Is Cam Newton Really Done?
There is a reality where the following are accepted as statements of fact: Climate change is real, Kanye West has not made a good album since 2013, and going to dinner with Jay-Z instead of taking $500K is dumb as shit. But people refuse to admit to the obvious anymore. Maybe they believe that there is wisdom in zigging where everyone else around them may zag. Or that there is some reward in trusting your beliefs over logic and what they can see. Whatever the case may be, we are perpetually stuck watching the unstoppable force of truth go up against the immovable object that is people’s feelings to the benefit of no one.
There are vocal and adamant football fans that feel that Cam Newton is getting a raw deal from the NFL. The season starts today and he is not on anyone’s roster, which is a problem for some. Some people would have you believe that his COVID vaccination status was being wrongly used against him.
Others would point to his pre-Covid performance last season as the reason why some team should take a chance on the 32-year-old QB. Others would even suggest that Cam Newton’s unemployment is just another example of the NFL keeping another black QB down. Despite what these people feel is happening, it should be crystal clear what is going on: Cam Newton was not on an NFL team to start the season because he is no longer a good quarterback.
Cam Newton in 2021 is not the elite QB that we all remember. He is not 2015 Cam Newton, a league MVP who was unstoppable for the 15-1 Panthers that year. The stats last year were middling at best: 65% completion percentage, 2689 yards, 8TDs, 10 INTs, 177 passing yards per game. Newton did add 592 yards and 10 TDs on the ground and while the additional running threat and effectiveness in short-yardage situations are nice to have, he can’t sling it like that anymore, which usually means it’s time for a demotion.
Now if you wanted to argue that Cam deserves the same shot that players like Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton, and Mitch Trubisky have gotten to be backups, I’m all for it. But Cam, who still believes he is one of the best QBs in the league and had not signaled an openness to be a backup until his Funky Friday YouTube show last week.
Now the most interesting parts of the episode besides Newton’s hat and his father’s fantastic performance as a full-on Cam partisan and devil’s advocate, was that Newton insisted he would have backed up Mac if the Patriots asked him to and that he was released because he would’ve made Mac Jones uncomfortable. I am curious to know if he got that from Bill Belichick directly or if he’s inferred that based on how things went this year, but we may never know.
After watching most of the league yesterday, Cam may be barely right in his assertion that there are not 32 quarterbacks better than him in the league. He’s certainly better than Andy Dalton in Chicago and probably deserves a shot at the Washington Football Team’s QB job after Ryan Fitzpatrick’s hip injury.
You also have to wonder how patient Joe Judge will be with Daniel Jones in New York, who committed his 40th turnover in 28 starts in a losing effort to the Broncos.
Newton is still one of the best running QBs the league has ever seen. His 2015 season is also one of the more memorable campaigns in league history. By all accounts, he’s a tremendous teammate and overall good guy.
If the opportunity to play in the league is indeed gone, he will make an excellent on-air personality for one of the networks if that’s what he wants to do. His uniqueness will make him an interesting fringe case for the Pro Football Fame, and it will be a fun debate to dig into. But let’s put this Cam Newton deserves a starting job chatter to bed. The NFL already has, so what are you waiting for?