You could feel the air go out of the entire state of North Carolina. Panther Nation was more deflated than Tom Brady’s footballs. The best offensive moves of the night were by Beyonce, not Cam Newton.

Now Cam’s getting knocked down as much as he got raised up the last two weeks. Did he chicken out on the last fumble? Or did he wisely decide not to risk the kind of brain damage that led to Ken Stabler’s death? (Look up The Snake, kids.)

Nor did Cam make any media friends with his post-game non-interview. Maybe we should remember he’s an emotional young man in a bad time. He wasn’t any more hostile to the media than your typical Republican presidential candidate.

Unfortunately, as always, there’s a racial undertone to the social-media commentary about Newton. (As always, the best take is from The Onion: “Area man would hate Cam Newton even if he was a different minority.”)

Peyton Manning turbo-charged his post-NFL pitchman career, saying he planned to kiss his family, say a prayer of thanks and drink lots of Bud. Family, faith and beer: that’s what makes America great!

That and the ads. (Was that really Mike Tyson in the Michael & Son ads?)

Then there were all the past Super Bowl MVPs who were introduced before the kickoff. You know you’re old when you remember all of them as players but you’re a bit hazy on the halftime performers.

After all the hoopla and heartbreak, a question lingered at the end. Not about the Panthers’ meltdown or Peyton’s future, but about football’s future.

We know now that there are dozens of former players who struggle with physical and mental damages from their game days. Every game, we watch a string of injured players stagger – or get carted – off the field.

Newton will long be haunted over a hit he didn’t take, for whatever reason. But how many more bone-rattling, brain-jarring hits will America take? What are the odds football will be around like this for 50 more years?