Out of the shade of Allen Iverson’s infamous ‘Practice’ press conference that was taken out of context as well, 2 days removed from the Super Bowl the only thing being talked about is Cam Newton’s walk out of a press conference. Not Peyton Manning being the only player to win two Super Bowls with two different teams, not Gary Kubiak being the 3rd coach to win the title with the team he played for, not Von Miller being the Super Bowl MVP, not Aqib Talib telling his wife they’re gonna get it in tonight, we’re talking about a press conference. Not a game, a press conference. 

If you didn’t see it:

But supposedly, he was leaving because he could hear Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. talk about how they were able to beat the Panthers and how to expose them, right by him (you could hear it in the background). Not in a different room. It was separated by a curtain (Why? Just why?). So while hearing his opponent who just demolished them, he chose to not hear anymore (you could tell on his face he was getting more and more emotional), and chose to walk away. You know, that thing parents tell their children to do when someone is being annoying or you’re getting upset. So you remove yourself from the situation so you do not do anything drastic and irrational? Yeah that’s what he did. 

And Harris Jr. even defended Cam(to a point) via FTW:

I don’t know why they had us in the same room or anywhere close to where they could hear us. I would have been mad if I was Cam too, to be able to hear your opponent right behind me talking, I mean no one wants to hear that so, I think that was a bad setup. But I mean things happen, you’ve got to deal with it, you’ve got to approach things as a man. We’ve been in that situation where we’ve lost the Super Bowl and you’ve got to be able to take things as they come.

We are a complex contradicting society. We don’t want people bragging about winning because we want them to be humble. However, if you lose you should not show any emotion ar the end of a hard fought battle except, humility. Now if he showed humility, who wouldn’t say he would be labeled as a ‘non caring player who doesn’t have the gall to win because he doesn’t show any intensity’ (i.e. Dwight Howard). If he were to show intensity would he be called a crybaby or stubborn since he was now called a sore loser? 

Cam Newton even accepts the moniker:

“I’ve been on the record saying that I’m a sore loser,” Newton told reporters at the team’s practice facility in Charlotte on Tuesday. “Who likes to lose? You show me a good loser and I’m going to show you a loser. It’s not a popularity contest. I am here to win football games.” via USA Today

Where is the win?

What the hell do you people want from these athletes? It’s like the nay sayers and detractors don’t like them because they can’t be them and wish they were them so in turn project themselves and feelings inside the athletes in a ‘this is what I would’ve done’ aspect. Well Jimmy you’re not them!!! 

Stop with the madness and embrace the greatness of these athletes! Stop the nitpicking to find every damn hole in their human morality (God knows you have your own, start there) to the point we are seriously talking about how a person acted during a press conference after losing a championship game in which he did not play well. Wtf. But, this will blow over like when LeBron left the court without shaking hands in the finals or just tanked the deciding game 6 against Boston. 

Fans, the media and players are fickle, they are also human. The hubbub and sensationalism is about the human and social conditioning that creates the landscape of dreaded divide of-Fans v. Media v. Athletes when it comes to a player’s actions or reactions to a particular circumstance. It’s just a side we all have to choose. Attacking and dissecting an incident with a clear mind and consciousness within rationality of he subjective with the priority of: is this necessary to care about versus unnecessary. Which will you choose? 

Cover photo courtesy of myfox8.com