Cam Newton played in just two games last year, but if he’s healthy, it’s easy to see him flourishing under Bill Belichick in New England. No, Newton is not a cookie-cutter quarterback a la Tom Brady, but he still has the skillset to succeed in the NFL.
“No question,” former NFL cornerback and current CBS Sports HQ NFL analyst Bryant McFadden said on Tiki & Tierney. “I love it. I love it. I remember right when Cam got released, that was my prediction: that the Patriots would somehow find a way to sign Cam Newton. It took some time and they had to do their due diligence, especially when it came to the health standpoint, but they signed him.”
Newton spend nine seasons in Carolina, where he was a three-time Pro Bowler and the 2015 NFL MVP. He had a lot of fun along the way, too.
“The reason why I love it, there are certain organizations, certain coaches that can handle different personalities,” McFadden said. “Recent history tells us Belichick, the organization there in New England, they find a way to get what some people believe to be abnormal personalities in a normal direction.”
Corey Dillon. Randy Moss. Aqib Talib. The list goes on.
“For me,” McFadden said, “based on what we’ve seen with elite players that people believe their best years are behind them, they go to New England and they flourish.”
Brandon Tierney agrees, but he also thinks it’s unfair that Newton gets lumped in with other elite players who were, for lack of a better term, malcontents. Newton may wear outlandish clothes and celebrate after touchdowns, but that doesn’t mean he’s a bad person.
“Cam is an urban guy; he’s a fashionable guy,” McFadden said. “Most people that can’t adjust to a new climate, to a new atmosphere, look at Cam as being a bad guy because he’s not the norm for that position. Because of that, they put him in a different category. Me personally, I [couldn’t] care less what you do as long as you go about your business and you’re willing to put your hand in this pile to help us win a Lombardi. That’s all I care about.
“But a lot of people have put Cam in a very, very different category because of how he goes about his business at press conferences, his fashion statements, the celebratory fashion that he has when he scores touchdowns,” McFadden continued. “And a lot of people have yet to forgive him for walking off the podium years back in that Super Bowl loss against Denver, which is unfair to him. I totally agree. That’s an unfair assessment to have towards Cam Newton.”