Gold cleats mix-up got Cam's Super Bowl Sunday off on the wrong foot
Jim Fassel believes the gold "MVP" cleats that Carolina quarterback Cam Newton wore during the Super Bowl 50 pregame warmups made him "soft."
"You don't do that," Fassel told a Denver radio station.
As it turns out, Newton almost didn't have the chance to showcase them at all.
FOXSports.com has learned that Under Armour had to rush the custom kicks to Newton at Super Bowl 50 after initially sending him the wrong pair.
Newton, who signed a shoe and apparel deal with Under Armour prior to the 2011 NFL Draft, was told by the company last Saturday that a mistake was made with the gold cleats emblazoned with the phrase "MVP" across the top. Under Armour was left scrambling to correct the error before Newton took the field for warm-ups at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
"They had to get the right ones there that morning," a source told FOXSports.com, adding that Newton was nonplussed about the situation.
The "MVP" cleats celebrating Newton winning the award on the eve of Super Bowl 50 are just one of a series of specialized shoes he has worn during pregame preparations. Before the NFC Championship win over Arizona, Newton's cleats had the names of all 53 Panthers teammates. Newton also has worn pink and camouflage cleats to draw attention to breast-cancer awareness and military service.
Such history meant little to Fassel, a former NFL head coach who told Mile High Sports 1360-AM in Denver that his prediction for a Panthers victory changed upon seeing Newton's cleats. Carolina lost to Denver, 24-10, and Newton is getting criticized for failing to dive to recover his own fumble late in the game when the Panthers were only trailing by six points.
"I said, 'That's not what a starting quarterback, MVP, leading his team -- and I had a lot of respect for him during the season -- that's not what happens,' " Fassel said.
