Cam Newton seems to me EXACTLY like the consensus #1 draft pick quarterback in that movie.
Talent. Cool. Schmoozing. Good Looking. Seemed to make all the right plays.
No character at all. None. Zero.
At about 2:08 left in the game, when Cam Newton got bounced on the ground in the end zone and had his mini-hissy fit because he thought there should have been a penalty, and then stood up and began pawing at his chin strap like he was going to rip off his helmet and throw it. He looked exactly like this consensus #1 draft pick quarterback in the movie, who began to have a meltdown when he didn't go at the number one spot in the draft, and his agent had to calm him down, reminding him that everyone out there, including his future teammates and other NFL players, would see that and remember it. He implored him to get a hold on himself (ostensibly so the agent's cash-cow would still be worth something when he began playing in the league, and an agent has to help his client maintain his marketability so he can make money off of him)
Now, Cam Newton pawed at, but didn't unbuckle his chin straps. He didn't rip his helmet off, but I suspect that was simply the automatic voice inside his head that said:
"*****STOP. DO NOT UNBUCKLE YOUR CHIN STRAP, BECAUSE THE NEXT STEP IS TO TAKE THE HELMET OFF. THAT WILL CAUSE A PENALTY. AND IF YOU TAKE YOUR HELMET OFF, YOU WILL THROW IT. THAT WILL SIGNAL A FULL-BLOWN MELTDOWN. DO NOT UNBUCKLE YOUR CHIN STRAP."*****
The way he pawed at his chin straps with the twitching of the fingers is completely reminiscent of the way an extremely agitated person paws at their mouth or face, as if they want to rip it open to let a scream out. I think he was saved, because every NFL player knows what happens if the helmet comes off on the field of play...a yellow flag. So he was lucky something at a primal football-level kicked in for him.
This picture above, out of context of the video that was surrounding it is misleading. It shows someone with a calm sense of disappointment, one we have seen every quarterback who has ever played the game display. Eyes closed, face set. But it is a **still** picture.
In context of the video, his fingers were pawing, his face was grimacing and twitching, and lucky for him, he hit that built in, ingrained football player stop that said "DON'T TAKE YOUR HELMET OFF."
And fortunately for him, he managed to keep it in. If you watch the television replay, you can't see his face as he gets up off the ground, but I'll wager it was a hair from spittle-lipped twitching. Watch the replay and look at the faces of the people with cameras...they can see what is happening, and are all struggling to get their cameras around and on Newton before what they see disappears, but I think they mostly fail...which is good for Cam Newton. Just my take, but I have seen that before in people and players. Heck, I've been there myself. The difference is, I (and most people) never swaggered around when I was on top with a grin on my face wiping my opponent's faces in the dog crap, kissing my biceps or whatever it is he was accustomed to doing to his vanquished opponents. I don't have a problem with celebrations. A lot of players do them, and it isn't a big deal. They deserve it. But what Cam Newton has done has rubbed more than a few people the wrong way, and me as well, so it isn't just me. His "celebrations" have something in there that is very personally directed. I detest that.
You live by that sword, you die by that sword.