Newton's dad 'grossly disturbed' by unflagged hits on son

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton's father is adding his voice to the chorus of observers criticizing the NFL and its officials for not protecting his son from controversial hits in Thursday's season opener against the Denver Broncos.

"It starts with the guys who control the behavior on the field," Cecil Newton told Jim Trotter of ESPN on Friday. "I think the culprit is the mere fact that they allowed the game to get out of control. They allowed players to push the envelope to the very edge. That's my ultimate concern. Whether (league officials) want to go after them or not, fine. But I'm thinking about Cam Newton being healthy today, tomorrow and 25 or 35 years from now.

"I'm beginning to question the consistency of how games are being called - and who they would call this particular play against versus this particular player," Cecil continued. "Was Cam treated differently from other quarterbacks? In this case, yes he was - clearly. Anybody who has followed the game for any length of time and has a working knowledge of how the game is to be played would agree with that statement."

The hits on Newton were also notable because of the clear helmet-to-helmet contact that spurred concerns about the him not being evaluated for a concussion, despite the league's emphasis on limiting the brain injury.

"If the league is going to be married to concussion protocol, first of all, start it with the officials because they mandate behavior on the field," Cecil Newton said. "If you're going to be married to the concussion protocol, be consistent with the calls that you're going to get, whether it's Cam versus Aaron Rodgers or it's Aaron Rodgers versus Ben Roethlisberger. I didn't see that at all last night. I didn't see any of that at all. And I am grossly disturbed about what I saw."

For the league's part, they released a statement Friday saying after the final hit - the most egregious head shot - Newton was evaluated by officials, including the independent spotter, and they "concluded there were no indications of a concussion that would require further evaluation and the removal of the player from the game."