Gerry Austin is swooping in to rescue Cam Newton from another concussion. The former NFL official thinks, like everyone else, that Newton takes way too many hits. And the fact that so many of the hits Newton has taken since 2014 haven’t attracted penalties is especially worrying. And, looking at the Super Bowl picks, the Panthers cannot afford to lose Newton to injury.
According to Gerry, though, the answer could be as simple as adding an eight official. Gerry is certain that an eighth official on the field could be charged with simply looking at the quarterback, paying close attention to everything they encounter within and outside the pocket, and picking up on those things the referee might miss.
The referee cannot watch the quarterback all the time; he certainly cannot see everything. Anyone that might try to disagree with Gerry’s stance should keep in mind the fact that college football has an eighth official, and his presence has been much appreciated.
An eighth official would definitely make the NFL a better place, especially for someone like Newton. Newton has a good reason to worry. Maybe it’s because of his size and strength but Newton attracts way too many late hits and helmet-to-helmet strikes in the pocket.
The situation is such that Newton has admitted that he worries about his safety in the pocket. And you know things are serious because Newton went so far as to reach out to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, accompanied by Coach Ron Rivera some days ago.
Of course, the meeting didn’t manifest immediate results. The Los Angeles Game on Sunday saw Newton garner two questionable helmet-to-helmet hits in the pocket, one of which Rivera asked the League office to scrutinize.
No one can deny the fact that the contact by Aaron Donald (Defensive tackle) was a foul, though Gerry doesn’t understand why the NFL ruled both hits to be legal. Rivera wasn’t too quick to throw NFL officials and referees under the bus.
He admitted that he understood the tough job they had to do when faced with such calls, and mistakes were not unexpected. Newton isn’t even that unique right now. According to the league office, there has been a surprisingly high number of missed calls in the last three or four years by officials in situations that resolve quarterbacks.
There is pressure on referees to keep a closer eye out on the goings-on of quarterbacks; though, Newton is definitely an extreme case here. Rivera thinks it would help if referees took responsibility for some of their missed calls.
The time is ripe for an additional official. There must be someone on the field who can keep a closer eye on the quarterback when he is 18 or 20 yards deep, besides the referee.
No one thinks that Newton is being mistreated by biased officials. Every official would like to do the best possible job in each game. However, mistakes are going to happen, mistakes with serious consequences.
If Newton keeps taking hits at such a frequency, his body will suffer. Players need to start paying fines and suffering penalties in order to be coerced to approach games with a little more caution.
