Cam Newton rips NFL refs: 'I don't even feel safe'
Cam Newton has had enough.
Following the Carolina Panthers’ 30-20 win against the Arizona Cardinals, the reigning MVP had some choice words about the lack of calls from officials after being hit.
“It’s really taking the fun out of the game for me,” he said in a postgame press conference. “At times I don’t even feel safe. And enough is enough."
Newton said he particularly objected to how officials viewed hits against him while he was in the pocket.
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“I don’t think there’s a person that can go through what I go through and still keep their heads,” he said. “Hits to the head, that’s one thing. But when you’re not protected in the pocket, that’s another thing.
“The story of my life ever since I came in is, ‘Oh, oh, well, we missed that one. I’m sorry. I’ll try to get it.’ That’s bullcrap. As player in this league if we do something stupid we get fined. If you do something derogatory to somebody else, we get fined. I just can’t keep accepting, ‘Oh, we missed that one.’ Or ‘I apologize for doing that.’ Or ‘I didn’t see it.’ That’s horsecrap.”
With about seven minutes left in the third quarter, Cardinals defensive end Calais Campbell hit Newton below the knees. Newton was visually upset when officials did not call a penalty on the play.
"I'm speechless," Newton said of the no-call on the hit by Campbell. "I could've torn my ACL. That was the breaking point."
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Newton said he plans on meeting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell about his complaints with what he sees as officiating inconsistencies.
The league and NFL Players Association conducted investigations after Newton took several hits to the head in the season opener against the Denver Broncos, but was never removed from the game. The joint statement said neither side found any errors with the way things were handled by the team, but did come up with “enhancements” to concussion protocol.
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