The only fight the Carolina Panthers got out of the New Orleans Saints Sunday was the first-half brawl set off after Cam Newton's early rushing touchdown. After the game, which ended as a 41-10 laugher, Saints' defenders placed the blame on Newton for what they deemed as "taunting," according to the Charlotte Observer.
Saints blame ‘disrespectful’ Cam Newton for brawl
Newton’s Superman celebration touched off an ugly shoving match in the New Orleans-Carolina game Sunday.
"He was getting in our faces and I don't take too kindly to that," said Curtis Lofton, who touched the melee off by shoving Newton. "I saw it as disrespect, so I did what I thought I had to do."
Newton and Panthers' running back Mike Tolbert started jawing with Saints' linebacker Kasim Edebali after the Panthers took a 17-0 lead on Newton's 2-yard scoring run. Newton delivered his patented Superman celebration in Edebali's face and, as he turned, was shoved by Lofton.
Then all hell broke loose. A massive shoving match erupted between the two teams, spilling off the playing field and knocking a gate open behind the end zone.
“There’s a lot of testosterone on that field at one time, so it’s bound to happen any time you get a whole bunch of alphas, so to speak,” Newton said, brushing off questions of whether he incited the incident with his antics. “Somebody has to have that bend (but don’t break) mentality, and I don’t think anybody had that bend mentality today.”
Panthers' tight end Brandon Williams, who was ejected for his role in the shoving match, said he was simply trying to defend Newton.
“I just saw them going after our quarterback,” Williams said. “I went in to help out, keep them off the quarterback. And next thing you know a big brawl broke out. I was just defending myself.
“I felt like I was defending myself and just trying to help my guy out. Maybe a penalty or something like that, but I wasn’t expecting to get thrown out.”
★★★
See More:
