For the most part Cameron Newton has navigated his rookie season brilliantly on and off the field. He has exceeded expectations and shut down the critics (myself included) who thought he would struggle his first year in the league.
He doesn’t like to lose, which is a great quality to have, but he has to be careful when expressing that to the public so that he doesn’t demean his teammates which he did with these comments.
Speaking to ESPN The Magazine, Newton talked about his burning desire to win, something he certainly did at the college level at Auburn and before that in junior college.
“What happens when you take a lion out of the safari and try to take him to your place of residence and make him a house pet? … It ain’t going to happen,” Newton told the magazine.
“That’s the type of person that I am. I’m that lion. The house that I’m in is somewhat of a tarnished house where losing is accepted. But I’m trying to change that, whether I’ m going to have to turn that house into a safari or I’m just going to have to get out of that house.
“I’m not saying I’m trying to leave this place. I’m just trying to get everybody on my level.”
Easy young fella, you haven’t even made it through your first year in the league and you are already talking about “getting out of that house”.
I get what he is saying with his Lion analogy, but he could have left out the extra parts. You are disrespecting your teammates and franchise in public. If you want your teammates to get on your level, tell them face to face not to ESPN Magazine and don’t send out subliminal messages that you will leave if the losing continues. You are on a team, lose as a team, win as a team. It isn’t all about Cameron.