As NBC’s coverage of the NFL’s Thursday night kick off for the 2017 season started pitting the Denver Broncos against the Carolina Panthers in a rematch of Super Bowl 50, the trending story was Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall’s kneeling protest during the playing of the National Anthem. Though that story is still being covered, by far, the water cooler discussion Friday following the game was on the number of head hits Cam Newton, Carolina’s quarterback, took during the course of the game.
That number is four is you weren’t counting. To the casual observer, the hits seemed purposeful and malicious.