Remember back in 2016 when the Carolina Panthers sat quarterback Cam Newton at the start of a primetime game in Seattle because he didn’t wear a tie to the stadium? And remember when head coach Ron Rivera was blamed for it?
Yeah . . . sorry, Ron.
So that’s not exactly how it went down, at least according to former Panthers linebacker and franchise legend Thomas Davis. Davis, who sat in on NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” this past week, revealed it was, in fact, general manager Dave Gettleman’s decision to bench Newton for the fashion faux pas.
Remember that time Cam Newton was inexplicably benched for a series in Seattle for an attire violation?
Well, glad you asked, because Thomas Davis wants you to understand one thing:
“That wasn’t Ron. That was Dave Gettleman, all day.” pic.twitter.com/dT8QvXxJPY
— John Ellis (@1PantherPlace) September 15, 2021
That, obviously, wasn’t a great call on Gettleman’s part. Backup Derek Anderson started the game and this is how that went . . .
One play, one pass, one interception.
Newton—coming off the MVP season the year prior, mind you—then subbed in and, well, didn’t do much of anything either. He completed 14 of his 32 throws for 182 yards and a touchdown in the 40-7 loss to the Seahawks. (But, hey, at least that lone score was a pretty one.)
The Super Bowl hangover hit the Panthers hard that year, with this fiasco perhaps topping it all off. It should now come as no surprise, however, that old fashioned football man Dave Gettleman embarrassed his superstar quarterback and the rest of his team in front of a national audience in the name of “culture.”
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