« on: October 24, 2011, 08:14:26 AM »
Cam's fault. He's infecting the world.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/23/2717619/cam-a-lot-rave-reviews-hit-broadway.html
Like a great actor on Broadway, Panther quarterback Cam Newton wowed his audience Sunday onstage at Bank of America Stadium in Carolina's 33-20 win over Washington. He did it with a mixture of scripted and unscripted moments, and you might be surprised as to which was which.
SCRIPTED: After Newton scored the game's first touchdown on a called 16-yard run, he did his "Clark Kent Becomes Superman" routine and then handed the ball to a small boy in an end-zone seat. The handoff to the boy was new, but it wasn't actually Newton's idea.
"Each and every week my quarterback coach, Coach [Mike] Shula, always talks about learning how to celebrate," a still-jubilant Newton said afterward in his postgame press conference. "He says when you celebrate, it's not a celebration unless you give back. He says, 'You do all that riff raff, whatever you do, but at the end you give that football to a little kid. You find a little kid.'
"So after I did whatever I did, I heard somebody in my [helmet] headset saying, 'Give it to a little kid! Give it to a little kid!' I looked and there was this kid just gleaming from ear to ear, so I gave it to him."
UNSCRIPTED: On the very first third-down play of the game, the Panthers faced third-and-9 from their 21. Newton dropped back and never saw Steve Smith, who was flashing open deep, as coach Ron Rivera said later.
That's because Newton was in trouble immediately. But what looked like a sure sack turned into the longest run of his NFL career.
Newton held onto the ball for an astonishing 14 seconds on the play as he ran left, hesitated and then went all the way back to the right, leaving three would-be tacklers grasping only air on a remarkable 25-yard run.
"The kid is a pretty Ferrari," Washington cornerback DeAngelo Hall would say later. "He can run. He can throw. He's got the total package. He's going to be a player in this league for a long time."
SCRIPTED: Newton threw fewer times than he has all season as the Panthers made a conscious effort to run the ball more against Washington.
But he came up with his most efficient performance of the year, throwing only five incompletions (18 for 23, 256 yards, one TD). Newton set career bests in completion percentage (78.3) and passer rating (127.5).
Most notably, it was only the second time No. 1 has not thrown an interception this season. Those are the two games Carolina (2-5) has won.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera said of Newton: "One thing that I saw that I was really happy with was that he hit the fullback a couple of times on check downs and hit the tight end underneath, which is really good. Usually he tries to hold in there and force that ball downfield."
UNSCRIPTED: Rivera gave Newton a game ball in a rowdy locker room after the win, which the quarterback didn't know was coming. "Speech! Speech!" his teammates yelled.
"Cam's a showman," Panthers tackle Jordan Gross said. "So then he did what he was supposed to do."
In other words, Newton heaped praise on the offensive line for its great protection in the second half, when Carolina scored on drives of 80, 80 and 65 yards on its first three possessions. Why did he do that?
"That's self-explanatory," Newton said. "I'm trying to get some kudos. I think that's the political-est thing to do."
He meant "politically correct," but let's forgive Newton that small verbal misstep. It was one of the few mistakes he made all day. Newton won more friends and respect Sunday because of the way he gave things away - recognition to his teammates, smiles to everyone, the ball to the kid.
"So many times people are blinded about individual efforts," Newton said, then going on to praise his line once more.
SCRIPTED: Newton has become one of the best deep throwers in the NFL, and he had three gorgeous passes of 30-plus yards Sunday that he put right on the numbers (two to Steve Smith, one to Brandon LaFell).
UNSCRIPTED: Newton took a couple of enormous hits in the game, one on a blindside sack where he somehow didn't fumble but heard the whole crowd go "Oooooh," and joked about the sound later.
On another, Newton tried to leap over a defender and into the end zone on one scramble, only to get turned into a human helicopter by two Redskins.
Newton said of the goal-line leap: "Actually, that's what you dream about as a football player ... You see the goal line and a guy in front of you and you're like what do I do? Do I run over him? Do I jump over him?"
Newton tried to jump. And although it didn't work, he said: "It was good for the whole morale of the team."
Newton is still figuring out when to improvise and when to stick to the script.
But on Sunday, the rookie did his best job of it yet, with a winning performance that promised many more sellout crowds to come.
Scott Fowler: 704-358-5140; sfowler@charlotteobserver.com
« Last Edit: October 24, 2011, 08:24:47 AM by Saniflush »
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