Cam Newton's extreme plan for being a better QB: giving up sex for a month
NFL players have their fascinating offseason routines to help preserve their bodies, and they’re all a little bit different and interesting in their own right.
Cam Newton’s approach, however, sounds more like a prizefighter’s before a big boxing match. And a bit extreme, if you ask us.
In an appearance on “The Late Late Show” with James Corden, the Carolina Panthers quarterback discussed his becoming vegan, having given up meat years ago but now surrendering fish from his diet — including his beloved Filet-O-Fish from McDonald’s, which used to be his post-victory celebration meal.
Cutting that out surely was hard. But his other sacrifice for self-improvement feels a bit more Draconian to us.
For the month of March, Newton apparently is giving up sex, too. Have a listen:
Climax-free March
“I hope this is an adult crowd, and it looks like it is,” Newton said to the studio audience. “No climax.”
So that sounds like he’s giving up intercourse as well as any, ahem, private workouts as well. Bro, whatever works ...
T.S. Eliot once said April was the cruelest month, but we’re staring to rethink that a bit now.
Newton was having one of his better seasons in a few years in 2018 while the Panthers started out 6-2, but a shoulder injury limited him and eventually sidelined him late in the season as the team went into the tank. We’re not sure how a celibacy regimen might help his throwing arm get better, but then again we’re not licensed health care providers either.
But will it actually help?
So let’s get this straight. No gambling in January. Vegan in February. Sex-free in March. Is Newton going to give up smiling in April?
"It makes my mind stronger," Newton said. "I feel like if I go back and I say I did those things, I'm mentally stronger."
Newton is not the first athlete to self-impose this kind of restraint. Boxers famously did this before big fights, and other athletes have done it prior to matches or games as a way of focusing their energies (or something). Former NFL player Garry Cobb said he believes there’s absolutely something to it.
@GarryCobb says the @Eagles players need to cease from taking part in any ‘bedroom’ activities until further notice.
That’s what we in the sports business call a “Bold Strategy” pic.twitter.com/X2BIYPJbGJ— FOX 29 (@FOX29philly) October 8, 2018
For Newton, the month of March is soon ending, a little more than a week away from, funny enough, April Fool’s Day. So he’s almost to the finish line.
But two things: Newton’s next game — assuming he’s healthy enough to throw — is August at the earliest. And there have been scores of studies in recent years suggesting that there is no link between abstinence and athletic success. So we say, Cam, let yourself be free! Or just wait the nine days and be stronger-willed than most normal folks out there.
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