Mike Freeman’s 10-Point Stance: Cam Newton Putting NFL Officials in Tough Spot

Plenty to unpack after Week 1: Is Cam Newton treated unfairly by game officials? Jack Del Rio may be the perfect man to lead the young Raiders. And why do so many players back the anthem protests? I have an idea…

      

1. Is Cam Newton Getting a Fair Shake?

Since Carolina quarterback Cam Newton had his head bashed in on a series of nasty hits Thursday, hits that led to a number of flags…oh wait, hold on, there was just one…two questions have been consistently asked: 

First, is Newton afforded less protection from game officials than other players? (I say yes.) And second, is there bias against Newton from game officials? (I don’t know, but it’s complicated—more on that in a moment.)

The only way to get honest answers to these questions was ask to game officials, so that’s what I did.

The first African-American to referee a Super Bowl, Mike Carey has long been considered one of the greatest at his position. Sure, his stint as a rules analyst for CBS wasn’t great, but that doesn’t take away from 24 years of experience and a sterling reputation.

Carey identified what happened to Newton not as bias from game officials, or them not protecting him the way they do other great quarterbacks, but as something much less benign: simple human error.

“Those calls are some of the hardest to make,” Carey said, “because an official is watching for a bunch of different things. Sometimes things are just missed.”

“In the pocket,” Carey added, “everything happens lightning quick. That’s the problem.”

While I still believe Newton is seen by game officials as almost too big to fail, and they allow him to get battered because they think he’s indestructible, Carey offers a salient point that what might have happened was a straightforward case of game officials just making honest mistakes.

As for bias against Newton, either because game officials don’t like him personally, or his style of play, Carey said that’s all but impossible.

“You can’t exist in this league if you exhibit bias or favoritism,” Carey said.

The reason? Supervisors review every play, and any bias would be sniffed out.

“You wouldn’t be asked back” if bias was exhibited, Carey said.

 A current game official, who asked not to be identified, echoed Carey’s sentiments.

“No official ever lets their personal feelings get involved in the game,” the official said. “It has never happened once in the years that I’ve been an NFL official. I’ve never done it. I’ve never heard of another official doing it.

“The notion that we don’t protect Cam Newton against other quarterbacks is a lie.”

Asked if Newton is handled the same as Brady or Drew Brees, the official replied, “We see them all the same.”

But the speed of the game is a challenge.

“There are some officials, I think, who do have difficulty in judging a hit to the head when a player is running,” the official said. “That’s true with running quarterbacks in particular.”

The reason, this official said, is officials are sensitive to a particular problem defenders face. When a running player lowers his head suddenly, the defender lowers his. Everything happens so fast, there can be unintended head-to-head contact.

Asked about Fox analyst Mike Pereira’s belief the NFL should bring in college’s targeting rule, the official replied, “It doesn’t work in college, so why would we do it?”

   

2. Newton’s Gifts Have Become Officiating Curse

NFL refs seem to have a problem adjusting to the speed not only with which Newton moves, but also with which he is attacked by defenses.

Complicating matters is the issue of how to treat Newton when he progresses from quarterback to runner.

In many ways, it’s like Newton is being punished …

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