{"id":5873,"date":"2016-02-09T04:34:16","date_gmt":"2016-02-09T09:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5873"},"modified":"2016-02-09T04:48:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-09T09:48:00","slug":"under-the-micro-phonescope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=5873","title":{"rendered":"under the micro phone\/scope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"photo-1453090927415-5f45085b65c0\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In case you missed it, there was a bit of a big game on Sunday. Ah, yes, a reported 111.9 million of us tuned in, combining to form history\u2019s third largest Super Bowl viewing audience. And somewhere after arguably most of us left the audience, each team\u2019s quarterback took a turn before the mic.<\/p>\n

[Disclaimer notice: as often with our sports posts, I perceive this post to be about far more than sports\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n

Winning team QB Peyton Manning was obviously pleased and proud at the mic. Including his repeated, perky promise to \u201cdrink a lot of Budweiser\u201d that night, Manning was incredibly gracious and glad in front of the microphone.<\/p>\n

Losing team QB Cam Newton was notably sullen and sad. Fielding questions in the same room with a member of the opposing team \u2014 who was gleefully sharing how they manhandled Newton \u2014 Newton was abrupt with his answers, offered little insight, and in the middle of the session, he got up, despondently walking away.<\/p>\n

With no more games then for the next five months (and thus minimal football news flow),<\/em> many have spent the last two days debating Newton\u2019s behavior. To be clear, Manning said that Newton “couldn’t have been nicer” to him when the two met at midfield after the contest, adding that Newton “was extremely humble.”<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first, though, take note of the regular season\u2026 All year, Newton\u2019s behavior has thrilled many fans with his high fives, chest bumps, and joy-filled, flight imitation celebrations. He and his team have had much to celebrate. Some fans, however, saw such exuberance as boastful and brash.<\/p>\n

My sense is that one of the reasons Newton\u2019s abrupt appearance stood out at the microphone is because it\u2019s juxtaposed against of the contagious vivaciousness Newton displayed\u00a0previously throughout\u00a0the year.<\/p>\n

I understand those who have no patience for Newton\u2019s curt, dejected reaction. He\u2019s a grown man, a star in the league, and makes millions of dollars; he is the clear, outspoken leader of his team. A leader must lead through the good, bad, and<\/em> the ugly. As Hall of Famer Deion Sanders said about Newton, \u201cYou are the face of our brand right now; you can\u2019t do that\u2026 You\u2019re opening yourself for more criticism, because everybody is going to say you\u2019re dabbing and smiling and smiling and styling. So this is how you go out when you lose?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Good point. A wise man is gracious in both victory and defeat. The only thing understandably absent in defeat is the grin.<\/p>\n

That said, Newton is also only 26 years old.<\/p>\n

26.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was 26, I admit: I did some incredibly stupid things. (Can I just say again? \u2026thank God Facebook and Instagram weren\u2019t around then…)<\/em><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s true; it would have been wiser for Newton to act differently\u2026 he\u2019s an adult\u2026. he should know better\u2026<\/em> And sometimes when I was 26, I should have known better, too.<\/p>\n

I must also confess… there’s another aspect I actually, oddly find somewhat refreshing \u2014 albeit, true, in a rude sort of way. That is, Newton didn\u2019t fake how he felt. Maybe it\u2019s the political season we\u2019re in; maybe it\u2019s this abundance of image branding and rebranding, in which we see continued persons attempt to look better and wiser than they really are; it\u2019s so inauthentic. The fact that Newton didn\u2019t fake the way he felt \u2014 the deep dejection after finally getting to the pinnacle of his profession and then losing it \u2014 in some ways, makes sense to me.<\/p>\n

Thus, while\u00a0Newton\u2019s public reaction was\u00a0rude and unsportsmanlike, I also wonder how many other 26 year olds would have had the wisdom and composure to lead well in that moment…\u00a0under the pressure of the microphone and under the glare of society\u2019s always-watching microscope…<\/p>\n

Here’s to leading better, growing in wisdom, and holding onto both the grace and the grin.<\/p>\n

Respectfully\u2026
\nAR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        In case you missed it, there was a bit of a big game on Sunday. Ah, yes, a reported 111.9 million of us tuned in, combining to form history\u2019s third largest Super Bowl viewing audience. And somewhere after arguably most of us left the audience, each team\u2019s quarterback took a turn … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “under the micro phone\/scope”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[559,558,557],"class_list":["post-5873","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-event","tag-cam-newton","tag-peyton-manning","tag-super-bowl-50"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5873"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5889,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5873\/revisions\/5889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5873"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5873"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5873"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}