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          NFL Nation

          Cam Newton says he let people down with post-Super Bowl news conference

          Of his post-Super Bowl behavior toward the media, Cam Newton told Ebony magazine: "Was I mad? Hell, yeah! But there could have been a better way to control it, and that's why I think having more time would have helped." AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez
          • David Newton, ESPN Staff WriterApr 28, 2016, 07:00 AM ET
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              David Newton is an NFL reporter at ESPN and covers the Carolina Panthers. Newton began covering Carolina in 1995 and came to ESPN in 2006 as a NASCAR reporter before joining NFL Nation in 2013. You can follow Newton on Twitter at @DNewtonespn.
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          CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Cam Newton called it a "great responsibility" when the Carolina Panthers made him the first pick of the 2011 NFL draft.

          The league's 2015 MVP has apparently come around to taking some responsibility for his abbreviated postgame news conference following his team's 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50.

          Newton didn't apologize for walking out on the media after giving short answers to 13 questions. Two days after the game, he admitted he's "a sore loser" and he wasn't going to "bend for anybody's expectations."

          But in the latest edition of Ebony, Newton admitted he could have handled the situation better.

          "The truth is, I represent something way bigger than myself," Newton told the magazine. "I'm doing it for [my fans and family] and I felt like I let them down."

          Newton told the magazine that he simply hadn't had time to process the loss when he was asked to take the podium. He also had to deal with being able to hear Denver players discussing the victory on the other side of a curtain in the same room.

          "Who is anyone to tell me, 'Man, it's just an interview'?" Newton asked. "You haven't been in that situation. You didn't have millions of people watching you. Your heart wasn't pumping [with] the embarrassment or the anxiety of the stress of dealing with that type of game.

          "I just wasn't ready to talk. Was I mad? Hell, yeah! But there could have been a better way to control it, and that's why I think having more time would have helped."

          Carolina coach Ron Rivera defended his quarterback at the NFL owners meeting, suggesting players from the losing team shouldn't be put in the position Newton was in.

          Former NBA player Jalen Rose, an ESPN analyst, told Ebony that Newton mishandled the news conference. "As soon as he took the stage, we all knew he was already pouting because he had the hoodie on," Rose said of Newton, who appeared at the podium wearing the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. "If he got up there and handled it like a boss, no one would have said anything."

          The interview with Ebony was Newton's most extensive since two days after the Super Bowl. He's currently in Charlotte participating in offseason workouts and filming the final episodes of his new Nickelodeon television show.