Cam Newton's decision to abruptly leave his postgame press conference after Carolina's Super Bowl 50 loss to Denver on Sunday has made him a controversial figure this week.

Many people feel that Newton's postgame actions made him come across as a sore loser, which is a label that Newton actually has no problem with.

"I'm on record as being a sore loser. I hate losing," Newton said on Tuesday as he was cleaning out his locker. "You show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser."

The truth is, Newton actually makes a pretty good point with that statement.

Almost any quarterback who leads his team to a Super Bowl is going to be an insanely competitive person, and insanely competitive people don't like to lose.

Newton's not the first NFL quarterback to come across as a sore loser after a Super Bowl loss and he won't be the last.

As a matter of fact, there was also a situation involving Peyton Manning.

After the Colts lost to the Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, Manning chose not to participate in a postgame handshake with the Saints. Manning didn't shake hands with Drew Brees, Sean Payton or anyone else. Instead, Manning made a bee line for the Colts' locker room.

At the time, the media landscape was slightly different, and there weren't 10,000 blogs to write about it, so it didn't become a huge part of the post-Super Bowl conversation. However, it didn't go unnoticed either.

Several writers at the time criticized Manning for showing poor sportsmanship. You can see a YouTube video of Manning walking off the field by clicking here

Peyton Manning skipped the postgame handshake against the Saints. (YouTube)
Peyton Manning skipped the postgame handshake against the Saints. (YouTube)

At the time, Manning's explanation was that he wanted to give the Saints room to celebrate. 

"I'll certainly talk to Drew," Manning said after the game when asked why he didn't shake hands with anyone, via Boston.com. "I certainly know how it was three years ago when we won. There's not much consolation for the guys who didn't win. There's the stage getting set up and there's the celebration. That's the time for the Saints to celebrate. It's their field. They deserve the moment. I certainly congratulate all their players, their organization. I will speak to Drew Brees, speak to Sean Payton. They deserve all the credit."

Manning's explanation didn't make much sense because everyone else on the team stayed out for the postgame handshake, except for Reggie Wayne, who also blew it off. The Saints were going to have to wait no matter what, so there would've been plenty of time for Manning to shake hands.

One thing Newton didn't do on Sunday was blow off the postgame handshake.

The Panthers quarterback met Manning at midfield after the 24-10 loss, and Manning even mentioned that Newton was "extremely humble" after the game, something the media and the rest of America obviously didn't see in Newton's postgame press conference.

But Manning saw it, and if you think about it, that's what's important. As long as Newton has the respect of his peers, it doesn't really matter what the rest of America thinks about him.

If Newton ever ends up on the losing side of a Super Bowl again, he should probably take notes from Tom Brady on how to handle a postgame loss.

Brady was so upset after the 21-17 loss to the Giants that he stayed in the Patriots' locker room for nearly an hour to cool down. By the time Brady met with the media, he was ready to answer any and all questions thrown his way. Newton might want to think about doing the same thing the next time he's on the losing side in a big game.