Panthers’ Cam Newton prefers chewing gum over earplugs
By Corey Leahy
You’d think that earplugs would be one of the best things to help block out the noise of an extremely loud and rowdy Superdome, right? Well think again, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has something else up his sleeve. Chewing Gum.
From ESPN,
"“I just depend on Wrigley’s Winterfresh chewing gum to get me through the adverse times in the games,” the third-year Carolina Panthers quarterback said on Wednesday.No, Newton doesn’t chew on a couple of sticks and then stick it in his ears to muffle the noise. That, as he noted on Wednesday, would be “a very [big] discomfort for myself.”"
For Newton, it’s more of a ritual or superstition. He has been chewing gum while playing football all his life, it’s nothing new. He has his own methods and techniques about it as well.
"“So you made a big play, even if the gum is rock solid, you can’t take it out,” Newton said. “You’ve just got to keep fighting through it. You may put another piece of gum in, but yeah, that’s that playmaking gum.“But if you’re sucking, you’ve got to toss that piece of gum out and get to other pieces.”"
Regardless of what gum he chooses to chew, Cam Newton and the streaking Carolina Panthers will surely have a difficult match up against the New Orleans Saints. Newton better pack an extra few packs for the game.