All game, the battle between the receiver and the man covering him was the fiercest and most entertaining one-on-one match-up of the season.
Two men at the top of their games, New York Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr and Carolina Panthers shutdown corner Josh Norman – one man’s team desperately trying to keep their play-off hopes alive, the other’s looking for a historic undefeated season.
Norman was clearly the better man, enticing Beckham into numerous, foolish unsportsmanlike penalties and frustrating the playmaker to a sub-par game.
That is until late in the fourth quarter, when Beckham out-jumped Norman for a touchdown that capped a huge, 28-point comeback from the Giants to draw the game even at 35-35.
All the while, the best player in the NFL was on the sidelines, waiting his turn, watching intently and nodding along as if to say, “OK. Nice shot, Giants. My turn now.”
Cam Newton – who had thrown for all five of the Panthers’ touchdowns and finished with 100 yards rushing – then drove his team expertly and quickly 49 yards down the field to set up a game-winning field goal.
Crisis averted, no need to panic. Even watching the Giants storm back into the game with the outcome suddenly uncertain, one certainty remained – Cam’s got this.
It was the Panthers’ toughest test to date on their way to a 14-0 start, at the centre of which has been Newton.
The MVP front-runner is a linebacker-sized quarterback who might also be the best running back on his team – a one-man offence the likes of which the league has never really seen.
He was the most dominant college player since Bo Jackson the year he led Auburn to a national title while also winning the Heisman Trophy.
He then became the first player to accomplish both those feats plus being selected first overall in the NFL Draft.
I lived and worked in Alabama – home of Auburn’s bitter rivals – during that magical year. He was beloved by half the fan base while the rest thought his dominating, showboating ways were the sign of end times. That polarising cloud followed him into the professional game.
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He should be the biggest star in the sport, but he isn’t. Why?
The NFL, while more popular and profitable than any league in the world, is starved for star power, especially with the Denver Broncos’ Peyton Manning washed up and the New England Patriots’ Tom Brady as the face of the shadiest organisation without mafia ties.
Beckham is a star who makes crazy, highlight-reel catches, but showed in this last game why he is not mature enough to be a role model.
Newton, on the other hand, should be a marketer’s and commissioner’s dream.
Instead, he is largely loathed by the starchiest of sports fans. He dances! He smiles! He – shudder to think – plays with joy! Joy? How dare he?
Know what Newton had to say about Beckham’s penalty-laced, suspension-drawing tirade? Right after the game, a TV reporter asked him. Newton – if he were half the punk many fans make him out to be – had the perfect chance to take a shot at Beckham and rub a fresh wound.
Instead, he said: “Odell’s an unbelievable guy ... It’s all fun and games.”
He then turned to Beckham as they left the field and embraced him in a show of camaraderie.
Wow. What a jerk.
Newton is a refreshing jolt of happiness to a league that desperately needs it. He plays hard, he is the best at his craft.
He is the leader of a mostly hapless franchise that is inexplicably without a loss.
What he is doing just does not usually happen, and should be appreciated.
And the best part is the joy he shows doing it. Is that not what we tell our children when we let them play sports?
Winning is cool, but having fun is what matters.
Remember when you thought sports were fun? Newton never forgot. The fact that he is also the best at what he does is just a bonus.
kjeffers@thenational.ae
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