The Rise And Fall Of Cam Newton

some people are just born to play football great at all aspects of the game when they step foot on the field it's their show and everyone else is just lucky to be able to witness cam newton was that kind of player at every level from heisman to mvp to released at 32. this is the rise and fall of cam newton cam grew up in atlanta georgia in a family of athletes his older brother cecil played offensive line in the nfl his younger brother just transferred from howard to auburn this season to play quarterback sports were the epicenter of his life he started as a baseball and basketball player he was so big opposing coaches and parents asked for his birth certificates before every game his fear of being hit with a baseball effectively ended his time on the diamond and his physical brand of basketball led him to foul trouble in early exits but when he hit the gridiron he shined in a hotbed of georgia football cam newton dominated at westlake high school he was bigger than entire defenses initiated contact when running and had a cannon for an arm newton was a marvel and the entire college world was after him as a five star he had offers from everywhere the one school that stood out to him was the university of florida he enrolled at uf in 2007. they won a title the year before and tim tebow was going into his first year as a full starter cam beat out john brantley to win the job as tebow's backup and in limited time he flashed serious ability especially as a running threat in the opening game of his sophomore year newton injured his ankle ending his second year as a medical redshirt that time away from football did not do newton well during bowl season newton stole a computer from another student with felony charges of larceny burglary and obstruction over his head meyer suspended newton from the team when asked newton said he shouldn't be judged as a bad person based on one immature mistake it came out a few years later that there might have been more than one rumors came out that newton cheated on three different academic papers at florida all charges were dropped when newton agreed to a pre-trial diversion program whether it be the suspension the cheating scandal the law run-ins or tim tebow deciding to return for his senior year newton decided to transfer from florida he couldn't go to another d1 without sitting out so cam decided to go to blinn college a juco powerhouse in texas his athletic prowess didn't fall off newton led his team to a juco national title while reestablishing himself as the biggest recruit in the nation and was the only five-star qb recruit newton chose auburn over mississippi state and oklahoma enrolling for the 2010 season newton controlled the starting job of gus malzahn's offense newton's style was meant for that offense and he started obliterating sec records at a sonic rate most rushing yards most touchdowns they went undefeated into the iron bowl and that's when cam got a shot at a heisman moment down 24-0 auburn's championship hopes looked bleak war eagle had one thing on their side cam newton he ignited the cam back as the tigers went off in the second half and newton's incredible fourth quarter run won the game 28-27 newton ran away with the 2010 heisman and auburn breezed to the national title game in an all-timer it took newton the very last possession of his college career to become a national champion they drove down the field against oregon to break the tie with a game-winning kick newton and the auburn tigers were national champions less than a week after the big win newton declared for the draft the carolina panthers were awful and newton was the far and away best qb prospect in the draft instant match the panthers took cam newton with the first overall pick of the 2011 nfl draft with that came automatic starting duties like he had at westlake uf blinn and auburn before when newton hit the gridiron he was special he did things others couldn't the zip on his passes compared to the league's best arms at 6 6 250 cam still outmatched many of the nfl's front seven players in his debut he set records and quieted haters throwing for 422 yards and tossing two touchdowns the next week he bested his number with 432 yards kim gave us an early look at the future of quarterback play he threw more than any rookie ever becoming the first to break 4 000 yards he was already the best dual threat in football breaking the single season qb rushing touchdown record at 14 the 2011 rookie of the year became an alter ego on the field super cam showing the s on his chest every time he got to the end zone and it stuck in 2012 his sophomore season the game began to slow down sure he didn't score as many passing or rushing touchdowns but his interceptions total went down and the former bottom dwelling team improved their record to 7-9 newton was reaching his prime the panthers and newton struggled in the opening four games of 2013 then all of a sudden they broke through on a run they won 11 of the last 12 games to win the nfc south title newton gave us a glimpse of what was to come taking carolina to the playoffs but after their divisional round loss to the 49ers adversity was on the horizon for newton the next season newton would miss his first game from injury in 2014. he fought through them the entire season only missing two games get this he was in a bad car crash that fractured two of his vertebrae yet cam missed just one game from it fractured ribs bad back and a bum ankle made the 14 season frustrating but cam finished showing just how unique he was newton became the only player to throw for 10 000 yards and rush for over 2 000 in his first four seasons his grittiness helped carolina defend their division title and get their first playoff victory in a decade over the cardinals in 2015 it was cam's world and we were all just living in it his abilities as a quarterback blossomed with his unreplicable athleticism it felt every week he was throwing for at least two touchdowns and running one in newton was as efficient as the league's premier passers and rivaled adrian peterson and marshawn lynch's ability to score with his feet defenses had no clue what to do he was named offensive player of the week three times in five weeks and five times total over a quarter of the season he held that honor out of nowhere carolina and cam were 15-1 and the number one seed in the nfc newton was on a tear 35 passing tds 10 rushing career high and passer rating with 3 837 yards through the air super cam was the unquestioned mvp he captured the attention of the whole world in the playoffs carolina jumped on newton's back for back to back 30 plus point leads blowing out the competition on their way to super bowl 50. this was the defining moment for newton's career against the dominant broncos defense he struggled denver did what no other team could they were super cam's kryptonite they suffocated the panthers offense and newton was outshined by a fellow draftee fond miller with just over four minutes left on a single score super bowl miller reached out and punched the ball out of cam's hand for his second strip sack of the game with the ball laying still on the turf newton was reluctant to dive and recover it denver recovered and put the game out of reach one of the most impressive mvp seasons of all time was drowned out by one moment in the super bowl mvp was no longer the talking point his three turnovers were not jumping on the loose ball ones newton would struggle the following year despite becoming the all-time quarterback rushing touchdown leader he put up career lows in most categories and played hurt he played through numerous injuries in 2017 as well repairing a torn rotator cuff before setting a career high in rushing yards and bringing carolina to the playoffs for the last time newton's incredible plays on the field were breaking down his body over time the repaired rotator cuff was taking some zip off his passes and hard runs became more and more painful after a 6-2 start in 2018 the panthers lost six straight and newton struggled he underwent another shoulder surgery that ended his 2018 season but before he even had a chance at a comeback season it was derailed a list frank injury a bone in the middle of the foot ended another season for newton availability is everything in the game of football and what made cam newton the most dynamic player in the league also left him broken down his time with carolina was coming to an end but the problem was no one was willing to trade for a 30 year old qb who just missed a full season and now held the label injury prone newton was released he sat on the couch jobless for three months just three seasons removed from mvp desperate for a qb after the departure of tom brady the new england patriots came calling for newton and he would get one more shot it just wasn't the same newton was incredibly inconsistent throwing for 400 yards one week and 68 the next he finished the 2020 season with more picks than passing touchdowns and career lows in passing yards after the pats drafted mac jones in the first round of the 2021 draft newton was on the outside looking in they moved on and newton was released by the new england patriots cam newton is the all-time qb rushing touchdown leader at 70 endzone trips that's double the next best on the all-time list he's an mvp one of the greatest dual threat quarterbacks the game has ever seen and while people love to hate him especially now when his game isn't what it once was let's all remember how he saved a struggling franchise how he made countless kids entire life by giving them a touchdown ball how his smile and energy reminded everyone of how fun football truly should be let's all remember super cam [Music]

Channel: Nonstop

Views: 1,028,400

Keywords: NFL, rise and fall, cam newton, nonstop sports

Id: 0R7g7iDMXsw

Length: 10min 15sec (615 seconds)

Published: Thu Sep 30 2021