Three-point stance: Cam Newton, the media, Super Bowl quick hits

I’m glad Cam Newton pouted his way through his press conference after Sunday's Super Bowl loss. I’m glad he left in a childish manner, regardless of whether it was because of a tough question or him overhearing Broncos cornerback Chris Harris talking about how Denver wanted to make him throw the ball to beat them.

Why am I glad? It’s not because I hate Cam Newton or the Carolina Panthers. I don't take glee in criticizing anyone. It’s certainly not for any other creative reason that I’m sure many will use to spin my reaction.

I'm glad because kids sometimes need to see the wrong way of doing something to really learn a lesson rather than watch the right way.

We’ve seen a ton of quarterbacks handle a loss the right way, answering questions, praising the opponent and sitting through question after question about a loss that was tough to handle emotionally. Heck, Russell Wilson took the blame upon himself after last year’s Super Bowl when he could have easily thrown his coaches under the bus. But Wilson sat there, took all the questions and took the hit. That’s what you’re supposed to do, especially as a quarterback. But Newton -- who had earned a reputation as a sulky, poor loser before this season -- did it all wrong and now prospects, especially the high school ones we deal with, can learn a valuable lesson.

Newton's image has been tarnished and will be hard to repair. His MVP season and image as a fun-loving leader whose enthusiasm for the game became infectious was all ruined by one bad press conference.

Obviously, high school prospects aren’t judged on the same level and are given much more latitude than a 26-year-old NFL veteran, but for those of them who idolize Newton, dislike him or don’t care either way, now they see how not to do it and he showed you on the biggest stage possible.

So, for that, Cam Newton has done many a great service.

Cam Newton doesn’t owe the media anything. That’s something many are saying when defending his press conference behavior. And yes, we’re not talking about Ray Rice, Adrian Peterson or Johnny Manziel behavior here. This was just a guy who took a bad loss and didn’t handle it well publicly. But when people say Newton doesn’t owe the media anything, they are very wrong. (And I’m not talking about small potatoes media types like me.)

Without the media, no one would know who Newton is. If the media didn’t cover the NFL, if the major television networks didn’t pay to carry the games, even if the local media didn’t follow the Panthers' every move, then where would Newton and the rest of the NFL players be?

Some people think I’m crazy when I say this stuff -- like when I criticized Marshawn Lynch for his “I’m just here so I don’t get fined” garbage last year -- but I'm absolutely serious. Think about it. The NFL has made players famous, has made many of them multi-millionaires and none of that would possible without the media. Newton biting the hand that feeds him seems very short-sighted to me.

Agree or disagree, but if the worst thing players like Newton and Lynch need to do is sit and answer the same old questions in good times and bad, then they have it made.

* Congrats to Peyton Manning for going out on top. The former Vols star was a recruit even before my time but was clearly a five-star prospect back in 1994. He chose Tennessee in a surprise over his dad’s school Ole Miss.

* The right tackle for the Carolina Panthers that Von Miller made look like a turnstile was Mike Remmers, who was never in our database as he wasn’t recruited aside from a walk-on offer at Oregon State. However, Remmers battled for his position in the NFL, first as a four-year starter with the Beavers and then as an NFL journeyman that bounced from Denver to Tampa Bay to San Diego to Minnesota to St. Louis before landing with Carolina.

* The left tackle that DeMarcus Ware abused is a bit more famous as we all know Michael Oher from the book/film "The Blindside." Oher was a high four-star prospect back in 2005 when he signed with Ole Miss in a heated recruiting battle. His high school coach, a guy named Hugh Freeze, was controversially hired as the assistant athletic director for football external affairs months after Oher signed. At the time a hire for such a position, which wasn’t as commonplace in college football as it is now, was thought to play a large role in Ed Orgeron landing Oher for the Rebels. Whatever the reason, Freeze has had the last laugh as he was quickly promoted to an on-field coaching position and later returned to Ole Miss as head coach in 2011.

* Miller has clearly outplayed his ranking back in 2007 when he was a four-star prospect ranked behind 15 other weakside defensive ends. Heck, he wasn't even included in our first-ever Rivals250. Miller had a great career at Texas A&M, was the No. 2 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and has now emerged as one of the top two or three edge rushers in the NFL. A few others from that 2007 defensive end group have done well like Justin Houston (Kansas City Chiefs) and Carlos Dunlap (Cincinnati Bengals) while others never lived up to their lofty ranking like Martez Wilson and Cliff Matthews. Another member of that 2007 defensive end class, Michael Keck, passed away from what is being called the most advanced case of CTE so far in a football player. But clearly Miller and Houston are the cream of the 2007 crop and helped jump start the hybrid movement in the NFL.