Cam Newton sets his sights on a Super Bowl championship for Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton is having a magical year in the NFL. (Melissa Melvin-Rodriguez/Carolina Panthers)
The NFL playoffs are in full swing and you can’t blame Carolina Panthers star QB Cam Newton for feeling like he’s in the driver’s seat. After the regular season he’s had, there’s no doubt he’s feeling confident and in control.
Newton has always been sure of himself, but he hasn’t always respected his gifts. The football god from College Park, Georgia, almost swerved off the road a couple of times en route to fulfilling his potential, but his misdirections weren’t enough to permanently derail him from his inevitable spot at the top of the NFL food chain.
He’s a physical marvel, built like a linebacker with the speed of a scat back and the agility of a diminutive gymnast. However, Newton’s biggest advantage in helping him blossom into the leading candidate for NFL MVP, the undisputed general of a 15-1 squad and one of the NFL’s marketing power players, is his pedigree. He grew up with strong male support systems in his life.
That pedigree will be on display Sunday, Jan. 24, when Newton and the Panthers square off against the Arizona Cardinals for the NFC Championship. The game is at 5:40 p.m. central time on Fox, and would put Newton in Super Bowl and fulfill his father’s dream.
Newton’s dad, Cecil, was an undersized linebacker for Savannah State in the early 1980s and later tried out for the Dallas Cowboys and Buffalo Bills. Before they became teenagers, the elder Newton was already putting Cam and his brother Cecil Jr. through rigorous advanced-level drills designed for college students.
Cecil Jr. went undrafted in 2009 before getting added to the Green Bay Packers practice squad in 2011 and is best known for spending much of 2010 embroiled in unfounded allegations that he pursued a substantial sum of money in return for Cam playing at Mississippi State.
By Newton’s senior season in high school he stood 6-4 and weighed 230 pounds. He could air it out 80 yards on a rope, run through defensive ends and leap over safeties. The scholarship offers were thick, but his passing skills were raw and some coaches like Auburn’s Tommy Tuberville wanted him to switch positions to tight end. In 2007, Newton chose Florida, where freshman QB Tim Tebow was setting records in head coach Urban Meyers’ multifaceted attack. Newton was redshirted in 2008 and watched Florida win the national championship.
Then, in November of that year, he was accused of stealing a laptop and charged with burglary and larceny. The charges were eventually dropped but the embarrassment and stain remained. When Tebow decided to come back for his senior year, Newton decided to get a fresh start at Blinn Junior College in Texas.
Initially, Newton saw Blinn as a precipitous fall in the life of a sure shot NFL star. In retrospect, it humbled and benefited him.
“It was during the time that I had just gotten there … and I was like, ‘Man, a couple of months ago I was drinking Gatorade looking at NFL prospects,” Cam recalled at one of his first press conferences with Auburn. “Now I’m looking at guys that aren’t even in the same league as my little brother. I still keep up with those guys to this day and they are genuine guys. I still care about those people.”
Newton’s newfound humility helped him lead Blinn to a National Junior College title, and he re-entered the college market as an elite QB recruit. This time, Auburn was the perfect fit. Coach Gene Chizik let Newton be himself and the comfortability of that relationship resulted in a BCS title and a Heisman Trophy. Chizik once said, “Cam is probably the best ball player I’ve ever seen.”
Together, they returned the luster to Auburn football and continued the SEC’s streak of dominance.
After Newton exorcised his past college demons at Auburn, he was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft and immediately began obliterating the rookie passing records.
Newton, now in his fifth year, was the first player in NFL history with 10,000 passing yards, 1,000 rushing yards, 50 passing TD’s and 25 rushing TD’s in his first three seasons.
Truth be told, Newton’s surrounding talent has never been very good. Despite these setbacks, he’s won three straight NFC South titles, which earned him a $100 million contract in September. He justified Carolina’s investment this year by passing for 3,837 yards and 35 TDs with a passer rating (99.4) 10 points higher than any of his previous seasons.
He’s made “The Dab” a national sports phenomenon. He hands TD balls to kids in the stands and flashes a motion picture smile. With nothing left to accomplish beyond bringing North Carolina its first Super Bowl, Newton is on his way to officially becoming the new face of the NFL.
J.R. Gamble is a senior writer and editor for The Shadow League. He’s been covering pro sports as a radio host and journalist since 1996 and has written for The Raleigh News & Observer, Newsday and SLAM Magazine.
