Cam Newton didn’t just pummel the Dolphins in his Patriots debut.
He also ruffled feathers, to the point where tensions ran high in the closing moments and immediately after New England’s 21-11 win over Miami at Gillette Stadium.
So, what exactly caused such a commotion as Newton put the finishing touches on his first victory in a Patriots uniform? Well, for one, the veteran quarterback noted after the game that someone on the Dolphins tried to rip off his chain.
This, obviously, didn’t sit well with Newton, who explained Monday on WEEI’s “The Greg Hill Show” that the chain contains his kids’ birthstones.
On Tuesday, Shannon Sharpe sided with Newton in the AFC East skirmish, wondering what the 31-year-old QB could have said or done to provoke the apparent, controversial chain grab.
“Cam is one thousand percent correct. That is the ultimate sign of disrespect,” Sharpe said on FS1’s “Undisputed.” “If you have a chain on, a chain is a trophy and it has a different meaning for different things. … To come up and do that after the game, to do that when we’re just standing around talking, that’s the ultimate sign of disrespect. That’s the ultimate F-U.”
“I don’t get why,” the former NFL tight end added. “What, ya’ll dislike Cam that much? What did Cam do to ya’ll? These Millennials, these new kids, they’re getting out of hand with this stuff, man. Look, ya’ll not hard. Stop thinking ya’ll some goons. Ya’ll not goons. And even if you grew up in that environment, you wanted to play a sport to get out of that environment, so get out of that mindset.”
Skip Bayless, who was the subject of controversy last week, agreed with his colleague and also backed Newton in the spat.
“Short of spitting in a man’s face, this is the ultimate sign of disrespect,” Bayless said. “This is about fighting. If you want to fight, go for the chain.”
We’ll have to see if any bad blood lingers when the teams square off again in Week 15 on Dec. 20.
Until then, Newton has bragging rights, as he was quick to point out in a postgame Instagram post.
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
