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Hot Stakes – Newton Needs Lesson in Leadership

Timmy Mason (Guest Contributor)

by Timmy Mason (Guest Contributor) in News

Updated Jan 17, 2018 · 9:39 AM PST

In the new Hot Stakes article series, SBD gives the floor to its resident writers and some guest contributors to opine on anything and everything in the American sporting landscape. What’s got us all hot-up? Usually something that lost us money. 

Now that the smoke – and my hangover – from Super Bowl 50 has cleared, I know how I will remember this game.

Years from now, I’ll probably forget Von Miller’s dominant edge rush, Jordan Norwood’s record-breaking punt return, and the surprisingly good halftime show.

What I won’t forget is the stark contrast between quarterbacks.

On the one hand, we got to see one of the greatest QBs of all time complete a storied 18-year career and walk away a champion. On the other, we were forced to watch a so-called superstar dance around a costly fumble and then act like a petulant child who just lost for the first time.

That’s what will stick with me.

All I could think as I watched Cam Newton’s performance – both in-game and post-game – was how much I will miss Peyton Manning in the years to come, and how lucky I’ve been to see some of the greatest leaders in sports – Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Derek Jeter, etc. – perform in their primes.

Manning the Paragon

Peyton Manning, known for being one of the best team guys in football, lived up to that reputation in the Super Bowl. The future Hall-of-Famer didn’t let his ego get in the way. He recognized his evanescing skills and took a backseat to the Denver defense, allowing Miller and company to cement a 24-10 win over the Panthers.

Manning’s final stat line reads like a sub-par backup playing preseason mop-up duty: 13 of 23 for 141 yards and a pick.

Do you think that soured the victory for the Sheriff? It sure didn’t sound like it after the game.

In the wake of the Super Bowl, I read some articles saying Manning was a joke, that he shouldn’t have been out there, and that he did nothing to help the team win. My guess is that the writers of those articles have never been on a championship team in their life. They probably spent their lifetimes relegated to the sidelines, screaming at the guys who were actually good enough to be out there.

Manning now has two Super Bowl rings (he also won with Indianapolis in 2007) and has impacted so many of his teammates’ lives over the years. Case in point, Vance Walker: the defensive end didn’t know a soul when he first came to Denver training camp. Who was the first person to walk over and introduce himself?

Peyton Manning.

That’s the type of leadership which turns a group of immensely talented individuals into something more than a sum of its parts.

Confounding Cam 

Having played sports for so many years, knowing what it takes to win and what you have to sacrifice, my stomach turned when I watched Cam Newton jump away from his fourth-quarter fumble, a fumble that crushed any chance the Panthers had of winning.

I can honestly say that all the clichés I heard from my coaches over the years went rushing through my head when I saw that: “sacrifice your body to make the play”; “hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard”; and, of course, “don’t play for yourself, play for the guy beside you”.

I can’t imagine how Newton is going to look his teammates in the eyes when they’re cleaning out their lockers, or when they show up to training camp next season. Sure, a lot of those guys don’t possess nearly the talent that Newton does. But they put their bodies on the line day-in and day-out for one another, including Cam.

The decisive fumble wasn’t even a tough play, that’s the crazy part. Just dive on the ball! I’m pretty sure they teach that in Pee Wee football: if the ball comes loose, jump on it! It should be instinct at this point.

When I watched the play live, I felt bad for Cam. I thought to myself, “Poor guy. He’s going to have to watch that tape and ask himself why he didn’t even make a play for it.” That kind of remorse is tough to live with, especially when there is so much on the line and about a billion people watching.

But my empathy quickly dissipated when I watched his postgame interview. Newton’s postgame performance was a real low for sports in general. A guy that has so much talent and a bright future will always be remembered, by me anyways, as a spoiled little kid who didn’t get his way. A fine-and-dandy who excels at dancing in the end zone when the score is out of reach, but not a true professional who does the nitty-gritty chores necessary to win.

I know you have all seen the interview by now so it’s not worth talking about, but it’s embarrassing for athletes all over.

Think of the Children!

All of this made me realize that I was pretty lucky growing up. I got to see true champions act like professionals whether they won or lost.

I get pretty scared for kids that are playing sports these days when I see the players they look up to dancing around, wiping the ice with their gloves, and fist pumping on the greens. Some say it’s great for sport to have that sort of enthusiasm. But when does it start to hurt the game?

Part of being a professional athlete is dealing with the public and the media, win or lose. Answering questions right after a painful loss has to be one of the hardest parts of the job, no doubt, but it’s still part of the job. The public and the media are what fund the big, fat paychecks, the fancy cars, and every other amenity that comes with being a professional athlete.

This leads me back to true leaders like Peyton. Go back and watch Manning’s postgame interview after the Broncos got massacred 48-3 by the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl 48. You’ll see what being a leader is: standing up for your teammates, tipping your hat to the other team that played their hearts out, acknowledging that you have to work harder to get where you want to go, and generally handling a loss with sportsmanship and class.

So congratulations to Peyton Manning on a great season and, more than likely, a great career. The Manning family should be proud of what he has accomplished not only for the NFL, but for sports in general. Enjoy the good life, Mr. Manning; you deserve it.

Tim Mason is a two-time Canadian lawn bowling champion and former professional hockey player. You can hear more from Tim when he guests on the next episode of the Oddcast

(Photo credit: Keith Allison (flickr) [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/legalcode].)

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