Cam Benched for Not Wearing a Tie?

[RiverDog]

I found this to be incredible, almost too insane to be true...

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/cam ... ar-AAl9eB4

There has to be more to the story than this. Perhaps Rivera got fed up with Newton's gimmicks, like his wearing odd ball hats to news conferences and tee shirts with political statements on them that he finally laid down a strict dress code for Cam and the team. It's the only thing I can think of that would explain this rather bizarre action.

[HumanCockroach]

Not the first time he's ignored the dress code. At some point as a coach, you are forced to make an example of a player who thinks he's above the rules in place, no matter how good he is....

[c_hawkbob]

He's supposed to be the team leader, not the one that thinks he's too good to have the rules apply to him.

He says "nothing happened last time I did this" ... well, other than the warning not to let it happen again. Second offense is telling the coach you think you're more important than his silly rules. What the hell does that say to the young players on the team? "Don't sweat the small stuff?"

As a coach, the devil is in the details, even down to travell dress codes (most teams have them), his team is playing sloppy ball, this is Rivera saying "tighten it up fellas, time to toe the line". If they are winning maybe he lets it slide because the looseness is working, as it is, I'm OK with the coach tightening the screws a little.

[RiverDog]

Cam's side of the story is a little different, says he didn't pack a shirt and that they stayed out on the west coast for the whole week, complained about buying a shirt when you're 6'5", that he wore a turtle neck that wouldn't accommodate a tie.

I'm a lot more likely to believe Cbob's scenario than I am Cam's. There's no way that Rivera would have benched him if he thought that it was accidental or excusable. There has to be something else to the story, it had to be more flagrant than what Cam is claiming.

On the other side of the ledger, Russell Wilson, while at Wisconsin, once borrowed a dress shirt from a teammate because he wasn't expecting to have to do a post game locker room interview in front of the camera and didn't want to do it in his tee shirt.

[mykc14]

Cam's side of the story is a little different, says he didn't pack a shirt and that they stayed out on the west coast for the whole week, complained about buying a shirt when you're 6'5", that he wore a turtle neck that wouldn't accommodate a tie.

I'm a lot more likely to believe Cbob's scenario than I am Cam's. There's no way that Rivera would have benched him if he thought that it was accidental or excusable. There has to be something else to the story, it had to be more flagrant than what Cam is claiming.

On the other side of the ledger, Russell Wilson, while at Wisconsin, once borrowed a dress shirt from a teammate because he wasn't expecting to have to do a post game locker room interview in front of the camera and didn't want to do it in his tee shirt.

That's exactly it. Even if he didn't pack one (even though that seems hard to believe because if it were a team rule he would have had to of worn one when he traveled to Oakland) he easily could have borrowed one from a teammate or had somebody run to a store and buy a shirt and tie. He is all about style and I am sure that he didn't want to be seen wearing the same outfit two weeks in a row or be seen wearing a shirt/tie combo that didn't match his hat or didn't fit perfectly. Remember this is a man who had a new hat rush ordered the day before the season opener because he changed his mind about which outfit he was going to wear. Cam picking out his outfit for a game is more like an actress getting ready for the oscars than somebody just throwing on a shirt and tie to meet a dress code requirement. Just another thing to make me not like Cam.

[Oly]

I agree that there has to be a backstory about a lack of professionalism here. And if those were the rules, they were the rules, and there have to be consequences for breaking them.

That said, I much prefer Pete's philosophy. As long as guys put the team first, let them be individuals. It's always struck me as paternalistic when a coach tells men who play a game for a living that they have a dress code for traveling. (And I say this as a guy who chooses to wear a tie to work every day even though very, very few of my colleagues do so.) The rule is there, so it has to be followed, but I think the rule is stupid.

[NorthHawk]

According to PFT, this wasn't the first time and he had been talked to about it.
When he continued to ignore the warning, the consequences occurred.
It had to be done as he isn't bigger than the team and can't disregard team rules or it undermines the coaches authority.

[RiverDog]

That said, I much prefer Pete's philosophy. As long as guys put the team first, let them be individuals. It's always struck me as paternalistic when a coach tells men who play a game for a living that they have a dress code for traveling. (And I say this as a guy who chooses to wear a tie to work every day even though very, very few of my colleagues do so.) The rule is there, so it has to be followed, but I think the rule is stupid.

Seifert’s colleague, Jeff Darlington, noted that the punishment “is especially odd since Ron Rivera is among the most reasonable, player-empowering coaches in the NFL"


If this observation is anywhere close to accurate, then Pete, too, might have had a problem with the way Cam was conducting himself.

Cam's attire has been debated before, from his hoodie in the post SB presser, to his hats, his tee shirts, his cleats. Obviously he'd been talked to before about his attire and chose not to follow what his HC had told him. This must have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

[c_hawkbob]

I understand (Fox sports radio as source) that wearing a tie while traveling is an ownership rule, not a Rivera rule.

[Hawktawk]

The incredible shrinking man. This Cam Newton is similar to the original Cam. Then came the rollover accident and he seemed to mature as they ripped off 20+ wins with 1 loss the next year and a half. Then the Superbowl.........And the press conference......
He isn't Manziel on or off the field so it didn't get a lot of pub but he and his posse allegedly trashed a very expensive vacation property in the offseason and he is being sued for hundreds of thousands in damages.Something has flipped all the way back with this guy.
I agree with Bob and others. This has to be far from the first offense with a dress code to insert the backup in a must win road game against a pack of rabid wolves.Newton said he was "on board" with Riveras decision but that"we didn't lose because I didn't start".
Gee Cam you think seeing you on the bench due to your selfishness and having the first ball picked didn't set a TONE?

Newton is back to being Newton, more self centered and attention W@#re diva than ever.
The sad thing for Carolina is that this is a 6 year vet, not a rook.
For all the crab legs references Winston is a better leader and rapidly becoming a better qb.
Newton is who he is always going to be.

[RiverDog]

I understand (Fox sports radio as source) that wearing a tie while traveling is an ownership rule, not a Rivera rule.

It might not have been Rivera's rule, but it was still his decision to bench him.

[Hawktawk]

[

It might not have been Rivera's rule, but it was still his decision to bench him.

RD what is your opinion other than being amazed it happened? Do you agree with coach Riveras decision?
My friend Dale and I were having a nightcap at edgewater and encountered some Carolina fans.

They didn't say much about the benching other than it probably wasn't too smart having the backup throwing on the first play of the game.

To that I would agree.

[RiverDog]

RD what is your opinion other than being amazed it happened? Do you agree with coach Riveras decision?
My friend Dale and I were having a nightcap at edgewater and encountered some Carolina fans.

They didn't say much about the benching other than it probably wasn't too smart having the backup throwing on the first play of the game.

To that I would agree.

I'm not going to second guess Rivera's decision to bench Cam because I don't know all the details. If it was just that Cam violated a minor dress code rule, then a fine would have been more appropriate than a very public benching. A good rule of thumb is that you praise in public and chastise in private. But we don't know any of the background information. Perhaps this was the straw that broke the camel's back and that Rivera decided that the only way to reach Cam and get him to think of his team first was this very public rebuke of his leadership/face of the franchise style.

As far as the rule itself goes, it sounds kinda silly to be requiring players to wear ties in this day and age.

As far as having the backup start out the game with a pass play, I see no problem with it. The backup is Derek Anderson, a 10 year veteran that's thrown a lot of passes in the NFL. That INT was a safe pass that bounced off the receiver's hands. You can't blame him.

[Hawk Sista]

I agree with the sentiment that this is WAY bigger than one incident without a tie. The whole - "I didn't pack a shirt and I am 6'5" BS was as stupid as the rule itself. Here is a thought, CAM... since it is a rule, dumb or not, why not A) pack a passel of shirts and ties, or B) use a couple hundred bucks from your $100,000,000 damned salary to buy appropriate attire - you selfish prick?

I dislike Cam more than ever for his stupid comments about not having one and his clearly fake accountability. At the same time, I do think the rule is silly - no matter whose rule it is. Still, it is a rule and there are consequences to failing to toe the line....however wide or narrow it is. If the owner who is paying you $100,000,000 bucks wants you in a tie - you wear a tie. It really is that simple. Except in this case - it likely is a series of comments and behaviors that led to this action, IMHO.

[Hawktawk]

I'm

As far as the rule itself goes, it sounds kinda silly to be requiring players to wear ties in this day and age.

As far as having the backup start out the game with a pass play, I see no problem with it. The backup is Derek Anderson, a 10 year veteran that's thrown a lot of passes in the NFL. That INT was a safe pass that bounced off the receiver's hands. You can't blame him.[/quote]

Maybe it looked better on TV than live but the throw looked a bit low and hot for an underneath throw to a fullback.
Regardless the results were horrible and set the tone for the game.
And that's on Newton whether he accepts it or not which he does not....

[RiverDog]

"As far as the rule itself goes, it sounds kinda silly to be requiring players to wear ties in this day and age.

As far as having the backup start out the game with a pass play, I see no problem with it. The backup is Derek Anderson, a 10 year veteran that's thrown a lot of passes in the NFL. That INT was a safe pass that bounced off the receiver's hands. You can't blame him."

Maybe it looked better on TV than live but the throw looked a bit low and hot for an underneath throw to a fullback.
Regardless the results were horrible and set the tone for the game.
And that's on Newton whether he accepts it or not which he does not....

The INT Anderson threw might have been thrown a little hard, but the receiver got both hands on the ball and it sailed right through them. It was a pass that an NFL quality running back should have caught. In any event, calling a pass play on the first play of the game was not necessarily a bad idea, especially given that Anderson is an experienced quarterback. If that would have been someone like Boykin out there, then I could see letting him get his feet wet by handing off a couple of times.

It wasn't a huge game starting killer because Carolina rallied to force a FG. But the fact that that it occurred while Cam was benched for violating team rules probably hurt more than the 3 points.

[RiverDog]

That said, I much prefer Pete's philosophy. As long as guys put the team first, let them be individuals. It's always struck me as paternalistic when a coach tells men who play a game for a living that they have a dress code for traveling. (And I say this as a guy who chooses to wear a tie to work every day even though very, very few of my colleagues do so.) The rule is there, so it has to be followed, but I think the rule is stupid.

Pete has rules, too. Here's Richard Sherman's take on Cam and the benching over the no tie thing:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ric ... spartanntp

[Oly]

Pete has rules, too. Here's Richard Sherman's take on Cam and the benching over the no tie thing:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ric ... spartanntp

Sherman's comments seems close to what several of us have been saying here. The benching was necessary because the rule is there, but Pete wouldn't have a rule like that. I didn't mean to suggest Pete doesn't have rules--obviously he does--it's just that his rules give a ton of freedom for guys to still be individuals, certainly more freedom than Rivera seems to have.

[c_hawkbob]

Pete has rules, too. Here's Richard Sherman's take on Cam and the benching over the no tie thing:

http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/ric ... spartanntp

Sherman's comments seems close to what several of us have been saying here. The benching was necessary because the rule is there, but Pete wouldn't have a rule like that. I didn't mean to suggest Pete doesn't have rules--obviously he does--it's just that his rules give a ton of freedom for guys to still be individuals, certainly more freedom than Rivera seems to have.

But if it was a Paul Allen rule Pete would enforce it just the same.

[burrrton]

Heard on the radio this morning that Rivera talked to Cam *the night before* and told him if he didn't wear a tie he'd sit him the first series.

Then dummy shows up the next day with no tie.

Either no respect for Rivera or too stupid to dress by the team's rules.

[NorthHawk]

Heard on the radio this morning that Rivera talked to Cam *the night before* and told him if he didn't wear a tie he'd sit him the first series.

Then dummy shows up the next day with no tie.

Either no respect for Rivera or too stupid to dress by the team's rules.

That's simply thumbing his nose at authority and thinking he's above the rules. What's next, dismissing the plays being called?
I think it's a good move by Rivera.

[I-5]

Whether the starting QB of any pro team likes it or not, he is management. The starting QB is never just like all the other players on the roster - every word and action (or inaction) is observed and scrutinized by the rest of the team. Russell Wilson understands that intuitively - the shirt borrowing story demonstrates it perfectly. When Cam says 'nothing happened last time', it shows that either he doesn't agree, or doesn't understand that concept.

[HawkDawg]

This old relic of an MTV video describes Cam perfectly. He's the "Ken Doll" of the NFL.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7FX6sAL0Zw