Cam Newton doesn’t get a lot of calls. That has been a theme this season as Newton continually takes flagrant hits from defenders without getting a call. Newton was on the wrong end of another uncalled illegal hit on Monday.
Cam Newton was flagged on a play where he got hit in the head by a defender
Washington’s Trent Murphy very clearly hit Newton in the head as the QB was sliding. It should have been a penalty. A referee was right there and pulled out a flag ... except it was thrown against Newton for taunting.
That little toss of the ball toward Murphy? That is what got flagged on this play. Not this part.
That isn’t to say Newton shouldn’t have been flagged. Taunting and throwing the ball at opponents has been a point of emphasis in the NFL this year. But the fact he did get flagged while the blow to the head that happened three seconds earlier didn’t is still an issue for the NFL.
After the game, Newton said, “That just can’t happen on my part. I have to let the referees do their job. I thought it was a questionable hit, but yeah I can’t throw the ball at a person, I know that’s against the rules too.”
When asked if the referee did his job, Newton said, “Next question.”
Newton added, “I just can’t retaliate in that way, I’m better than that, I know I am and you know I can’t jeopardize that type of play for my team.”
Ron Rivera added after the game that he felt a helmet to helmet penalty should have been called on the play, according to ESPN’s David Newton.
Walt Coleman, the referee for the game said that he’s got nothing against Newton.
He said after the game that he didn’t see the helmet-to-helmet hit that Newton took.
“Well, what I saw was that Cam slid late, and the defender went over the top,” Coleman said. “I didn’t see any forcible contact with the head. OK, if they slide late, they can be contacted, but they still can’t be contacted forcibly in the head. And so what we ruled was that he slid late but there was no forcible contact with the head — that he just went over the top.”
Coleman officiated the Panthers’ Week 8 game where Cam Newton publicly complained about a double standard after the game.
