CHARLOTTE, N.C., Aug. 10 (UPI) — The leader of the Carolina Panthers’ pack enforced his will upon a teammate Monday at practice.
After throwing an interception to cornerback Josh Norman, Cam Newton tackled Norman and fists started flying.
After practices, Panthers coach Ron Rivera explained the sequence.
“The thing that we preach to the defense is that they score,” Rivera told ESPN. “And so, even though I blew the whistle, Josh kept going like he’s taught and the offense continued to react.”
“What happened was Cam got stiff-armed in the helmet, and that’s where that escalated. The big thing we have to understand is: ‘Hey, you’re going to get stiff-armed. You’ve just got to handle it.”
Rivera also defended the leadership abilitly of his six-foot, five-inch, 245 pound quarterback.
“We’ve got a quarterback who is highly competitive, so he goes after the guy with the interception,” Rivera told USA Today Sports. “The cornerback wants to show him, so he stiff-arms him. Not that anybody’s right or wrong. They’re both right and wrong.
“But this was another test: How are you going to respond?”
Norman, who stands at six-feet, 195 pounds, is a fourth-year cornerback out of Costal Carolina.
In the dustup, Newton called Norman a “pissant” and said to Norman: “Hit me like that again and you’ll know something,” according to ESPN.
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