As a mob of reporters and cameras surrounded Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton on Tuesday, he was asked about the support he's received from teammates in the days since the Super Bowl. Some of those teammates who had stopped to watch and listen started cheering. Safety Tre Boston started a "hooray for Cam" chant. Newton smiled.
It was a much different scene than the one that saw him scowling and storming off the stage Sunday leaving a storm of criticism in his wake.
"I listen to Christian rap and I have a guy I listen to named Eshon Burgundy," receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "He made this quote in one of his raps — 'They'll hail you to nail you.'
"It's just the nature of man. They look for that moment to really drive it in on you. When you play in the NFL, that's what you sign up for."
That contract certainly exists for quarterbacks. Particularly ones who win MVP. Especially after they lose the Super Bowl. But as Newton has made clear since he reported to training camp this summer, he's not going to be who we expect.
"I am who I am, I know what I'm capable of and I know where I'm going," he said. "I don't have to conform to anybody else's wants for me to do. I'm not that guy."
Because of what we presume our quarterbacks to be, Newton doesn't make sense to many. But one play on Sunday night didn't make sense to anyone who's watched Newton over the years.
With the Panthers still in the game late in the fourth quarter, Newton fumbled thanks to terrorizing outside linebacker Von Miller. It appeared Newton saw the loose ball on the ground, but instead of diving for it, he stepped back. Some assumed it was a business decision, one that kept him out of harms way. Newton on Tuesday admitted as much, but he bristled at the suggestion his reaction was a lack of effort. So did tight end Greg Olsen.
"If anybody wants to question how much Cam cares," Olsen said, "If anyone wants to question how hard he plays, the sacrifice that he makes with his body, the sacrifice he makes with just the way he plays that position, than not only are they uninformed, they've probably never watched us play a down since he's been in the league.
"So that narrative right there, I think for anybody who's seen us, is pretty comical."