Panthers' Rivera rips reporter over question about Newton blow to head
Following his team’s dramatic comeback victory to remain perfect Sunday, Cam Newton joked about his father’s reaction to a bizarre -- and potentially disastrous -- play near the goal line in the third quarter.
With Carolina trailing the host Saints 16-13 early in the third quarter, the Panthers quarterback appeared to have a sure touchdown on a first-and-goal bootleg from the 4-yard line. So sure, in fact, he appeared to slow up and jog, certain no one would touch him. Only linebacker Matt Mauti had other plans, and met Newton just in front of the right corner of the end zone, sending Newton crashing out of bounds at the 1.
Newton would ultimately throw a touchdown pass to end the drive, and with the Panthers winning 41-38 on another Newton scoring toss with just over a minute to play to improve to 12-0, the MVP candidate was able to joke about the foiled scoring run after the game.
"There's probably a lot of people that wanted to see it. My dad will say I deserve it," Newton told the media after the game of the hit.
But the hit was also a serious matter, Newton and Mauti slamming helmet-to-helmet and the quarterback spending a few moments after the play on his knees.
Fast forward to Monday and during his weekly news conference, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera refused to answer a question from a reporter about Newton and the concussion protocol.
Actually, refused to answer is putting it a bit nicely. As you can see in the video above, Rivera ripped into the reporter, even accusing the reporter of contacting the NFL to confirm whether Rivera followed through on the protocol.
Again, this is a coach WITH A PERFECT RECORD THIS SEASON. Pity the reporters who have to interview him after a loss.
