Cam Newton Praises ‘Cat Lady,’ Urges Fans Not to “Give Up” on Carolina Panthers

Having been founded in 1995, the Carolina Panthers are the third-youngest franchise in the history of the National Football League. As we know, success is a hard thing to come by in gridiron football, but for the Panthers, it’s been almost impossible to find in recent years.

Since David Tepper first took over back in the summer of 2018, Carolina has had an overall regular-season record of 38-83, and their last playoff win was more than a decade ago. Suffice to say, it’s getting dark in North Carolina.

Nevertheless, the former face of the franchise, Cam Newton, is imploring the fan base to hang in there. “Please don’t give up on us,” Newton begged during the most recent episode of his 4th and 1 podcast while thinking back on some of the more memorable Panthers fans that he came across.

“There was one particular person, man. Cat Lady… Her and her husband they would show up win, lose, or draw. She would have her face painted, win, lose, or draw. I never saw her without face paint… They were there!”

According to Newton, that kind of resilient support from a fan base impacts players much more than they would perhaps be willing to admit. It helps to create a sense of normalcy, as well as a reminder that other people are impacted by these losses.

Simply put, Carolina could use a few more Cat Ladies right now.

“From a player’s perspective, we need that. Even though we may not deliver, we need that, just to know that you’re there. Just to know that the article is coming out. Just to know that you’re thinking of or about us. Like, ‘Dang man, disappointed again. Our Panthers lost again.’”

Heading into Week 6, the Panthers will once again take up the mantle as the underdogs. A 2-2-1 Dallas Cowboys team that is fielding one of the worst defenses in the league is currently being listed as -3 point betting favorites against the Panthers, who will be at home this Sunday afternoon.

It doesn’t seem as if anyone is confident in their offense’s ability to take advantage of the errors that Dallas will likely commit on Sundays, and given their track record in recent years, it’s hard to argue against that. The Cowboys have been able to offset their poor defense by scoring the fourth-most points of any team so far, and it’s equally unlikely that Carolina’s defense will be able to hinder Dak Prescott.

In the end, it seems as if the Panthers are destined for yet another losing season. And until an adequate sense of change comes about, that’ll likely continue to be the norm for years to come as well.

In other words, just keep pounding, and maybe one day you will finally strike some gold.