NFL sends the wrong message over latest hit to Cam Newton's head
Cam Newton took a blow to the head on Monday night, but he got flagged.
Yes, you read that correctly. The Carolina Panthers quarterback, clearly ticked off when Washington linebacker Trent Murphy took a cheap shot at his helmet, tossed the ball in Murphy's direction, which earned Newton a flag for taunting. Murphy walked away from the play unscathed and flag-less.
Unfortunately for Newton, this play epitomizes his struggles with officiating this year. "Uncalled hits to the head" and "Cam Newton" have become synonymous in 2016. But more on that later.
First, here's the play from Monday night's game, which the Panthers won 26-15.
"Well, what I saw was that Cam slid late, and the defender went over the top," referee Walt Coleman said after the game, per ESPN. "I didn't see any forcible contact with the head."
"OK, if they slide late, they can be contacted, but they still can't be contacted forcibly in the head," he said. "And so what we ruled was that he slid late but there was no forcible contact with the head — that he just went over the top."
OK, so the taunting call might be warranted, but it's an irresistible metaphor for Newton's 2016 season, one filled with unpenalized cheap shots.
In Week 1, the reigning MVP drew a handful of knocks to the head, none of which were penalized. The NFL fined two Denver Broncos for the hits, but officials kept the flags pocketed. A few weeks later, Newton got bashed again, this time hard enough to miss Week 5 with a concussion. Newton reached his breaking point in Week 8 — after a game with more helmet hits and no flags — when he ripped the NFL's officiating.
Each uncalled headshot has solidified Newton's role as poster child of the NFL's player safety problem, and its hypocrisy in dealing with it, something players have been criticizing all year.
The league invests millions in concussion research and stresses the importance of player safety, but it penalizes things like touchdown dances, custom-designed cleats and taunting more than hits to the head.
You know, the thing that actually put players in danger.
