People keep saying this week an infamous football player should have taken his mother's advice shared before Sunday's big game. Before Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton abruptly left his press conference following his team's Super Bowl 50 loss, Newton's mother, Jackie, recommended he use his platform to promote Jesus Christ and God. Instead, a self-induced dark cloud hangs over his reputation now.
Newton, 26, raised eyebrows about his behavior before Sunday's season-ending game within the NFL after critics questioned his "Dab" dance end zone celebrations, reports Christian Post.
Perhaps Newton should have listened to his mom. "I want you to understand that hot and cold water comes out of different fountains. You are either hot or cold," she began her lengthy text message before the Super Bowl, shared by Newton on Instagram. "You have a big platform. Which fountain are you?"
His mother then warned him against representing the devil via public statements.
"Don't let the devil win over your words or speech that represent the dark world. But represent the awesome God you serve through your words," she wrote. "Don't confuse the devil and the enemy of what you are on: so speak boldly to the nations that you represent Christ for the great things He has done. Through your language and actions, speak words to uplift and not tear down."
She went on to tell her son not to promote the "devil's workshop" and quoted Proverbs 18:21, which states, "death and life are in the power of the tongue."
"The devil [doesn't] like positive words. That's why he keeps attacking because he ain't happy," she wrote. "You win with your character and powerful words that you speak."
But, obviously, when Newton's Panthers lost 24-10 in the big game against the Denver Broncos, he didn't feel like talking at all, about God, the devil, the team or anything. After mumbling a few words in the post game press conference about "I don't know what you want me to say," he decided to make a dramatic exit in the middle of it, which drew a great deal of criticism.
Deion Sanders, Hall-of-Fame-cornerback-turned-NFL-Network analyst, spoke out against Newton's postgame behavior that left Super Bowl fans talking.
In his exit interview on Tuesday, Newton made it clear he had no issues with the way he responded to losing. "For me, nothing's pretty much going to change. You get what you get," Newton said during his exit interview. "I've been on record to say I'm a sore loser. You show me a good loser and I'm going to show you a loser."
Still, he appeared to realize that some people deemed his behavior as displaying poor sportsmanship.
"I've had a lot of time to think about it. I've seen so much blown out of proportion," Newton said in his interview. "At the end of the day when you invest so much time, when you sacrifice so much and things don't go as planned, I think emotions take over. I think that's what happens."
One can't help but wonder how many conversations with his mother have happened since Sunday, rehashing which words he should've spoken at the conference. Perhaps her pre-game text was foreshadowing in its own way: "Cam, you are highly favored. God is on your side, why should you fear what man should do or say," she wrote. "Remember God!"
