Cam Newton had one of the greatest seasons in college football history in 2010 during his lone campaign at Auburn. On the back of 4,327 total yards and 50 total TDs, he led a team that had not been ranked in three years to an undefeated 14-0 record and a BCS National Championship. The Heisman win was the icing. However, Cam didn’t just pop up at Auburn out of nowhere.
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Before that, he led Blinn College to the NJCAA title in 2009. And even before that, he spent his first two college years as a backup with the powerhouse, Florida Gators. It was quite a time to be a Gator, as they won National Championships in both 2006 and 2008.
The second of those titles came with Tim Tebow at the helm and Newton serving as one of his backups. Tebow was by far the biggest name in college sports at the time. And he was as polarizing as they come.
On the Unapologetically Angel podcast, Newton looked back at his time in the Swamp and said he was “grateful”, despite getting suspended and nearly expelled during his stint.
“I played behind, arguably one of the most polarizing college athletes of all time in Tim Tebow. And I needed that,” said Newton.
“The immature me would have been like, ‘Nah, I’m better than him’. But the mature me looks back and say[s], ‘I’m grateful for that’. Because I’ve seen how he works. I’ve seen how he managed his life. I’ve seen how he worked hard. I’ve seen how people respect him and how he managed and compartmentalized his life in college,” added the former Panthers QB.
According to Newton, having a lightning rod like that ahead of him shielded him from unwanted negative attention. But Tebow also showed him how to handle that level of fame — something he would need just two years later during his Heisman campaign at Auburn.
“So, when I got put on at Auburn, I still went through trials and tribulations. But by the time I got on the scene and when it was my time, I felt prepped. I felt I already knew how to act, and nothing was new to me at that particular point in time,” said Newton.
Tebow’s example held Newton in good stead at Auburn as well as upon his arrival in the NFL. He burst on the scene in 2011 as the Offensive Rookie of the Year. Four years later, he was nearly unstoppable on the way to the 2015 NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards.
His 3,837 yards and 35 TDs (against just 10 picks) through the air paired with his 636 yards and 10 TDs on the ground propelled his Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance.
While Newton’s game translated perfectly to the NFL, the same couldn’t be said for Tebow and his strange side-armed lefty passing motion. He got his shot to be the starter in 2011, in his second year after the Denver Broncos drafted him in the 1st round in 2010.
Tebow went 7-4 and engineered five 4th-quarter comebacks, which led the NFL. He conjured up another one in the Wild Card round as his 80-yard TD pass completed a 29-23 OT upset over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
However, they were pummeled by the New England Patriots in the Divisional round. Then, in the summer, the Broncos swung big and landed Peyton Manning. That led the Broncos to trade Tebow away, which was the beginning of the end of his football career.
Nowadays, he remains close to the game, serving as a college football analyst on SEC Network and ESPN. Newton, who last played in the NFL in 2021, also works at ESPN as a pundit.
