Videos of Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton walking out on reporters during the post-Super Bowl 50 press conference are currently making the rounds online. But, another video involving the dejected athlete is also going viral.
The video, which has already reached over three million views, was created and posted by Richard Gilbreath, also known as Facebook user Gilly Kid. The clip was taken from the classic "The Andy Griffith Show" and features Newton's face superimposed on a young character's body.
The context of Gilbreath's video is spot on to what Newton did during the press conference. In that episode of the show, Andy Griffith's character, Sherriff Andy Taylor, was lecturing his son Opie about the value of sportsmanship. He told the young character, who was played by a five-year-old Ron Howard, about the importance of hard work, perseverance and accepting losses.
Check out the clip Gilly Kid made below.
The teachings of the late actor are what probably Newton needs to hear right now given his recent conduct. During the press conference, the 26-year-old quarterback barely answered the questions thrown at him by reporters and only after a few minutes in front of the microphone, Newton decided he's had enough and walked out of the room.
When asked about the press conference, he later on admitted that he is a sore loser. Following the Super Bowl loss against the Denver Broncos, Newton said that he did not want to discuss what happened during the game with the media.
"I didn't want to talk to the media at the time," he said according to ESPN. "The truth of the matter is I really still don't want to talk to the media. But at the end of the day, things have to happen."
Ron Rivera, the head coach of the Panthers, commended Newton for talking to reporters again following what happened during the post-game interview. He noted that that the athlete is still young and needs to a lot of other things as part of his maturing process.
He also defended his quarterback against those who are immediately judging Newton based on what they saw during the media briefing.
"People draw something on a snapshot," Rivera said. "Don't take a snapshot. Take the whole album. Take time to read the whole book...This is a young man that some people are looking at the cover and they're looking at it the wrong way."
