High school quarterback ejected after imitating Cam Newton

November 08, 2012|By Melissa Rohlin

A high school football player was kicked out of a game for imitating Cam Newton's… ( Rob Carr / Getty Images )

Hey kids: Newton-ing and Tebow-ing will get you in trouble.

A high school quarterback from Charlotte, N.C., was ejected from a state playoff game last Friday after he imitated Cam Newton's touchdown celebration by pretending to rip open his jersey, Superman-like, after a scoring run.

Game officials determined that Jalan McClendon's act was unsportsmanlike and sent him to the sideline.

But Newton apparently thought that the punishment was a bit harsh, the Associated Press reported.

"Taunting is taunting, but at the end of the day, you still have to have fun playing the game," Newton said. "I don't think my [celebration] is anything derogatory of any sort."

A similar fate befell two high school students from Long Island, N.Y., last December when they imitated Tim Tebow's signature pose in a campus hallway.

Brothers Tyler and Connor Carroll were given one-day suspensions for getting down on one knee and putting a fist to their foreheads in a pose of prayer.

"The administration told us that our Tebowing was blocking the halls and could potentially cause a riot, because they were growing in number and if the wrong kid gets pushed a brawl could ensue," Connor Carroll told yahoo.com last December.

"We had no idea that we could get suspended for such a thing. It was a joke between a group of friends that took a life of its own. We figured at the most we would just be told to stop."

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