By now everyone is Monday morning quarterbacking about Super
Bowl 50 and the behavior of North Carolina Panther’s Quarterback Cam Newton at
the post-game press conference. For those who don’t know, after a few one word responses
and some mumbles, he got up and left the interview. He was obviously angry and
hurting. Still, his behavior was childish and disappointing, especially to
those who support or look up to him.
Cam Newton is only 26 years old and in his short (by our
standards) career he’s done a lot for the game of football, North Carolina,
children and charities. When I was 26 I
made a huge mistake at work. To this day I remember the feeling of helplessness
(sickness) when my boss called me into his office to explain the repercussions of
my error. Since then I’ve made tons of mistakes at work and in life. This thing
is, back then and now, I own up to my mistakes and take the heat. Most adults
do.
In life (and football) there are winners and losers. We get
hired, we get fired. We get the contract, we lose the contract. In other words,
we don’t always win the trophy. In the real world we can’t sulk, hide or walk
out of work. We can’t blame others. We have to take
responsibility for our own actions and set an example for others. The key is to
use that failure as an example of doing better next time. Life goes on.
