I don't remember my exact question, but it was something about what he expected the deal to do for him. And he said one of the things he wanted to stress was that he saw himself not only as a football player, but also an entertainer and icon.Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/02/28/combine/index.html#ixzz1FHjrVWaR
Did any of Newton's reps -- agent Bus Cook or his marketing people or father -- say to him, "That's a bad thing to say at any point of a young career, never mind just before the combine?'' I certainly hope so, or they don't have his best interests at heart. I found Newton to be an amiable enough person, though how much can you really tell by a 15-minute phone conversation? And I was encouraged by a couple of things at the combine.One: He never said the quote wasn't accurate; I've heard enough players, with me and other reporters, backtrack out of a bad situation by saying they were victimized by an invented quote. Two: Combine godfather Gil Brandt of the NFL told me he spent time with Newton in Indianapolis and the player said he'd put his foot in his mouth and planned to apologize for it to the press and to teams. He pretty much did that to the assembled press, though he said several times he felt he was misunderstood.Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/02/28/combine/index.html#ixzz1FHk5fpIq
On NFL Network Sunday, Newton said of our conversation: "My response was, I view myself as that due to the fact that I'm not only going to just be selling football cleats, I'm going to be selling lifestyle apparel -- everything else ... I could have picked way more [different] words to express what I really wanted to say. I want to personally apologize to everybody who was offended about it."Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/peter_king/02/28/combine/index.html#ixzz1FHkDWuks
Okay, now I don't have a problem with his quote. It was taken out of context and used against him by just about all of the media....hmm, imagine that.
Looked as if Fannin has played possum for two years.