The 28-year-old quarterback had been asked about Devin Funchess, who had five catches for 86 yards in his debut as the Panthers’ top wide receiver in the wake of the Kelvin Benjamin trade. Newton noted that Funchess is “growing into the role,” then provided this insight into Benjamin’s departure:

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“Yeah, we just lost a great player, but nevertheless, the Titanic still has to go.”

The only place the Titanic wound up going, of course, was straight to the bottom of the ocean. It could be understandable that Newton didn’t watch the blockbuster movie, but is he really unaware of the outcome of one of the 20th century’s most infamous incidents?

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To look at it another way, one wonders if Newton realizes what it means to have compared his team to the Titanic. Sheesh, how would he feel about his squad if it had a losing record?

Fortunately for Panthers fans, their team has a very solid 6-3 mark, just a half-game behind the Saints for first-place in the NFC South. The Newton-led offense hasn’t exactly been lighting it up of late, but overall it hasn’t been a complete disaster, unlike … well, you know.

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Carolina’s attack did make the Bears’ defense look a lot like an ill-placed iceberg two weeks ago, mustering just three points while Chicago scored two touchdowns on lengthy interception returns, then the Panthers beat the Buccaneers despite scoring just 17 points. After that uninspiring win, Newton referenced an old “Saturday Night Live” character in telling reporters: “I’m not going to play Debbie Downer. I’m not going to allow anyone to play Debbie Downer for us.”

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Just a few days before that, during his midweek media session, Newton cut things short and walked off as a reporter was asking a question. The previous week, he didn’t even attend that mandatory session, in what some noted was a coincidentally timed disappearing act during the return of the reporter to whom he had made his sexist comment.

In short, when it comes to creating unexpected headlines at his news conferences, Newton can reasonably claim a famous Leo DiCaprio quote as his own.