Quote:I don't fault Cam for his post game press conference.

 

I don't assail Newton's character as a man.

 

While he certainly did not play a good game, I don't even blame him for the loss.

 

However, when he did not dive for that fumble, he committed a "sports sin" he will absolutely NEVER live down until he actually wins a Super Bowl.

 

I could even see doing that in a regular season game.

 

But not in the Super Bowl.  Not in your most desperate moment in the most important game.

 

I'm struggling to come up with an explanation for the way he recoiled from that fumble.   The only thing I can think of that would excuse it somewhat is that during the regular season, quarterbacks constantly have it drilled into their head, "Don't get hurt.  Don't get hurt."  They're taught to slide, or to run out of bounds.  But by all means do not have collisions out there.   So maybe in that split second the training kicked in and he made the decision to avoid hurting himself.  

 

Otherwise, the whole thing is tragic from his viewpoint.  All the Superman stuff, all the dabbing and jump-shooting, all the look-at-me antics after a touchdown, but when the bullets started flying, he dove into the foxhole and put his head between his legs. 

 

Just a split second reaction.   Character revealed?   If he made a "business decision" as Deion Sanders would put it, he will have a hard time living that down.  

 

He's going to go through a very hard offseason.   It seems like he needs to grow up a little. 

---