiccat]

*eyes watering

[Captain Obvious]

___

[Argus Plexus]

Cam is my motherfu*ker

[Mr. Scot]

I kinda like that when things look bleak, cam looks bleak. he knows he needs to get serious and block everything out to get the team back in the game. i'm sure he'll be a bit more active with the team and coaches when things go awry, but i don't want him to forcefully change how he handles the game just because it looks better for the media.

I get what you're saying, but a leader can't do that.

When Jake Delhomme took the field in Jacksonville on the first week of the 2003 season, he looked around the huddle at all the downtrodden faces and said "Hey, get your (bleeping) heads up. We're gonna win this game." That's what you expect from a leader, and that'll be Newton's job too.