The Carolina Panthers and Cam Newton agreed to a one-year deal on Thursday to reunite the franchise with its former MVP.
Ten, almost 11 years ago, I sat in my living room, an 11-year-old kid who had never known the Carolina Panthers to be anything but pain, disappointment, and heartbreak.
I had been in love with the Panthers for as long as I could remember, and while I had some fond memories from the 12-4 campaign of 2008, I had a whole lot more of an old and injured Jake Delhomme, an incredibly inconsistent Matt Moore, and yes, a young and once-promising Jimmy Clausen.
There were guys like Steve Smith and second-stint Muhsin Muhammad, Brad Hoover, and DeAngelo Williams. On defense, you had Julius Peppers and Dan Morgan, Chris Gamble, Mike Minter, and Mike Rucker. But none of those guys were capable of carrying the franchise.
By that night, April 28, 2011, I knew I loved football.
But I was tired of losing.
Tired of disappointment and tired of feeling let down by my team.
This night though was supposed to be the one that changed all that. As I sat there, flanked by my family, Roger Goodell emerged from behind the stage and announced that Carolina was on the clock.
I had never really watched an NFL Draft before. But I knew that this one, on this night, with the Panthers holding the top pick, had the potential to be franchise-changing.
I didn’t know a whole lot about what to look for in top prospects, and I didn’t know a lot about how the draft even worked, but I knew that this night was special. And when I kept seeing clips of this Heisman-winning guy named Cam Newton, I knew I had fallen in love all over again.
You know what happens next though, the Panthers took the quarterback from Auburn with the No. 1 overall selection. And yeah, he earned the job by the time the regular season rolled around.
How Cam Newton became an idol
It started down at the Arizona Cardinals when Newton immediately began shattering records, passing for 422 yards, adding another 18 and a touchdown on the ground. The rookie’s debut was the best in history and remains so even today.
He followed that up with a narrow Week 2 loss to the defending champion Green Bay Packers, then a week later earned his first win in the league. He would only notch five more successes the rest of the year but quickly proved himself to be one of the most dynamic players the game had ever seen.
And in the process left young fans like me with something we had never known from the Panthers.
Hope and excitement for a future.
That future didn’t come immediately though, as it wasn’t until 2013 that the Panthers’ budding star led the team to its first winning season since he arrived. During that year though, he helped Carolina to 12 wins and a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs.
Improvement, yeah, but still not where we ultimately wanted to be. 2014 was unremarkable, but their young quarterback still managed a division title and a playoff win – the first of his career, actually.
Then came 2015.
And boy, were we here for it.
Our quarterback, now entering his fifth year in the league and with larger-than-ever expectations, came out guns blazing. A 14-0 start with weekly flashes of dominance was what I had dreamt about that night sitting in my living room.
You know the drill from here, a 15-1 regular-season record, another first-round bye, dominant wins in the divisional and conference championship rounds, and an appearance in Super Bowl 50.
We thought we had it good. Elite defense, an MVP quarterback, and a coach who was racking up the annual awards. The Panthers were good and were going to be for a long time to come. Right?
The years before Cam Newton’s departure
Turned out maybe not so much.
We all remember our superstar quarterback staring at the ball after Mike Remmers got steam-rolled, and we remember him walking out of his press conference afterward. That elite defense too took a big hit after that game when it lost perhaps the best defensive player to free agency.
The Carolina Panthers in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 were far less memorable. Especially for our former MVP.
He began dealing with injuries for really the first time in his career, faced increased criticism from fans and the media, and yes, began to dress awfully funny that came in for some truly bizarre and unwarranted criticism.
We gave him a pass in 2018 after he injured his shoulder at the Pittsburgh Steelers. We thought he’d heal up and be his dominant self again after another surgery.
2019 was going to be different.
Until it wasn’t.
Our superstar hurt his foot in the preseason, but soldiered through and started the first two games. Then re-injured his foot. A Lisfranc injury could take several weeks to heal, and Cam Newton went on IR.
Kyle Allen came in and looked great over the next few games. He had filled in for the injured starter for one game the previous year but looked good in his first few meaningful contests.
After three weeks he looked so good that some people started wondering if he would become the guy in Carolina. A few weeks later we got a hard no on that answer, but suddenly there was a serious question of who was.
Was it the superstar MVP, was it the guy who dominated early on in relief?
Was it the rookie that we just drafted?
Was it somebody on another roster, or maybe not even in the league? Besides, by now it was 2020 and we didn’t even have a head coach.
Until we did.
Cam Newton’s messy departure
In January of 2020, the Carolina Panthers hired Matt Rhule to be the franchise’s fifth full-time head coach. He came in without a clear plan at the quarterback position, but with a new owner thrown in for good measure, it seemed obvious that a change was in the works.
But a few weeks later that new head coach told us we wouldn’t have a new quarterback. Cam Newton, the same guy who led our team to the Super Bowl, was still the future of the franchise and had earned the right to be the signal-caller in 2020.
Or so he said.
And then came March 24 and our star quarterback was unceremoniously kicked to the curb.
Gone.
A free agent, free to sign with any team, but no longer wanted in Charlotte and the Carolinas. Instead, we got Teddy Bridgewater, an inspirational player, and leader, but had never really proved himself as a legitimate starter in the NFL.
But we were assured that in Joe Brady’s system, Bridgewater was the right move.
We all know how that worked out, 0-8 in games where the Panthers had a chance to win or tie in the final two minutes, and once again in the market for a quarterback.
Surely this time the front office would get it right.
Newsflash: they didn’t.
The man under center in 2021 has somehow been worse than the one in 2020, instilling no fear or respect into opposing defenses, and has now landed on IR himself, and perhaps has lost his job for good.
Cam Newton’s homecoming and what it means
So what do we do now, the Carolina Panthers front office and fans everywhere ask themselves?
Should we give Matt Barkley a shot?
Or P.J. Walker?
No, we want to win.
I remember what it was like that night in 2011 when I felt no hope, no joy, and no excitement when watching the Panthers. And once again, I’m tired of it.
Until now.
Our superstar quarterback is back in town. I don’t know how good he’ll be or if he’s got anything left in the tank. But quite frankly, I don’t care.
And quite frankly, you shouldn’t either.
Cam Newton – the man who took us to highs we had never reached before – was tossed aside so ungraciously, like a piece of paper into the trash. But he loved this city and this team and this organization enough to give it a second chance.
And now we should too.
I don’t know howNewton will be when he suits up in the Black and Blue in the coming weeks. But his return is a sign of respect, humility, and apology from the Panthers for the way he was cast away.
He may be awful. He may be worse than Sam Darnold, Bridgewater, Will Grier, and P.J. Walker put together. But I don’t care.
Cam is back, and that’s all I care about. And this is simply bigger than football.