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Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is off to the best start of his pro career, but that’s not why he’s in Monday’s national headlines. Instead, his words are getting more attention than his play.

That’s going to happen when you accuse the most popular referee in football of saying, “‘Cam, you’re not old enough to get that call,” like Newton did of Ed Hochuli.

Coach Ron Rivera made it clear during his weekly Monday press conference he wasn’t going to get into Newton’s claim, saying “we’re going to move forward.” But tight end Greg Olsen, who’s been a de facto team spokesman over the years, supported how his quarterback displayed his frustration.

“Cam said what he felt he needed to say. Obviously he felt that he was disrespected,” Olsen said. “I don’t think Cam would have brought it up and said it if and just made it up out of thin air.”

Sunday night, the NFL responded to Newton’s accusation with a statement that read: “The officials make decisions based upon the play on the field, and no other factor.” The he said/she said continued Monday morning when the league’s vice president of officiating appeared on NFL Network.

“Ed was adamant that he did not say that,” Dean Blandino said. “He told me that he said (to Newton) that ‘the difference is you were running.’ I think when you look at the tape it does look like Ed did say (the difference is you were running). I think that’s where we are right now and we’re just going to kind of move on from there.”

While Rivera and the league would like to move forward, a story like this doesn’t go away quickly. Few things in sports are juicier than a good, old-fashioned officiating controversy.

“I think certain guys get certain calls, certain guys don’t get calls. I think it goes for offense, defense, quarterbacks, non-quarterbacks. I think that’s just sometimes human nature,” Olsen said.

And because Newton is 6-foot-5 and 245 pounds, perhaps it’s sometimes human nature for a ref to consider him different than other guys at his position.

“The problem is Cam doesn’t get treated like a quarterback because he doesn’t look like a quarterback,” Olsen said. “He doesn’t run like a quarterback, he’s not built like a quarterback, and they say, ‘Oh, he’s fine, he’s a big boy. They’re designing runs for him, so what’s a little tackle out of bounds?'”

In this case, Blandino said Hochuli was right in not throwing a flag.

“Cam was outside the pocket, and he threw the ball on the run, so there are different protections for a quarterback that is running outside the pocket versus in the pocket,” Blandino said. “Outside the pocket, you don’t get the two-step protection. So when you look at the play, Cam threw on the run, there was some contact, it wasn’t late and it wasn’t a foul.”

And it’s not like Newton’s hasn’t drawn his fair share of flags. According to STATS, since Newton came into the league in 2011, opponents have been penalized for 30 personal fouls against him, the most of any quarterback.

“I think over the years, I’m sure he’s gotten roughed, and they’ve called it. I don’t think they go into games saying, ‘We’re not going to call it on Cam Newton,'” Olsen said. “I don’t think it’s a conspiracy, but again, Cam spoke for himself.

“He’s an intelligent guy, he’s a responsible spokesman himself, he doesn’t just say nonsense, and he said what he felt he needed to say.”

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