Panthers pay price for no-tie Newton
Rivera’s choice to bench reigning MVP for game’s first series leads to online firestorm
The interwebs were still abuzz Monday over whether Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton deserved to be benched Sunday night.
Why? For failing to wear a neck tie Saturday on the team’s flight up the Pacific Coast, from California to Seattle. Newton wore a turtleneck with blazer, dress pants, dress hat and dress shoes. Very stylish. Just non-compliant.
Head coach Ron Rivera benched Newton for Carolina’s first offensive series at CenturyLink Field. That series amounted to just one ill-advised play, because on the game’s first scrimmage snap, backup QB Derek Anderson threw a ball that got tipped and fell into the arms of Seahawks linebacker Mike Morgan at the 22-yard line. He returned it 14 yards to the Carolina eight.
The Seahawks were off and running to an eventual 40-7 victory.
Debates have been raging online ever since.
First of all, as critics of Rivera’s action are saying, who under 40 even wears a neck tie anymore, no matter how important, momentous or solemn the occasion? Why should NFL players be forced to do so, on an uncomfortable airplane ride to boot?
And if Rivera felt he needed to discipline Newton for not complying with a fundamental team-travel rule, why bench him? Even for one play? When if you don’t defeat the Seahawks, your season is done? And when Newton is not just any NFL quarterback, but the reigning league MVP?
Those on the other side of the argument say Newton can’t think, act or expect to be treated differently from any other player. If that’s the team travel rule, that’s the rule. And from Rivera’s perspective, maybe he loses face, and maybe loses the locker-room, if he lets Newton off the hook.
Newton after the game said that because the Panthers stayed in California all last week after losing at Oakland — rather than fly home and back six days apart — he didn’t have a dress shirt.
Why? Because on long transcontinental flights, Panthers players are allowed to wear comfortable clothing, not dress clothing. So Newton didn’t pack a dress shirt for Saturday’s flight up the coast, thinking the same exception would apply.
And, uh, he suggested he couldn’t buy one. All week. In California.
“When you’re 6-(foot)-5, trying to get a shirt — I was away from home for a week — I didn’t pack a shirt,” Newton said, per NFL.com.
“I thought we were on the same page. I felt as if I wore a similar outfit like this before, and nothing was done. But he has rules in place and we have to abide by them. No person is greater than the next person. It is what it is.”
On Monday, Rivera elaborated on the controversial decision.
“I have had to address the issue before, and I did the same exact thing. I treat everybody the same,” Rivera said. “It’s not the first time, and it probably won’t be the last time. It’s just the way it is.”
Given what happened on that fateful first play, does Rivera have any misgivings? Nope.
“I’m very comfortable with it,” Rivera said.
Hero: Eric Berry, S, Chiefs. What a story. Played in his Atlanta hometown for the first time in seven years as a pro, and returned two interceptions for scores — a pick-six, then in the final minutes a pick-two on a conversion return of more than 100 yards, which provided K.C. with the winning points in a 29-28 win. Berry said the last time he was in Atlanta during the season was two years ago, to get treatment for cancer, which he beat within eight months. He reached up and gave the pick-six ball to his mom, who cared for him in Atlanta throughout his cancer recovery.
Zero: Jeff Fisher, head coach, Rams. The reasons keep adding up with this guy. This week? He wore a parka the size of an inflatable life raft on a sunny, not-too-cold day at New England, then couldn’t find where he’d pocketed his red challenge flag, to the point of begging forgiveness from officials when he had to verbally express his protest.
Stock up: Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs. With Rob Gronkowski’s season-ending back injury, Kelce might well now be the NFL’s most athletic, reliable, playmaking tight end. In each of K.C.’s big back-toback road wins, at Denver and Atlanta, Kelce caught eight passes. He has 100-plus receiving yards in the Chiefs’ past three games, and in four of the past six.