There has always been suspicion that some star players get calls in their favor based on reputation, and Cam Newton seemed to confirm that after Carolina’s win Sunday over New Orleans.
The Panthers quarterback says he was told by referee Ed Hochuli that he was “not old enough” to get a personal foul call after being hit late on a play in the fourth quarter against the Saints.
“I was really baffled by what was said to me,” Newton said after the game via The Charlotte Observer. “I was rolling out trying to string out the play and create some type of opportunity to get a completion and the defensive lineman, you know, kind of hit me. It was close. It was right on the cusp. Was it a late hit? I don’t know. But the response that I got was, ‘Cam you’re not old enough to get that call.’”
The play happened when Newton rolled out to throw a pass to Greg Olsen in the fourth quarter and was hit by the Saints’ Tyler Davison.
“I’m looking at him like what? Jesus. I didn’t think you had to have seniority to get a personal foul or anything like that,” Newton said. “You just have to be accountable. It’s one thing to be frustrated in a situation where you see a personal foul on the opposing quarterback get called, and then for me when it’s something around the same range and for that flag not to be called, it’s…I’m ticked off. Really.”
Pro Football Talk reports that Hochuli denies making that comment. What, like you actually believed he would admit to saying it if he did? The guy forcefully stands by even his bad calls.
It’s fairly well known that rookies and young players don’t get the same calls veterans do. There’s a reason the phrase “star treatment” developed.
Hochuli’s alleged comment to Newton might be the only thing worse than the quarterback’s outfit after the game.
