Cam Newton needs to think long term with his style
Sometimes, even Superman needs to sit one out and think things over.
Cam Newton has carried a lot on his shoulders the past couple of years, and his shoulders aren't the only part of him that's sore. A concussive blow to Newton's head knocked him out of last week's game and will keep him out of Monday night's game. That blow could have been avoided if Newton had taken the clear path to the goal line -- as in, not through a linebacker -- on a two-point conversion attempt last Sunday. But his path isn't really the issue here.
Look, no one's arguing that Newton deserved his concussion. The silver lining in the reigning MVP's injury is that it offers him a chance to take a break -- and maybe take stock.
While Newton is fun and brilliant on the field, one of his problems right now is that he's playing both quarterback and running back. Newton has 188 rushing attempts since the start of the 2015 season. That's 62 more than Russell Wilson, who has the second-most quarterback rushing attempts over that time, and more than all but 31 NFL running backs. There's more: According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Newton has encountered contact 831 times while rushing or throwing the ball since his debut in 2011. The next-highest total over that time frame belongs to Wilson, and it's 533. That's a massive discrepancy.
Newton runs the ball much more than any other quarterback and gets hit much more than any other quarterback, and we'd all be fools if we failed to make a connection there. This is who Newton is, and it's who the Carolina Panthers ask him to be. But maybe it's time to think about changing things up a little bit. Maybe Newton's concussion-induced absence offers him and his team the chance to ponder whether running as much as Newton runs is really the best way to go.
Again, not assigning blame here. Newton wasn't doing anything wrong when he waltzed toward an apparently wide-open end zone on that two-point try -- wasn't doing anything he hasn't done many times before. The point is that these kinds of injuries happen in football, regardless of how careful you are. Identifying the situations in which it makes sense to be careful can be a key to extending your career.
Since entering the NFL, Newton has played with breathless abandon. At 6-foot-5, 250 pounds, he's bigger than many of the defenders who try to hit him, and sometimes seems invincible. But if an injury to your brain doesn't make you question your invincibility, one must wonder what would.
The facts of Newton's life right now include Hall of Fame talent and a good enough supporting cast to allow him to dream of the game's greatest glory. He played in the 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.