Cam Newton may not have ended up with a Hall of Fame career in the NFL… but he put together arguably the most impressive run of football from high school to the pros that we’ve seen in the modern era.
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Success followed him everywhere he went. At Westlake High School in Atlanta, he won a state title as a junior. Though he didn’t play much, he was part of a national title-winning team at Florida as a college sophomore in 2008. After transferring to Auburn in 2010, Newton won the Heisman Trophy en route to a national title and a perfect 14-0 season.
He arrived in the NFL as one of the most clear-cut No. 1 overall picks of all time. Thrown into the fire, he won Offensive Rookie of the Year right away.
Newton knows what it takes to succeed as a young NFL QB. And now, as an NFL media personality, one of the things he continues to emphasize is that young QBs shouldn’t expect to be handed anything—they need to work for it.
“It’s nobody’s job to teach you nothing. It’s your job to make sure that you learn at your own rate. I had 20+ years of taking notes, jotting down things. I did it! You can’t skip the line,” Newton said.
“You can’t take the elevator to success. You just can’t go to Dr. Miami and just get Super Bowl rings. This is not an automatic car, ladies and gentlemen, this is a manual. You HAVE to do the work. Anything and everything that is great, or has ever been great, leaves crumbs.”
A few years after his successful rookie year—both in the film room and on the field—Newton led the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance as the NFL MVP in 2015. It’s safe to say Newton knows how to achieve success as a quarterback, no matter what level you’re playing at.
Newton is using a similar tone to that of veteran Joe Flacco. The 40-year-old is currently in a four-way QB battle in Cleveland alongside guys aged 27, 24, and 23. Flacco said that he’s not there to be a mentor. He’s there to win a job. But that doesn’t mean he’ll sabotage the youngsters either. Newton was painting with the same brush.
“With Joe Flacco, he’s saying, ‘Hey man, if you be around me long enough and you ask the right questions and you are observant, it will be right there in front of you.’ But what I’m not gonna do is just say, ‘Hey, see all these notes right here? Here you go.'”
You can’t take the elevator to success… this game is manual.”@CameronNewton explains why most young QBs never survive the grind… and why even Tom Brady wasn’t giving out shortcuts 🤷🏾♂️ pic.twitter.com/e1pZpDlRAk
— 4th&1 with Cam Newton (@4thand1show) June 12, 2025
A common complaint from many execs, coaches, and media members from the previous era (like Newton) is that this new wave of players is too coddled. They have everything handed to them on a silver platter. Coming up like that doesn’t build up the mental and physical calluses one needs to get through an up-and-down NFL career.
Veterans, support staff, training staff, and actual coaches are all there to help the younger players. But that is not their main “raison d’être”. Everyone has their own job, and young QBs need to find out theirs and figure out how to make it work to the advantage of their development.
