Cam Newton didnt win any friends at last years Pro Bowl

[Trip]

Unpopular Newton received rough treatment from other players during Pro Bowl - NFL - CBSSports.com News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Fantasy

The intensity immediately caught my eye. Pro Bowls aren't known for rushing the passer or trying to get the quarterback down -- especially not the 2012 version -- but there was no denying that the AFC players went hard after Carolina quarterback Cam Newton late in last year's game.

The only sack of the game came against Newton, as did most of the pressure. All the other quarterbacks sat back, no intensity with the pass rush, and completed pass after pass. Players did the tap-and-stand moves on the line with the other five quarterbacks in the game.

Newton was rushed. Why?

Was there a reason for this? Was this like Michael Jordan's first NBA All-Star Game when guys like Isaiah Thomas froze him out? Newton, after all, was a big-time rookie fresh off a record-breaking season.

I mentioned that theory to Newton this summer.

"It is what it is," he said, barely looking up from the stool in front of his locker.

Curiosity got the best of me. And now I know why Newton had to deal with that type of heat -- including being slung down in the third quarter by Antonio Smith of the Texans after one pass and being sacked on a hard spin rush by Denver's Von Miller.

The reason: Newton dissed some of his brethren at the Pro Bowl.

According to several players in the game, some from both teams, Newton's standoffish, diva ways made him enemy No. 1 in the eyes of some of the players.

"He was a total ----hole," one AFC player said. "Who did he think he was? He acted like the big shyt. Here he was at his first game and he acted like he was the star. Guys didn't like that."

The Pro Bowl is a laid-back game, one for relaxing, spending time with your peers and unwinding after a tough season. The resort where players are housed is for them and their families only to prevent fan interference.

So when Newton turned down one player's request for an autograph and a picture for his kids at a function, it angered the player.

"Who the hell did he think they were?" said one player. "The only people around are families. He knew that. Yet he big-timed the guy by saying 'now's not the time.'"

That player said Newton did the unthinkable and even dissed Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis.

"That's the godfather there," one player said. "Can you believe he did that?"

Said another player: "It didn't matter who it was, he didn't care about anybody but himself."

Lewis denied that he was dissed when asked through Ravens PR man Kevin Byrne, but other players confirmed that it happened. A handful of other league sources confirmed that Newton was aloof and isolated much of the week in Hawaii.

That's fine, but the perception of some of his peers is that he crossed the line between being shy and being a prima donna. That led to some of the defensive players on the AFC team going a lot harder when Newton came into the game.

The tape showed that. Not only did Smith throw him down and Miller sack him but others seemed to amp their intensity up when Newton was taking the snaps. Miller also threw him for a loss on a designed run for Newton. It appeared Richard Seymour and Geno Atkins also played harder and faster when he was in the game.

It wasn't a rookie thing either. When Cincinnati's Andy Dalton played the second half for the AFC, there was no elevation of the intensity for the NFC defensive line.

Some league personnel who have watched the tape noticed the same things I saw as it related to Newton.

Through a team spokesman, Newton declined to comment for this story.

"Look, it was his first Pro Bowl, so he should have come and acted humble," one AFC player said. "But he didn't. He acted like he was better than us."

"Cam's in his own world," one NFC player said. "He's a young guy and learning, but he better change. They started rushing him. We were like, 'what are they doing? This is the Pro Bowl.' They didn't attempt that with the other guys. They went after him. He better learn soon. You don't want to go out there and get hurt at the Pro Bowl."

 

[NYC Rebel]

Cam is getting "The Decision" treatment.

I hate these in the archiving for "sources" articles.....10 months later.

There's no agenda here.

 

[GzUp]

Not a good look if this is true, sounds true.

 

[Trip]

Cam is getting "The Decision" treatment.

I hate these in the archiving for "sources" articles.

Kids a tool.

Play the game. Be friendly. His team his 3-9. You can tell defenses go after him harder on purpose.

 

[FreedS[ohh]lave]

Cant do the dance in the endzone when your team down by 3 scores in the 4th quarter,i knew then dude was a prick

 

[Lakers Offseason]

Nicca probably did this to Ray's son

 

[NYC Rebel]

Kids a tool.

Play the game. Be friendly. His team his 3-9. You can tell defenses go after him harder on purpose.

10 months after the fact we're seeing this article....



You're buying into the agenda.

This timeline is rife with typical white boy sports writer anger.

 

[Trip]

10 months after the fact....

You're buying into the agenda.

Its direct quotes from players. I could care less about Prisco.

I watch mostly every Panther game bc he's my fantasy QB. Teams definitely go after him on purpose more. I've never seen a dance mocked more in a year than I have with his Super Man thing.

 

[NYC Rebel]

Its direct quotes from players.

No names.

Another angry whiteboy writer furthering the narrative based on 10 month quotes.

 

[Trip]

No names.

 

[boskey]

Cam is getting "The Decision" treatment.

I hate these in the archiving for "sources" articles.....10 months later.

There's no agenda here.

Yup. Just piling on.

I don't like Cam Newton at all. But this is weak and to be expected. If he was having another Pro-Bowl year this "story" would come out NEXT season but would be about how his unshakable focus and his passion for the game "led many to believe he was standoffish".

 

[NYC Rebel]

This shyt is akin to Lebron and the fries incident.

These writers are horrible....and I'm not even a Cam fan.

 

[AVXL]

Is anybody really surprised though? You can see the pouting, stand offish ways from TV. We all see the Superman celebrations after a first down with his team down multiple TDs. Only Cam fan boys will try & :superman: for this hoe

 

[mvp_status]

Lewis denied that he was dissed when asked through Ravens PR man Kevin Byrne, but other players confirmed that it happened.

 

[King Theo]

Cam out here makin em mad