Cam Newton needs to think long term with his style

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Super Bowl eight months ago. He has an MVP award. He is merely 27 years old. With the way the game's rules are set up now to protect quarterbacks, he easily has 10 years left -- maybe as many as 15 -- if he can keep himself healthy.

Again, it's about all those hits.

Additionally, since this season's opener in Denver, it has become disturbingly clear that opponents are interested in hitting Newton in the head. The league's rules offer some protection against that, but that protection dwindles for a quarterback when he leaves the pocket and becomes a runner, and Newton does that often. Several of the Broncos' quarterback hits in Week 1 were illegal and should have been penalized. The hit that knocked him out of last week's game, however, was legal. It would not have happened if he hadn't turned himself into a running back for the sake of two points.

I do not come to tell Newton how to play football -- only to point out some alarming numbers that seem to be resulting from his attempts to play the game's most important position and its most dangerous at the same time. If that's the way he wants to play, that's his perfect right. I know I love watching him, as much as any player in the league right now, and playing this way has made him rich and famous and successful. If he comes back from this concussion next week or two weeks from now or two months from now and decides nothing needs to change, hey, it's his life and his career.

It's unfortunate Newton has a concussion and that he can't play this week. He absolutely must take as long as he needs to get back, and the league's concussion protocol ensures he will, whether he likes it or not. But however long this break from football ends up being, it offers Newton and his team a chance to think about whether his playing style is really the best thing for him and for them moving forward. It's a conversation they'd be wise to have.