Cam Newton Benched For Dress Code Violation

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was benched for the opening snaps on Sunday when his team faced off against the Seattle Seahawks.

If you’ve seen photos of Cam’s ensemble selection over the last couple of years, I’m sure you share my thoughts, that could be any given Sunday… Cam’s specific violation, he allegedly neglected to wear a tie.

After the 40-7  blowout to the Seahawks, Panthers coach Ron Rivera said that he made the decision to treat Newton “like I do all the other players on the team, and he didn’t start.”

Well, the Panthers’ season has looked as if it was over for weeks. For now, let’s take a look back at some of Cam’s game day looks and ask ourselves, could a “tie” have helped this situation?

Russell Westbrook is likely shaking his head in disgust at some of Cam’s sartorial selections.

In all seriousness, something else seems to be brewing in the Panthers’ locker room, and style or dress code violations isn’t it.

Cam for his part addressed the media after the game and took full responsibility. The team stayed on the west coast for the week – they played the Oakland Raiders last week – so Cam was limited on the items available to him.

“Long story short, (Coach Ron Rivera) has rules in place. In my opinion, it was a lack of communication on my part. Especially as a team captain, a person who I feel has his ear, I should have just cleared it first,” 

“By the time everything happened, I was just off-guard with minutes prior to the bus leaving, and I didn’t have nothing to change into. We’ve been in California for a week and we shipped our clothes off. That was the big no-no. But we didn’t lose this game because of a tie.”

Cam went on to explain the perils of shopping with his particular build.

“When you’re 6-foot-5, trying to get a shirt … you know, I was away from home for a week. I didn’t pack a shirt. There was a lot of ties I was given, but I can’t wear a tie with this,” Newton said, pointing out that he was wearing a turtleneck.

“We discussed it internally with me and Coach (Rivera). We got on the same page. I felt as if I wore a similar outfit like this before and nothing was done, but he has rules in place, and we have to abide by them. And no person is greater than the next person.”