Super Bowl 50 is a wrap, and one issue that has popped up is Cam Newton's post-game press conference. The Panthers QB got out his responses and left a few minutes in. People are now reacting to this with all the usual grace and nuance one can expect on the Internet. First up, here is a transcript, although it does not include some of the questions he did not answer.
Here's the NFL-issued transcript from Cam's post game presser. pic.twitter.com/5UhuDHfuTW
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) February 8, 2016
Steve Young addressed the topic on ESPN's post-game press conference, and you can watch it above. While I get the point he is making, I can say with certainty that Young is missing an important bit of context. I was down in the press conference area after the game, and there were a few media areas. There were the two locker rooms, there was a room for the MVP and winning coach, and then there were two setups for Broncos and Panthers players to file through and answer questions.
The problem was that the last two areas were in the same room. They were placed in the same room, with only a black curtain dividing the two teams. If you listen to the first part of the video above, you'll hear a loud voice. I believe that was Broncos cornerback Chris Harris talking about how the Broncos defense stopped the Panthers offense. He's obviously in a good mood, and I can't imagine having to deal with that immediately after the toughest loss of my career.
Obviously Cam could have handled it better. He could have just answered the questions quietly and then leave. But it's hard for me to take issue with a player in that situation. It strikes me as an idiotic decision by the NFL to place the two teams right next to each other after the biggest game of the year. Why even create that potential situation?
I also just came across this video of the full press conference. If you get to the final 10 or 20 seconds, some guy starts asking a question, but it ends up just being a statement that seems to push Cam over the edge, at which point he leaves. All in all, a poor example of press conference set-up by the NFL.