Cam Newton showed that he wants to do the right thing this week when he announced that he was going to be full-participation at the combine.

He might want to stop participating in interviews, however.

Newton has managed to erase nearly all of the good will he amassed with his combine decision in a pair of interviews with Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King and Yahoo! Sports’ Dan Wetzel.

Newton told King that “I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”

So did Matt Leinart. So did Reggie Bush. Hell, so did LeBron James. Now he’s one of the most despised players in all of professional sports. Hey, Cam, if somebody asks you to do a “Decision”-like television show, date a Kardashian or invite some coeds to hang out in your jacuzzi, you might want to pass on that.

Maybe tell your prospective employers that you want to be an NFL quarterback first.

Newton then told Wetzel (via Twitter), “not to sound arrogant but what I did in one year others couldn’t do in their entire collegiate careers.”

Funny, any time somebody starts a sentence with “not to sound arrogant …,” it can’t sound anything but. Kind of like saying, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but …”

And don’t take this the wrong way, Cam, your recent interviews make you sound like your decision-making ability hasn’t risen past the whole, “Hey, maybe nobody will notice if I take this laptop” level you displayed at Florida. And if you think that NFL scouts and executives don’t look at this stuff, guess again.

Ryan Leaf was thought to have better tools than Peyton Manning. But Leaf reportedly blew his interview with the Colts when he told the team he was going to celebrate being drafted by taking his buddies to Las Vegas.

And even if you feel that way, you should be smart enough to know better.

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