As the fallout from Ron Rivera’s benching of quarterback Cam Newton for a dress code violation reached a fourth day Wednesday, the Carolina Panthers coach sought to end discussions of the so-called Tiegate once and for all.
Rivera began his press conference with another explanation of his decision to sit Newton for the first series of Sunday’s 40-7 loss to the Seahawks after Newton failed to wear a tie for the team’s flight from San Jose, Calif., to Seattle the night before the game.
Rivera spoke adamantly about not treating Newton differently from any other player. He also suggested not disciplining Newton could have resulted in “chaos” for a 4-8 team that was expected to be a Super Bowl contender.