Cam Newton touched on more than just the present and future of his NFL career this week.
The Carolina Panthers great also went back to his past on Wednesday’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton. He hit the time machine thanks to a fan question, one that asked him to elaborate on the somewhat infamous exchange between himself and referee Ed Hochuli from 2015.
That chat went down in the fourth quarter of Carolina’s Week 3 contest against the visiting New Orleans Saints. Newton, who felt he was illegally hit by defensive end Tyeler Davison, sought out a roughing the passer penalty he did not get from Hochuli and his crew.
After the game, the 26-year-old quarterback claimed that Hochuli told him he “wasn’t old enough” to get the call.
Here’s a 35-year-old Newton’s recall on the non-call:
“I was in such disbelief. Like, ‘What?’ And I know Ed Hochuli is an O.G. in the referee industry, and his son is now a referee who he passed the torch to. It was big news. But not just that, obviously, player protection. Because there were rules that stated the discretion of the referee. So when you got the Hack-a-Shaq, or things like that . . . hitting Cam Newton looks different than hitting a Drew Brees at that time. So that’s how it was explained to me.
“When I heard him tell me that, y’all see it for y’allself. He said somethin’. It was so disheartening. It’s not getting hit that’s the frustrating. Seeing other players get calls that you’re not getting was the most frustrating part.”
Unfortunately for Newton, that frustrating part happened quite a bit over his career.
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