* A lot of attention was showered on the post-Super Bowl press conference performance of normally extroverted Carolina quarterback–and NFL MVP–Cam Newton. His Panthers team lost, he didn’t play up to expectations and he walked out. Class act. It was almost enough to overshadow a moment in the game when he showed even more distain for the ultimate pro football forum. He merely watched as his fourth-quarter fumble was recovered by Denver.
He was in prime position to fall on it before players dived in. Instead–either out of a brain cramp or reluctance for even more physical contact, he backed off. It was blatant–and became more so with every replay. Network analyst Phil Simms pulled some punches, but it was obvious what he was saying. No guts.
So much for all the controversy caused by Newton’s declaration that he was “an African-American quarterback that may scare people because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to.” After Sunday’s on-the-field and post-game performances, that was inimitably and ironically true.
* Last week we saw the high-profile coverage by local and national media of national signing day for high school football players. Two points:
First, this kind of front-page/ESPN coverage is way over the top. Any wonder that many, if not most, of these highly-recruited players have an exaggerated regard of their importance before ever setting foot on a college campus. Chances are these “blue-chippers” have been spoiled along the way, and this only confirms their extra-special status: and it’s not “student athlete.”
Second, check out where local players are going. The top destination for Tampa Bay area recruits? Not Florida or Florida State, which had none. And not USF, which did have four locals. It was Coffeyville Community College in Kansas. It has less than 1,800 students but fields teams in 24 varsity sports, including football and basketball. Its alums include a number of NFLers plus former heavyweight boxing champ Buster Douglas and actor Gary Busey. Now you know.
* Looking for additional signals–beyond those being sent by the Cleveland Browns–that this won’t end well for Johnny Manziel? Even his agent, Erik Burkhardt, has dropped him.