Sometimes people react poorly to a situation and learn from it. Sometimes life throws you a curveball and it fucks you up. This is probably the reason why Cam's dad is skeptical of the media. Cam can't dance and celebrate without pissing people off and he can't be grumpy in defeat without pissing those same people off. The deck is artificially stacked against the player in this situation. Which is why these angles are the very definition of hackery. Human beings are complex creatures that don't fit neatly into character traits at all times. Didn't Cam mature this year? Didn't he grow as a player and student of the game like we heard and read all season, or did everyone just say all that shit because he was virtually unstoppable and the Panthers kept winning? Has Cam always been immature and his true self came out tonight? It's an easy argument to win, though, to point out how his attitude changed when he faced adversity, but it also belies the problem with narratives.

I'm gonna hold off on making any judgments on a guy in that moment. But the dude just lost the biggest game of his life, and the first thing he's supposed to do is dance for a bunch of clowns asking him inane questions. Cam could have handled it better others certainly have. Chris Berman and Tom Jackson burped their way through a discussion about how a real man, a leader, stands in front of the cameras in good times and in bad, and that's fine. The scolding started as soon as Cam left the press conference room.

Cam newton press conference