Cam Newton said this offseason he "hasn't peaked" as a football player. That growth must come not only on the field, but in increased maturity off it.
The Carolina Panthers quarterback was denounced by many following his handling of a post-Super Bowl interview, in which he seemed to sulk and walk off early.
Linebacker Thomas Davis said he thinks the quarterback has learned a lesson and grown from the exchange and subsequent criticism.
"Cam understands and he knows that, in that situation, being who he is, being the role model that he is, he has to handle that situation better," Davis told Alex Marvez and Kirk Morrison on SiriusXM NFL Radio on Wednesday. "And he's learned from that, I feel like. Hopefully, we're never in that position again where we're losing the Super Bowl, but I definitely feel like Cam has matured since that point and he's definitely going to be much better at handling different adverse situations like that."
Another teammate, Greg Olsen, said he understood the emotions Newton was going through after the loss. Speaking to NFL Media columnist Adam Schein on Mad Dog Sports Radio on Wednesday, Olsen said Newton's reputation for being true to himself has never been an issue for his teammates.
"Some people may not like it," Olsen said. "It might not be traditional or what they expected but Cam's true to himself and at the end of the day the only thing that matters is how do the guys in the locker room respond to him -- how the guys in the locker room respect him and rally around him -- and that's never been an issue since the day he got here as a rookie in 2011."
Personally, I'm of the belief that the whole post-Super Bowl interview hubbub was overblown nonsense -- partially stemming from those looking for any reason to yank on Newton's cape.
If Davis is correct and Newton has matured from that trivial trial, it will only give his detractors fewer chances to voice their irrelevant displeasure.
