Cam Newton: Still polarising the NFL world

Despite not playing an NFL snap for almost 2 years, former MVP Cam Newton continues to make headlines in the world of the NFL. The former Panthers superstar found the limelight on him this week with comments made on his podcast that QBs such as Jared Goff, Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, and Tua Tagovalioa are game managers and not game changers. 

This led to crazy backlash on social media and national TV. The loudest criticism came from Kimberley Martin of First Take who commented that Newton sounded like “someone who tweets me from their basement” and Jason Mcintyre who made the bold claim that Dak Prescott has had a better career than Cam Newton.  

But as someone who hasn’t played in the NFL for almost 2 years why is Newton still such a polarising figure amongst fans and media alike? This dates back to Newton’s time as a player, during his playing days Newton regularly divided opinion, with everything from his dress sense to his touchdown celebrations. Part of the allure of Newton was the divisiveness of the player.  

From his eccentric clothing in press conferences to his infamous touchdown celebration, Newton put the Carolina Panthers a relatively new franchise completely on the map. With Newton at the helm, Carolina regularly found themselves in prime-time slots when game weekends rolled around something that has seldom been the case since Cam departed the Queen City.  

Despite what people try to say, Newton completely revolutionised the quarterback position. After a dominant career at Auburn which saw him win both a Heisman Trophy and carry Auburn to a National title, just for context outside of Newton only left tackle Lee Ziemba was drafted in the 2011 draft being taken 244th overall by the Carolina Panthers.  

Newton was a physical specimen at the QB position, listed at 6 feet 5 inches and weighing 248 lbs while running and incredible 4.59 40-yard dash. After being drafted by the Carolina Panthers 1st overall in the 2011 NFL draft Newton immediately put the league on notice, becoming the first rookie to have back-to-back 400-yard passing games to begin their career.  

Newton was incredible his rookie season, winning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award as Newton broke 5 rookie records in his first season including becoming the first rookie to pass for over 4000 yards and rush for over 700 yards he revitalised a Panther team that had gone 1-15 the season before improving that win total by 5 as they finished 6-10.  

Newton’s best season was of course the amazing 2015 season in which he completely dominated the league, despite his WR1 being Tedd Ginn JR, Newton led the 2015 Panthers to a 15-1 season passing for 3837 yards with 35 passing touchdowns and just 10 interceptions he also added 636 yards rushing and 10 rushing touchdowns.  

The season ended with the Panthers as NFC champions before the teams’ issues at tackle haunted them in the Super Bowl as Mike Remmers was bullied by Vonn Miller as the Panthers lost 24-10. Many fans like to point this as the end of Newton’s prime, but Newton again took the Panthers to the playoffs in 2017 and had the Panthers at 6-2 the next season playing his best football since 2015 before a dirty hit from Pittsburgh’s TJ Watt derailed arguably Newtons career.  

Newton’s shoulder never recovered and he was released by the Panthers ahead of the 2020 season, a stint in New England lasted only a season before a shock return to the Panthers midway through the 2021 season was the last time, we saw Newton in an NFL jersey. 

Going back to Newton’s comments this past week, it’s hard to argue against them. Outside of Dak Prescott who has elevated his game this season the other 3 players are adept at being smart with the football and making the right plays. Calling someone a game manager is not a slight, no one is saying Brock Purdy is a bad player, but he has the league’s best RB, a top 5 TE and OL two elite WRs and one of the league’s best defences. 

Is Purdy elevating a team with Ted Ginn as his WR1 and taking them to the Super Bowl probably not but that doesn’t make him a talented player. You take 2015 Cam Newton and drop him in as the QB of this current Niner team and they win multiple Super Bowls.  

But the issue I and many others have is that it seems Newton simply cannot have an opinion on a game he played at an elite level. Just before Newton made his game manager comments David Carr, one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory said that Jalen Hurts should be benched in favour of Marcus Mariota yet it is Newton’s comments that have created the most controversy. 

It’s fine to disagree with Newton’s comments, at the end of the day this is an opinions game and surely the former league MVP is entitled to his? What we’ve seen in the past week or so is many national journalists discredit Newton as a whole whether that be talking about his appearance or his clothing choices or calling him “jealous” is crazy.  

Newton has earned the right to have an opinion and share it. And it seems despite the backlash we’ve seen in the past week he will continue to do so.