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Newton denies benching rumors: 'I violated the wardrobe and that's it'

Ron Chenoy / USA TODAY Sports

Cam Newton wants this circus to end.

After being benched for violating his team's dress code by failing to wear a tie, the Carolina Panthers quarterback stood by his coach's decision on Thursday and did what he could to shut down speculation that the move had a deeper meaning.

"I violated the wardrobe, and that's it," said the defending MVP, according to ESPN's David Newton. "You don't have to dig into certain stories that violated curfew, was out at a club, somebody was calling the room. I still stand by coach Rivera's decision, and that's just a warning for everybody.

"At no point in time - or even still - do I think I'm above the law. I never thought that. I'm not that type of player.''

Rivera made his point clear on Wednesday that the decision was to ensure to no player was treated differently than others. When Newton broke a team rule, he didn't want to give him special treatment, as he's benched players in the past for similar violations.

Related: Rivera stands by benching Newton, knew it would cause a 'feeding frenzy'

In all likelihood, if backup Derek Anderson didn't throw an interception on the one play Newton was benched for, this wouldn't have received so much attention, but here we are.

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