Cam Newton: “We didn’t lose that game because of that fumble — I can tell you that.”

Cam Newton spoke Tuesday for the first time since he walked out of his Super Bowl post-game press conference. Here are selected quotes. What do you think of them?

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  1. I can’t remember a player ever shying away from recovering their own fumble, especially in a Super Bowl when the game is still in doubt. He’s a braggart and poor sport….

    1. Grant how bout a 9er post I think most of us here really don’t give a damn about C. Newton.

      I was thinking the exact same thing Old Coach! This no-class chump doesn’t deserve all this virtual ink!

      This is a Niner blog right?

  2. Grant…the takeaway from this game should be that defense still wins championships. Both teams had dominant defenses…Denver simply made fewer mistakes than Carolina and had relentless pressure on Cam. I agree he’s a poor loser…he should’ve emulated Coach Rivera, who showed a lot of class congratulating Coach Kubiak and Peyton.

    1. Razor, you can’t be serious comparing a regular season football game to the Super Bowl, with the outcome of the game hanging in the balance, can you?

  3. “show me good loser and I’ll show you a loser.” ~ Cam

    Cam, maybe you should have turned tables and pushed cameras back in reporters faces – that would have really proved that you’re not a good loser and we could have respected more, right?
    Sheesh, this guy needs to grow up fast if he wants to be the face of the league.

  4. His comment about the NFL being fine with or without him reminds me of when Kaep said he was going to be fine, whether he was a starting QB in the NFL or not.

    Everything apart from the way he ran away from the loose ball is just fluff. That is one, solitary thing that actually happened in that game that exposed his character.

    He fumbled twice, both times because of poor pocket awareness, which is a football flaw.

    He was short with the media on game day because he was emotional and the shock got the best of him. That is human nature, a hallmark of youth, inexperience. It’s a quality that everyone must work on to get better at.

    NOT going after the ball though? That was, as Razor says, a business decision, and one that so clearly puts Cam, the individual, ahead of Carolina, his team. That is a MAJOR character flaw for a leader, and it draws serious questions about whether he is fit to play QB on the biggest stage. At his core, can he be a leader, beyond all the histrionics?

    There is another explanation, more palatable for Panthers fans, I would think. Cam owned it in the lockerroom already; owned his mistake, took full responsibility for the loss. (In truth, his WRs could have caught more balls, etc …, but cmon, this is the QB, he gets the credit and the blame most times [altho not in Denver this Superbowl]).

  5. Grant

    Here’s a nice prompt for a 49ers-related piece:

    “Kaep came much closer than Cam to actually winning a Super Bowl and reached 3 straight NFCCGs. Kaep was a great big-game QB before he either became too cocky to train or had his confidence undermined.

    Cam has had the luxury of working closely with one guy since joining the Panthers in 2011. Mike Shula was the QB coach before becoming OC in 2013. He, Ron Rivera, and Jerry Richardson have given Cam the stability that the most successful QBs, Montana, Brady, and Rodgers, have enjoyed.

    Andrew Luck has yet to make his mark in the postseason. He suffered this season (a year after he was abandoned by Bruce Arians) during a year marked by York-esque ineptitude in Indianapolis.

    No matter their public accolades, they’re all three very similar QBs in terms of physical abilities and early career accomplishments. We have no reason to believe that any of these three guys won’t be able to reach the pinnacle of the profession, but it will take work. Is Kaep too old, as you often declare?

    Clearly not, as evidenced by the ascension of your 49ers childhood hero, Steve Young, who was 29 before he was even named the starter, and 31 by the time he was named to his first Pro Bowl in 1992. Young had the luxury of studying the passing game among WCO luminaries including Montana, Walsh, and Shanahan. Today, it is Young himself who is most positive about the prospects of Kaep ascending with Chip Kelly, and he touts his late-career partnership with Shanahan, beginning in 1992, as a model for that partnership.

    So, Blaine Gabbert, anyone?”

    1. Couldn’t you approach Steve Young and get an interview or two asking him specifics about his time studying under Montana and working with Shanahan? What a great experience that would be for you.

      And you could make it current by asking him to expand on what he sees about Chip that could be good for Colin.

      1. Steve Young is a neighbor of mine if you subtract several city blocks and a few million from the real estate value of Steve’s house. We’ve even run into each other at our local grocery store. Steve had his little boy move his kid’s shopping cart aside for me one time. Steve doesn’t seek out fan contact on that type of occasion. Neither did Randy Cross back in the day.

        Given Grant’s track record with his line up of athlete scape goats, I think that The Seb has a better chance of getting extended interviews with Steve Young.

        1. I do not want to interview SY. I would much rather Tom Tolbert did it. I really like his conversations with Brent Jones. Tom would elicit more thoughtful insight because I would just be star struck.

  6. The decision by Rivera to shorten their offseason program due to extended playing time is a prudent one in my opinion….

  7. Silicon Chips

    Having read all of the ‘morning after’ comments etc. I would give a pass to Andrew Luck in the Entitled QB competition, and substitute ‘Johnny Football’ Manziel in his place. Luck has, at the very least learned when and where to keep his mouth shut and not make a spectacle of himself as per Kaepernick, Newton, and the aforementioned Manziel. That’s my 2 cents for that. For the the rest, When Chip Kelly became QB coach at U of Oregon, he succeeded a pretty darned good and successful coach, Mike Belotti. New coaches are scarey things, but Chip quickly showed his quality and was very revered in his years at U of O. At his ‘firing’ at the City of brotherly love, I was ecstatic and hopeful that the 49er FO would grab him. I got my wish, and am now a happy person. The draft and FA will replenish the weak links in the chain, and I look forward to many seasons of proud 49er football with all of you….led by Chip

    1. Oregon

      There is no “Entitled QB competition” here. I’m simply including Luck in the comparison because he is so similar to Kaep and Cam athletically, and in career arc. Andrew Luck was worse than Kaep this season (though fhe media never says so).

      The point I’m making looks past entitlement, and seeks to understand what it might take for each of them, but Kaep in particular, to reach his potential. Kaep is younger than Steve Young was when Steve started his QB career in SF (starting), and he has already amassed an incredible postseason résumé. Since he’s under contract and the QB question is the one most people are asking, and we have the coach that best suits his skills, I think there would be a lot of interest from the local da base if Grant sought to expand on Steve Young’s recent discussion points.

      1. Silicon Chips

        I did “get” what you were alluding to (I think!), but I would take issue with “similar to Kaep and Cam athletically, and in career arc…” Athletically…yes, but as a QB, Luck has the experience of knowing and learning how to throw (pass) accurately, understanding his footwork, read his progressions, and seeing all of his potential targets before choosing the first one, or deciding to run. Actually Cam has pretty good footwork. I suppose that because Luck was hurt so much of the year answers why Kaep was better than him this past season.

        Steve Young was older than Kaep is now when he became a starter on one of the greatet teams ever , and he had all of the necessary parts to be great when he did start….not so with Kaep, and, only for me, I don’t believe that he ever will. Why would you want to train Kaep if Gabbert is already better, cheaper, and not such a gamble ?

        1. Oregon, I agree with a lot of what you’ve just posted, and I’ve always rooted for Steve Young. BUT, you may be forgetting some of his catastrophic games where he started in place of Montana.

          Steve Youn definitely had to climb a significant learning curve. By the time his Superbowl season started, he had made major improvements, but that couldn’t protect him or any quarterback from horrendous OL play that began that year. Early in that season they were missing four of the five expected offensive linemen. He took major physical beatings against the Eagles, Chiefs, and the first half of the Lions game. It took everything he had learned in the succeeding years to get that season on track for the Superbowl.

          In that four year span going up against Dallas, 1994 was the only year the 49ers had an edge in talent. I can’t see Montana or Young winning much with the 2015 49er roster.

          Bill Clinton’s motto before he was elected was “It’s the economy, stupid.” For Baalke and Jed it should be “It’s the whole roster, stupid.”

          I’m in no way recommending Jed York or Trent Baalke for the presidency of these United States.

        2. Oregon

          Gotcha. I agree that Luck is more polished; I don’t think anybody would argue otherwise. He was supposed to be the next (better) Peyton Manning. Luck is amazing, no doubt. But he is not immune from having a career downturn, as shown this year. He was hurt; so, apparently, was Kaep.

          I don’t know what the best thing to do here is. I’ll tell you one thing: the Kaep that played in Chicago in 2012 and played against the Packers in 2012 & 2013 playoffs, and played the second half of the 2012 Super Bowl was the most dangerous weapon I’ve ever seen at the QB position, more than everyone else, ever.

          If there is any chance that Kaep can corral his amazing weaponry, then yeah, I want to see it happen.

    1. Malik Jackson is the only I see us having a chance to acquire. Miller will get tagged and so will Wilkerson. I don’t think Irvin would be a fit for O’Neil’s defense. And who the heck was a rotational STs player as a starter?

            1. He’s worth every penny, and it would also allow the team to address other needs in the draft such as WR, RG, OLB, and a #1 CB.

              1. Jackson? I would jump for joy if Baalke manages to sign him, but realize that a SB winner will be in high demand.

        1. Razor

          It’s a new day. :)

          I think the 49ers should get a guy in his mid-20s to anchor the DL for the next 6 years or so, the way they did with Justin Smith. You never know what a draft pick might become; sometimes you have to be passive and use the draft. But this year, the 49ers can do pretty much anything they want because of the $68M (including Josh Norman at $13M or $17M). I think Baalke will make his big splash on the interior D line, because his philosophy is to build from the middle out. I think Wilkerson should be the target, but I think the Jets will franchise him. His agent is a colleague of mine, and they’re almost certain he’s staying put. Jackson is the next best thing by most accounts, but Jaye Howard from the Chiefs is another guy with youth and recent production on his side.

        2. I agree with Mid. The reality is you do have to overpay for top end FA talent. No getting around that. But Adding a DT/DE that can play the run well and collapse the pocket needs to be a priority for the 49ers. I wouldn’t stop at bringing in Jackson. I’d also use a draft pick on a DL. Just probably not the first round pick.

              1. So first three rounds look like this:

                Spence(Or another defensive player with elite traits)
                Boyd
                Hargrave

                First 4th round pick on an OL? Second one on quarterback?

              2. Yes, that is how I am leaning at the moment. Not sure if you saw my previous mock FA and draft, but I had Ogbah in round 1, Boyd in round 2 and Hargrave in round 3. Then Hogan and Haeg in round 4.

                Malik Jackson, Danny Trevathan (or another ILB) and Jeff Allen in FA.

              3. Yea , I remember your mock. Seems like a wise plan to me. Do you like Haeg better than Beavers?

              4. I’m pretty neutral with regards to the mid round OL. I went with Haeg, but I’m not really across these guys well enough to have a strong opinion one way or another.

            1. There will be good value in DTs in rounds 2 to 4 this year due to the abundance of them. Similar to (though not quite as good as) the value in WRs in 2014.

              1. With Smelter waiting in the wings, the Niners should go after FA linemen from both sides of the trenches.

              2. The reason I think Jones will be overpaid is because the WR free agency market doesn’t have any big time players available other than Jeffery….

              3. This may compel Scooter to give an impassioned rebuttal, but I like Kendall Reyes. He will be affordable, at least.

              4. Other than Marvin Jones, WRs include:

                Jason Avant
                Travis Benjamin
                Leonard Hankerson
                Jermaine Kearse
                Reuben Randle
                Mohamed Sanu

                Chip likes big, physical guys, so that would suggest Hankerson, Randle, and Sanu. Sanu was a QB, and has thrown several TDs in his career at Cincy. He is big and strong, but not quick or fast, but he might be good next to Torrey Smith.

          1. I disagree. It would give the team the thing on defense that we lost when Cowboy retired.

              1. But those would both be Rd1 draft picks; Buckner would probably require a trade up a spot or 2, and Nkemdiche will probably be available all the way down to 20-25.

                $68M!!!

              2. I agree E. I’ve cooled off on Nkemdiche due to questions about his commitment on the field.

              3. I’ve got the DT/NT rated as follows:

                Reed
                Nkemdiche
                Clark
                Rankins
                Washington
                Billings
                Washington
                Butler
                Hargrave

              4. One of the articles that I read on Nkemdiche said that teams and their scouts aren’t as excited about him as the fans and media is. That’s a fairly big red flag there.

              5. I never really understood the hype around Nkemdiche. He’s good, but not that good. I’d take Rankins and Clark ahead of him.

              6. I will not say that Nkemdiche should become a Niner. For any first rounder, I would like a player smarter than someone who would walk through a window. I think his skills are good, but the Niners have many other more favorable and preferable players to choose from.

              7. I just watched Nkemdiche’s performance against Alabama. Could Azzinaro get him to play like that every week? I think that’s what every defensive line coach needs to ask themselves….

    2. Razor

      I do agree with you that we (niners / Balke) should not overpay for any of Grants’ top free agents other than Von Miller…and not that much for him. I remember how astonished I was when Torrey Smith came at the ‘bargain basement’ cost of only $40 million…how much was left ? (I DO love him, but that’s rich for a part-time decoy) Silicon Chips and I have both been tapping on the Oline, and both of us have mentioned the AGE of our incoming FA linemen to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 24- 27. To me, the greatest cost of quality FA’s is how many years do they have left in the tank ? The only way that we’re going to see a fast tunaround is to load up with linemen over 30…and that would be brief. TB…there are at least a few ‘gems’ on every teams practice squad, and waiver wire. I know that our scouts are out there, and we really don’t need many., but this is a rare year with our position with the salary cap….do it right, and don’t overpay.

      I can’t wait for the combine….

      1. Spence reminds me of Khalil Mack. If he can satisfy his character concerns and demonstrate his ability to drop in coverage at the combine, I don’t see him getting past the Buccaneers’ first pick….

          1. Grant,

            What happened to that lady one?

            What about Leonard Floyd? And why do you think they’ll sign an ecstasy addict now?

      2. Spence reminds me of Khalil Mack. If he can satisfy his character concerns and demonstrate his ability to drop in coverage at the combine, I don’t see him getting past the Buccaneers’ first pick….

  8. “Panther’s fans haven’t been this upset since their team didn’t run it on the 1-yard line in last year’s Super Bowl…”

  9. California brothers Geoff Schwartz and Mitchell Schwartz are both available as FAs this offseason. Baalke should grab them both.

      1. Seb

        Agreed, but why not sign them both. That’s the point. They’re both going to be cheap, and we can get Wisniewski too. Or just dig. Mitchell and Wis.

        1. Silicon

          I like the Schwartz pick(s) Also Byron Bell from the Titans…another road grader OT…and JR Sweezy from the Squacks, and you beat me on Wisniewski, but we’ve just built the Oline

          These guys have started since they were rookies, and are perfectly ‘seasoned’

          P.S. Geoff was a Duck

          1. Oregon,

            I’m all for MSchwartz and Wis to be added to:

            Staley
            Tiller
            Kilgore
            Brown
            Davis

            w/ Martin and Thomas continuing to gain strength and “seasoning”

            That would by my 9

            1. Silicon

              It’s starting to look good…my biggest concern would be can Davis regain game shape before we gave him the Tackle spot over Brown…? Like you, I still believe that there’s hope for both Thomas and Martin. You know that saying “… open your mouth and remove all doubt…?” Well here I go….Jordan Devey was drafted by the Pats and traded to the niners. Coming out of U of Memphis, I don’t think he’s had much training camp…He’s from Utah, so a good guess might be that he’s Mormon, and has spent obligatory time on church mission which might answer why he might be a tick behind the rest….I hope that he goes through TC with us.

              The guy’s got size…is he trainable ? Just a thought….

              1. Until Davis actually files for reinstatement, I’m not even considering him a piece of the OL puzzle….

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