Last week Cam Newton had quite a few things to say about the NFL’s officiating. According to Newton, all of the uncalled late hits were taking the fun out of the game for him. After expressing that he didn’t feel safe, Cam Newton took a meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to talk things out earlier this week.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson spoke with ESPN on Friday and was asked if he was having similar experiences with the refs as Cam Newton.
“No, I don’t feel that way. I just try to play smart football,” said Wilson. “I think I’ve said this before, but if I didn’t want to play football, if I didn’t want to get hit, I’d be playing tennis. That’s just one of those things — you know you’re going to get hit, and you know you’re going to take some tough hits every once in a while, and you have to hang in there. At the same time, it’s a rough game, and you always want to make a smart decision and get down, get out of bounds.”
Later Wilson clarified that he wasn’t aware of Newton’s specific complaints. Those complaints being about hits in the pocket.
“I haven’t seen his particular situation. Honestly, I try to stay away from watching ESPN and all that, but I know for me—trying to get down, slide, get out of bounds, all of that, because those guys are chasing after you.”
In a nutshell, Russell Wilson says that this is football. Football is an extremely physical sport. If you don’t like getting hit, play smarter or play tennis.
