There is a bevy of accolades a football player can earn in the NFL: Pro Bowls, All-Pros, league leader honors, and many more. Without a doubt, however, the two most prestigious awards for NFL players are an MVP and a Super Bowl championship. Conventional wisdom suggests the Super Bowl is more important, considering football is a team game. But Cam Newton disagrees.
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Newton spent about a decade in the league and won many honors. He won an NFL MVP in 2015 after a truly singular performance during that season. He also pushed his Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl, though they lost to the Denver Broncos, 24-10.
In the lead-up to Super Bowl 59 earlier this year, Newton was asked whether he would trade his prized MVP award for a Super Bowl ring. The media-trained reply would be, “Of course.” But Newton rarely toes the company line, and he said he prefers keeping his MVP trophy.
“No… What’s more important, impact or championships? … Everybody’s not gonna be Michael Jordan … everybody’s not gonna be these individuals that have the luxury of saying I not only dominated this sport, but I also have championships to back it. Let me remind you, Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, respectfully, Nick Foles won a Super Bowl,” said the former QB.
Unsurprisingly, Stephen A. Smith and the rest of the panel on First Take that day were completely taken aback by Newton’s position on this debate despite never winning the Big One.
“I think that’s the humble approach. But if we’re being honest, the impact of you holding yourself accountable to say everybody has a responsibility to do. And you can say as an MVP award winner … you’ve held your end of the bargain down. … I know that’s not the popular pick. … I’m taking individual success, because I did my job,” Newton insisted.
Hall of Famer Brett Favre discussed Newton’s comments recently. Favre is one of the few players in NFL history who has won both an NFL MVP and a Super Bowl ring. And he disagrees wholeheartedly with Newton’s view, saying that he would trade all three of his MVPs (which he won consecutively from 1995-1997) for more rings.
“I was fortunate enough to win three MVPs, and I would trade ’em all for a championship. I would’ve played for $200. I loved to play the game. And I played the game to win,” said the former Packer on his podcast, 4th & Favre.
“People say, ‘What do you think about the most? The Super Bowl win or the Super Bowl lost.’ I think about the Super Bowl loss. And how many opportunities we had to go back. To me, it was only about winning and getting to the Big Dance, and winning that. As pleased as I was with my career, I wish I would’ve won more championships,” Favre added.
He had a chance to win back-to-back championships after winning it all in 1996, but lost to John Elway’s Denver Broncos in the 1997 Super Bowl. So while Favre won one, many believe he should have won a lot more. Clearly, Favre counts himself among that camp.
There’s really no right or wrong here. Both NFL legends made their cases well. However, there’s no denying that Cam Newton’s opinion is a much more popular one privately than people will admit publicly.
