Oftentimes, when you put a microphone - or Twitter keyboard - in front of someone, you're not quite sure what's going to be said. (Unless, of course, that person is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, in which case you'll get words like integrity and London but little else of substance.) Such was the case this week in the San Francisco area, with current and former athletes descending on Super Bowl 50.
Here are a few of the beefs that cropped up this week:
Panthers CB Josh Norman and Denver Broncos WR Emmanuel Sanders
This one actually had some back-and-forth to it. On Wednesday, Sanders told reporters that Norman had "talked himself into the media," the inference being that the All-Pro and defensive player of the year candidate was not as good as player as he actually is.
Told of Sanders' comments on Thursday, Norman shot back, “I think you’d have to be pretty darn good at what you do to talk your way into the spotlight. I’m sure if you’re not good, you’re not recognized as one of the best. I haven’t been hearing much about him. Obviously he may want to go back and go practice some more.”
On Thursday, Sanders said his original comments were misunderstood, and that he was simply tired of being asked solely about Norman.
“No, he’s not overrated to me,” Sanders told USA Today Sports. “I never said he was overrated. That story has blown up. I pretty much (said) that I’ve been here for four days and I’ve answered more questions about Josh Norman. Robert McClain is on the opposite side. Luke Kuechly is in the middle. They have a defense. They have 10 other guys out there. Is that fair to keep asking questions about one guy as if me and him are the only ones out there playing? Walk up and ask me questions about the defense in general because they have a great defense.
"I don’t want to talk about just one guy. That’s the reason why I said it. I’m kind of tired of talking about just one guy when there are 11 guys out there on the field. So don’t walk up and ask me questions about one guy. Ask me questions about their defense.”
Norman may cover Sanders in Super Bowl 50, so we may see this one play out on the field.
Carolina Panthers LB Thomas Davis III and NBC Commentator Rodney Harrison
This was more about Davis defending his teammate, and one-sided. On Thursday, Harrison, the former Chargers and Patriots safety who was known as a hard hitter who toed the line of dirty play during his career and is now an NBC commentator, was on the Dan Patrick Show. He was asked how defenders should play against the Panthers' Cam Newton, a quarterback who is about as big as your average 4-3 defensive end.
“If I was playing against Cam Newton, I would try to take him out. I would try to take him out," Harrison said. "I would try to hurt him. I would go right at his knees. That’s the goal. That’s the goal: you want to knock him out. That might be the difference between winning and losing the Super Bowl.”
Davis got wind of the comments and took to Twitter to express his displeasure with Harrison:
We assume the cheating incident Davis is referencing is the 2007 suspension Harrison served after admitting to purchasing and using human growth hormone (HGH). But Harrison has clearly lost a fan in Davis, a 32-year old veteran who is one of the league's most respected players: he was named the NFL's Walter Payton Man of the Year last year and this week won the NFL Players' Association Byron "Whizzer" White Award. Davis is playing Sunday's game two weeks after breaking his arm in the NFC title game.
Bill Romanowski and Logical commentary
Romanowski has a well-earned reputation as a loose cannon, a guy who did just about everything on the field during his 16-year career and continues to say eye-opening things even in retirement.
Like Harrison, he was asked how he would approach playing against Newton, and Romanowski went even further.
"I'd hit him as hard as I possibly could, and probably at the bottom of the pile I'd try to get him by the neck and choke him," Romanowski said during an interview with Bleacher Report. "And hopefully he can't breathe for a long time."
So we've now progressed from doing damage to a player's knees to choking the life out of him... While what Harrison proposed isn't outside of NFL rules, it's certainly more of an old-school mentality, or at least not something spoken about often. Romanowski's approach is just a felony.
Panthers QB Newton and Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan
Before Carolina flew west for Super Bowl 50, Newton told Charlotte Observer columnist Scott Fowler that part of the reason he's a polarizing figure is, "I’m an African-American quarterback that may scare a lot of people,” Newton said, “because they haven’t seen nothing that they can compare me to." It was the first time in his NFL career Newton had really addressed race and how it influences some people's thoughts on him, and he was reluctant to give the answer he did, knowing it might touch off a firestorm of takes (which it did).
During Super Bowl week, Newton tried to avoid talking about race, though on Thursday, he was asked what he'd like his legacy to be as a black quarterback.
Via Sullivan, Newton responded: “I don’t even want to touch on the topic of black quarterback, because I think this game is bigger than black, white or even green. So I think we limit ourselves when we just label ourselves as this and that. I wanted to bring awareness because of that. But yeah, I don’t think I should be labeled just a black quarterback, because there’s bigger things in this sport that need to be accomplished.”
But then Sullivan asked Newton why he wouldn't talk about it, and this was the interaction:
Sullivan: “Why don’t you want to elaborate on it? It’s a big issue. Don’t you believe th-”
Newton: “No, it’s not.”
Sullivan: “… believe the stereotype type that a mobile, black quarterback cannot throw in the pocket effectively. You don’t think that that’s-”
Newton: “I think we shed it [that stereotype] a long time ago.”
Sullivan: “Why don’t you back it up and say something?”
Newton: “Why should I back it up?”
Sullivan: “Because you brought up the topic, and it’s still an issue in the minds of a lot of people.”
Newton: “It’s not an issue. It’s an issue for you.”
Maybe Newton saw the interview with Fowler, in Charlotte, as the time to address race (likely knowing how some of the responses to his statement might be received, the Observer disabled comments on the story) and then he would avoid it in San Francisco, which he tried to do.
Newton tired of the numerous press availabilities during the week, saying he'd heard the same questions over and over. But on Thursday, he did get a different one.
Asked why he was wearing socks with sandals, Newton shot back at the reporter, "Why are you wearing jeans with shoes? It's just comfort."
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