Cam Newton is charming and genuine in almost every interview. And it means absolutely nothing.
His affability isn’t buying him any love.
Unsurprisingly, the top storyline of Patriots minicamp was the supposed quarterback battle between Newton and Mac Jones — I’m sorry, “Mac and Cheese.” Now, the idea that some throwing drills in mid-June will matter once training camp begins in six weeks is asinine, of course. But we’re bored around these parts. The Celtics and Bruins are out of the playoffs, and Red Sox pitchers can’t seem to get outs without Spider Tack.
So all eyes were on the practice fields at Gillette. And what most people saw was Newton airmailing receivers. A Jones fan account posted a video compilation of Newton’s mistakes juxtaposed with the Alabama QB’s highlights (the footage was shot by NBC Sports Boston).
It’s been viewed 1.4 million times.
The last week has embodied the Cam Newton Experience in New England. For the most part, he struggled throwing the football, with Jones being declared the clear frontrunner following Monday and Tuesday. WEEI’s Andy Hart went as far as to say that Jones already won the starting job.
Newton was so bad Tuesday, he reportedly walked off the field with slumped shoulders. But man, did he impress in his virtual press conference. Newton was radiating positivity.
He was even upbeat when asked about his feelings on the Patriots drafting Jones. “He was the right pick, in my opinion,” Newton said. “He was the best player available, and that’s what the NFL Draft is for.”
Talk about taking responsibility. By saying Jones was the right pick, Newton is tacitly acknowledging his play was terrible last season, which is something he did in real time.
As the season wore on, his Monday appearances on “The Greg Hill Show” started to sound like confessionals. “I have to be better,” Newton said after a particularly pathetic loss to the hapless Broncos. “I take full responsibility of where we are as an offense, and knowing here moving forward, it starts with No. 1, and I will be better.”
Two weeks later, Newton fumbled the football in the red zone against Buffalo in the final seconds, costing the Patriots the game. Once again, he was contrite. “It’s unacceptable,” Newton said. “I have to protect the ball better.”
It’s not exactly breaking news that good soundbites fail to negate atrocious quarterbacking. But what’s interesting is, there are actual reasons to cut Newton some slack. The former MVP wasn’t the same player after contracting the coronavirus, seeing his numbers decline across the board. Pre-COVID, Newton had a QB rating of 89.7. Post-COVID, it was 72.6.
Newton has been open about the impact of COVID on his body. “When I came back, that's where the lack of an offseason and the lack of time in the system really showed itself,” he said on Brandon Marshall’s podcast in February. “I was behind and I was thinking too much.”
Many ex-players and national pundits are buying the COVID excuse. Chris Simms, in fact, claims Newton is still one of the 20 best quarterbacks in the NFL.
Most convincingly, Newton seems to have one of the best football minds ever on his side: Bill Belichick. “Cam’s way ahead of where he was last year at this time,” he said this week. (One would hope so, considering Newton was still unemployed at this time last year.)
Despite Belichick’s public endorsements, most fans and talk show hosts aren’t willing to give him another chance — even when he has a good day.
Newton reportedly dazzled during practice Wednesday, putting in his best performance of the spring. Yet, his detractors didn’t budge. “It’s a story when a quarterback can’t throw,” said Chris Curtis Thursday on the GHS. “It’s not a story when he can.”
Newton has been polarizing throughout his career, dating back to when disgraced former Panthers owner Jerry Richardson ridiculously asked him whether he had any tattoos or piercings. One morning last September, Newton addressed his ample critics.
“The fact that here I am in year 10 still having to explain the person and the player that I am, it’s sometimes disrespectful because we don’t question certain quarterbacks,” he said on the GHS Sept. 28.
During training camp, the coverage of the quarterback battle will be just as intriguing as the competition itself (football practices are only so riveting to a point). It’s apparent there’s a disconnect between how Newton is viewed nationally and locally. He’s clearly one of the most-respected players in the league. When a teen heckled Newton at a youth football camp, scores of NFL stars rushed to his defense.
If Newton has more days like Wednesday, we’ll see if he stays so polite. Undoubtedly, he would have enjoy widespread support in a battle with his haters.
Just not from many people around here.
——————————————
The Spider Tack witch hunt: It is loathsome to hear pitchers complain about their inability to keep cheating. But I do side with the aggrieved hurlers in one aspect: MLB has created a witch hunt.
Ever since news broke about MLB’s enhanced crackdown on sticky stuff, pitchers’ spin rates are analyzed more closely than ERA or WHIP. MLB, which deadened the ball this season to clamp down on rising home run rates, is scapegoating pitchers for a problem it helped create.
Still, the pitchers are largely to blame. Just like players couldn’t temporarily curtail their steroid use during a trial run of testing in 2003 — leading to MLB’s first PED policy — pitchers couldn’t control their habit of doctoring baseballs. Now, MLB is once again mired in scandal. The coverage is all negative.
We are anxiously awaiting the next work stoppage.
Minicamp madness shows how good we’ve had it: We’ve lucked out as Boston sports fans over the last 20 years: We’ve been able to bypass the minutia on the sports calendar. After all, our teams were winning championships. Talk to us in January, not during minicamp.
Well, times have changed. The Newton-Jones QB competition was covered this week with the scrutiny of an intelligence leak. Reporters were even analyzing Newton’s pre-practice dance moves.
“He’s ready to seize the day!”
Or maybe he’s just being goofy for a fleeting moment. It’s an apt description of the whole week.
Barkley bemoaning cancel culture? Please: Charles Barkley laments his cushy job as the star analyst of the award-winning “Inside the NBA” isn’t fun anymore due to cancel culture.
But it still pays for that estate in Scottsdale, Ariz.
On one hand, Barkley’s complaints about today’s hypersensitive climate are understandable. As he puts it, it is hard to have fun these days without “jackasses trying to get you canceled.” And his desire to retire at 60 years old is laudable.
If only other national sportscasters followed suit.
But on the other hand, Barkley is uniquely uncancelable. Just this year, he caused an uproar for his comments on racism and said athletes should skip the line for COVID vaccines.
He can also speak ill of his bosses in public, as he did this week in his D.C. radio interview.
It’s doubtful his replacement will have that kind of leeway. He’ll probably be begging to be canceled as much as Barkley.
That would be zero times, for the record.
