Cam Newton admits that he wasn’t a complete NFL quarterback until one former Panthers teammate transformed his mindset entirely
The former Carolina Panthers star quarterback had a lot of good things to say about one of his former teammates.
Former Carolina Panthers star quarterback Cam Newton has been making his rounds in the media world the last few years since hanging up the cleats and concluding a dynamic NFL career.
Between his appearances on ESPN’s First Take and his own 4th&1 with Cam Newton podcast, Newton has had plenty of opportunities to reflect on his own career and offer some player’s perspective on the latest news in the NFL.
While some comments have been taken the wrong way, such as Newton calling the 2010 Panthers team a locker room of losers, Newton as also provided some insightful advice. His latest piece of personal advice even included some high praise for a former teammate he had in Carolina.
Cam Newton praises Derek Anderson for helping him grow as a QB and leader
“A thing that is also a quarterback’s best friend, a solid veteran quarterback,” Newton said on his podcast. “Man, Derek Anderson, for me, he helped me grow. I knew nothing about being a professional quarterback. I thought I did. I had the talent to be a professional quarterback, but Derek Anderson, Ken Dorsey, Mike Shula, really was the morphing power to saying, ‘Hey, get our guy right.’”
Talent is something Newton certainly had. He was one of the most physically dominate quarterbacks in college football history and the Panthers risked a lot taking him first overall in the 2011 NFL Draft because of his maturity that easily could have derailed his professional career.
But, it seems like Anderson was an integral piece in getting Newton’s head on straight. And that shows the kind of person Anderson is after joining the team in August of 2011 to be the veteran voice for Newton. But most of what Newton learned from Anderson came by watching his day-to-day actions, not by listening.
“It got to a point, when I was in Carolina, that every time I would come into work, I would always see a white range rover,” Newton explained. “One particular day, I looked at the license plate and it had an Oregon license plate on it. Every time I’d go into the locker room, I started to say ‘How in the world is Derek Anderson, as a backup quarterback, beating me to work?’ …I started to take that personal. As the leader of the team, I need to lead by example.”
That’s a message every young quarterback, and team with a young starting quarterback, should learn from and frankly few teams actually offer that benefit. Not every veteran quarterback is willing to groom a young quarterback, but having an experienced leader in the building gives a young quarterback someone to look up to and follow, and that goes for any position.
Without Anderson leading by example and indirectly pushing Newton to become a better pro, who knows if he goes on to start nine seasons in Carolina, wins MVP, and takes his team to a Super Bowl.
“Derek Anderson taught me that, and I’m just blessed to have had him and Joe Webb,” Newton added. “Those guys really took my career to that next level. And it had nothing to do with skill. It had everything to do with the optics of being a leader.”
Some teams are starting to figure out how valuable that resource can be for a young player, especially at the quarterback position, because it really does go a long way for their professional development. It seems like Newton is really appreciative for having that resource early in his career.
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