Comments from Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera during his Monday afternoon media availability.
Have you had a chance to see Cam [Newton] today?
"No, and there's no reason to see how he's feeling. We discussed all of those yesterday and all of that stuff. We were forthright and gave you guys the answers and there's really no reason to see where he is."
Well, when a guy takes two hits in the head?
"No, no, no. Don't even bring that up. We talked about that last night. There's no reason for this to become a story other than you're bringing it up again."
But there are post-concussion symptoms ... ?
"Please, we've discussed this before. I went through and answered your questions yesterday. I gave you all the information. In fact, I understand you called the league to make sure we do what we're supposed to. We follow the rules here. Don't question my integrity when it comes to those things. Understand that. I try to be as forthright as I can when I answer your questions. When I'm doing that, the least I could do, is get the common courtesy that I'm being believed. Okay, I take it very seriously and it is not up to me to make those decisions and these calls. It's up to the doctors, just so you understand that. I'm being very upfront with this and very forward because it does bother me. I'm not the doctor. I'm not the one who makes these decisions. We have a protocol and we follow the protocol. We had a player stay out for, what, 3-4 weeks? And at no point in time did we force that young man onto the field because we believed him. So please, do not question me on this."
(Later, after question about Newton taking hits with postseason ahead, Rivera went back to the concussion topic)
"I know what happened with the Rams, and I know Coach Fisher talked about being in the moment of the game and not knowing – I didn't know yesterday as far as what had happened, because when plays happen, you go to the next one. I can see what Coach Fisher's talking about. And when he was over on the sideline shaking his head, I didn't see that till I saw that on the replay this morning. So as the head coach, you see certain elements of what's going on. I didn't see that, and I didn't know what the whole protocol was going on until well after that game. So, again, as I said, I don't know. I get the information when I get the information. So until I do, it's hard for me to sit there and tell you anything other than what I do know. Secondly, when it comes to the protocol stuff, I don't know what that is. I follow what I'm told by the doctors and the trainers. And for the most part, it was explained to be afterwards yesterday, and after it was explained to I came back to you guys and told you what was explained to me. Then I know our doctors came out a second time and explained to you guys what happened. So after all that, I'd like to believe at this point, it's a moot point until another statement is made. I don't know, and that's my answer. So I'm just going to be very clear on that. Until I'm told something differently by the doctors, I'm standing by what I've told you."
Geez. This is as defensive as I’ve seen Rivera. To whom was he directing these comments?
Joe Person
He has an issue with Joe Person…apparently
What !?!? Not Joe The DBag Person. His writing, opinions and interviews are all trash. He’s the reason I gave up on the Charlotte Observer.
Now, Bill Voth. I like his work for the most part.
Don’t really think it’s an issue with Joe as much as an issue with how Joe handled himself by calling the league trying to find dirt to make a story about the situation.
It is kind of hard to blame him. He’s as up front and complete with his answers as any coach in the league. And the fact that Person had been digging for dirt got back to Ron from his comments and this exchange was the result. I think RR has earned the right to not deal with media sensationalism BS, so good on him for calling it out.
I agree. I totally applaud Ron for standing his ground.
I like RR, but the question seemed basically fair (to explain how Newton was evaluated by League concussion experts).
Reporter was a moron