Category: External Sports (Page 253 of 821)

Count former Ravens head coach Brian Billick as one who has concerns about Cam Newton’s diva-like attitude and even referred to him as “LeBron James-ish.”

From NFL.com:

“A player having confidence never concerned me,” Billick said. “It takes conviction and passion to play this game. However, coming from a Cam Newton, with all of the issues that have surrounded him at Florida and Auburn, and the questions coming into this league. I find the comments very disturbing and they put a big red flag up to this young man’s ability to perform in the NFL. I have major, major questions about Cam Newton.”

“There is no question that as a staff and a coach you have to have some sense of any athlete drafted high in the NFL will handle all that goes along with being a high pick,” Billick said. “The pressures to play and produce. The emotional transition from college to pro. Finding yourself in a major metropolitan area. And dealing with all of the outside pressures with being in the NFL. All of it. …

“When you look at some of the actions of Cam Newton at the end of the season — the workout for the media, the comment about being an icon and entertainer — it shows me a lack of understanding on his part what that transition to the NFL is going to be about. And these actions show me that he has surrounded himself with people with questionable judgment.”

The biggest concern surrounding prospects, especially those taken in the top 5, is how they’re going to act when they’re handed millions of dollars. Some understand the responsibility that they inherit when they’re drafted, while many, many others fall victim to their fortune.

Newton is a tremendous athlete and I know he dazzled the college football world with his play last year, but let’s be frank here. When a prospect says that he’s an “entertainer and an icon” before ever attempting his first pass in the NFL, that’s a concern. In fact, one NFL coach told SI.com that Newton’s comments “really turned me off.”

“That really turned me off when I heard that. That’s exactly the wrong message to send. You want your quarterback to be the exact opposite of a guy who’s interested in something like that. I can’t believe he’d actually say something like that, but that’s a guy I want no part of.”

You worry about whether or not Newton is someone who gets it. JaMarcus Russell never got it and he was out of the league in three years despite his immense athletic talent. Even the staunchest of Newton supporters have to admit that the concerns about his attitude are warranted.