My nephew, Griffin, is a senior in high school and just surpassed his district’s all-time scoring record for basketball. He is humble, modest, but, I’m guessing, proud of such an accomplishment. Plus – the chicks, man.
Greatest part of all, though, is something he tells my 78-year-old mom when she reminds him not to “trash talk” like those seedy big-time professionals. “I let my playing talk for me,” he says. Brilliant, and as a high-school senior. That is the exact type of mantra a true “professional” needs – get out there and conquer. Say little, do a lot.
Cam Newton and his Panthers did something 30 other quarterbacks and their teams did not – make it to the big game. Sure, losing sucks. Finishing second never feels good but, for all the kids watching him stand at the mic with a sour-puss face before walking out like a defeated child, he needed to step up the integrity that people assumed he had.
In the end – and this will never happen – we need to stop interviewing athletes to get their side of things. You won. Great. I don't need to know "how it feels." You lost. Sorry. We know how it feels. Athletes don’t train to speak, they don’t practice to defend the bad play.
My young nephew is well beyond his years – let the playing do the talking. Shut ‘em down, then shut it up.