Toulon
He's still just a kid. That's not an excuse, just stating a fact. And he's come up in an era where social media and society in general enjoys building people up to these untouchable, unflappable, iconic standards. We want to see great stories, we enjoy seeing people do great things! But then suddenly when they show that they're not superhuman - that they're not who we thought they were - we get some sort of perverse enjoyment watching the tragedy unfold.
Cam is a kid who hasn't yet learned how to deal with what he himself probably deems a failure tonight. It's easy for those of us not part of his world to point a finger and compare him to someone else, someone more mature, someone who's probably got some experience dealing with disappointment. Because really - how can one possibly call him a failure for helping lead his team to the SB? Disappointing to not play well and lose in the grand finale? You bet. Certainly not a failure. And, imo, unless he's hanging around the wrong people who really don't care about him - he'll get some feedback about how to better deal with disappointment, how to carry himself.
Because whether he likes it or not - he has enormous talent, he has enormous potential, and he will continue to be a huge story for at least the next couple of seasons. If he listens to those who truly care about him and he doesn't get lazy - he might be a huge story for several years.
But do I expect him to be as graceful in defeat as guys like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, or maybe someone like Phil Mickelson etc.? Nope. Those guys came up in a different era, they were allowed to make mistakes and learn from them without being reminded over and over how they failed. Today we put huge expectations on people, and then we're shocked when we learn that they're human, regardless of where they came from, their age, their life experiences, their current life situations, etc.
Cam showed disappointment tonight by acting like a spoiled kid. I just hope that while we in turn show some disappointment in the way he carried himself, that we don't forget about the numerous times he gave footballs to kids in the stands, or took time to meet with his fans and sign autographs, or show up unannounced at local charities in his community in the offseason trying to help out worthy causes.
Those who watched his presser tonight saw a side of him that was anything but impressive. I just think maybe it's worth considering that he's a young kid who still has time to learn and improve. I'm certainly not writing him off, not because of one regrettable press conference.