Cam Newton Suffers Several helmet-to-helmet Hits in Week one of the Season

Cam Newton Suffers Several helmet-to-helmet Hits in Week one of the Season

The NFL season started with referees convinently missing a handful of illegal hits on Cam Newton’s head.
Cam Newton suffered so many hard hits in NFL first game of the season on Thursday night. It was not a surprise, because they were up against a brutal Broncos defense, but many of those hits looked like the textbook definition of helmet-to-helmet, and a foul was called for just one of them.

Newton is about 6'5, 245 pounds. Making it tough to get under his chin. That penalty was compensated by an intentional grounding penalty, bestowing the Panthers another opportunity at second-and-ten, but the hit by Brandon Marshall was not called. Von Miller 's late substitution to the play which resulted in Newton taken getting injured in the third quarter wasn't called either, nor this play which happened on the Panthers’ last drive.

Just in case you're still wondering, Newton was not examined for a concussion. Recall that the NFL put in place independent injury spotters last season, who had the responsibility of stopping the game at any point if they believed a player incurred an injury. However, these spotters, missed a number of injuries last season, and the game this Thursday further suggested that they haven't shored up this process during the offseason.

After the game, Newton's press conference was delayed as he was getting medical attention. When he finally came to the podium, Newton demurred, stating that he didn't feel he was deliberately targeted in the game. He also said that players from the Panthers team asked him questions about his injury after the game, but he couldn't recall these questions because he had a lot running through his head.

"It's not my job to question the officials," He said. "I love the team in charge of officiating. I don't believe they did it intentionally, but it's not fun getting hit in the head repeteadly. I try to warn the refs every time I get a hit on the head, but if the flag is not called, then it's okay." Newton said.

Ron Rivera, present coach of Phanthes, also dodged some questions about the many hits Newton suffered, saying that he will have to see the tape first but the referees are doing the best job they can. Newton's teammates were also outspoken.

The NFL also said it is not condoning this issue, and earnest efforts will be taken towards cutting down the number of head injuries. Although, these efforts put in place doesn't appear efficient enough.

The incident may likely be attributed to Newton size which makes it tough for the referees, hence, they treat him differently from other players. The hits he suffered just during the opening week could have an adverse effect on his performance through out this season.

The NFL may likely face series of criticisms about how it handles cases of head trauma if one of it's biggest stars have suffered several hits and played with a concussion during the first-week league game. NFL needs to put in more effort towards arresting cases of head trauma and concussion.
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Credit - Josephus Ubovie Amie