Panthers quarterback Cam Newton took a hard, helmet-to-helmet shot from a Saints linebacker he didn’t see coming.
Then, apparently, he had to take a leak.
Somewhere in that brief visit to the men’s room/locker room, Newton was checked for a concussion and cleared by an independent neurologist.
“Well, I got hit. I deserved to get hit to be honest with you, looking back at it,” Newton said, via Bill Voth of Black and Blue Review. " I had to use the bathroom and I told the team doctors can we do the (concussion) protocol in the back? And when I came in and used the restroom, I think his name was Dr. Heck, came in and did the concussion protocol with our team doctor, and asked me numerous questions like the days of the week, and how many turnovers we had in the game – and I told him I was fine.”
“It’s a physical sport – I mean it’s not ballet. Football is a collision sport. But I’m fine, and I do not have a concussion. The referee did a tremendous job. Numerous times he kept asking me if I was all right. He kept looking at me in the eye to make sure I was focused. I’ve been keeping up with things in the NFL and guys having concussions – especially the situation that happened in St. Louis. But hear me when I say, I do not have a concussion.”
That’s good news, as long as that news holds up for the undefeated Panthers and their MVP candidate quarterback.
Newton didn’t come out during the series after Michael Mauti’s skull collided with his own, and the brief pit stop didn’t provide much of a chance to evaluate him in the locker room at all, since he was back for the next series.
But after Rams quarterback Case Keenum was allowed to play with what was later diagnosed as a concussion, there’s going to be incredible scrutiny any time a quarterback takes big hits and continues.