Ron Rivera Is Standing With His Franchise Quarterback

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera took to the podium today and was asked about the hits he has seen his quarterback take this season, along with another questionable no call in the Panthers victory over the Cardinals Sunday when Cam Newton was hit at the knees after a pass.

"Cam is correct. I support him 100%." stated Rivera when questioned about Cam's remarks on missed calls this season.

Cam let loose his thoughts on the poor officiating in his postgame presser on Sunday.

"It's really taking the fun out of the game for me," Newton said. "At times I don't even feel safe. And enough is enough. I plan on talking to commissioner Goodell about this. And I don't know what I have to do."

Cam continued with how it seems unfair there's no reprimand when officials miss these kind of calls, particularly ones on player safety.

"The story of my life ever since I came in is, 'Oh, oh, well, we missed that one. I'm sorry. I'll try to get it.' That's bull. As a player in this league, if we do something stupid we get fined. If you do something derogatory to someone else, we get fined. I just can't keep accepting, 'Oh, we missed that one.' Or 'I apologize for doing that.' Or 'I didn't see it.' That's horsecrap."

Rivera also stated in his press conference that he thinks it's time for 8 officials on the field, full-time referees, and putting quarterback hits into the replay system. Rivera has had recent talks with Goodell about Cam but didn't go into detail about those conversations.

There were several rumblings from fans yesterday afternoon on why Rivera hasn't stood up for his quarterback on these situations. He actually has and was interviewed before Cam after Sunday's game so he didn't get any questions regarding the hits on Newton.

By Tripp Morgan
Follow him on Twitter @TrippMorgan6