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Cam Newton's career stats are clear for all to see, but there have been debates about whether they warrant him a place in the Hall of Fame on their own.
Newton’s career was at its zenith during his spell with the Carolina Panthers. He was a prodigious rookie coming out of Auburn, taken with the first pick by the Panthers in 2011. The sky was the limit. However, the popular discourse around the quarterback’s NFL career has often been mixed.
To suggest that the former Panthers starter was polarizing would be an understatement. For whatever reason, there has always been a sense that some fans didn’t fully trust him as a signal-caller.
While his numbers are those of an elite performer, there have always been question marks about him. This could be because Newton was the first mobile QB to break through the door in this modern era. Alternately, the reason could simply come down to people not liking his playstyle.
When looking at the numbers alone… are Cam Newton's career stats deserving of a Hall of Fame spot?
To fully analyze the statistics from the Cam Newton’s career, they must be put into context.
He didn’t arrive into a particularly talent-filled Panthers team, which is what gave them the first selection in the draft in the first place.
However, as a rookie, he completed 60% of his passes, making it to the Pro Bowl. He threw 21 touchdown passes for 4,051 yards. It was the breakout season many of his pre-draft advocates had been predicting. The 22-year-old was on fire.
He didn’t miss a game throughout any of his first three NFL seasons. Newton was voted to the Pro Bowl twice and threw for a grand total of 64 touchdowns.
These statistics indicated that he was on a Hall of Fame trajectory. Many felt that it would only be team success that could have kept Newton out of the GOAT conversation if his individual numbers had stayed on this path.
2014 was more challenging as the Carolina Panthers had an awful season. Newton could only throw for 3,127 yards and missed the first games of his NFL career through injury.
Cam Newton's career stats include an MVP season
"Super Cam's" career arguably peaked in the 2015 season. He led the Panthers to a 15-1 campaign, reaching the Super Bowl and winning the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award.
Seldom do MVP winners not eventually wind up immortalized in Canton. There have been few better individual seasons than Newton’s in 2015. He played every single game, threw for 3,837 yards and had 35 touchdown passes. The quarterback also had four game-winning drives that season alone.
Unfortunately, this is where the fun stopped, as it were.
“I’m a sore loser, I hate losing. Show me a good loser and I’m going to show you a loser.”
These were Cam Newton's words after leaving his post-match press conference early in the immediate aftermath of the Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos.
Newton was criticized immensely for appearing not to chase after a loose ball from a fumble as Von Miller and the Broncos defense pummeled the MVP. This gave further ammunition to his detractors. Many argued that this was the turning point in his career.
Cam Newton's career stats regressed after Super Bowl loss
After the success of 2015, it seems barely believable that Cam Newton has never made the Pro Bowl again.
He had three further years putting up good numbers in Carolina, taking his touchdown haul to 182 and passing yards to 29,041. However, things fell apart in 2019. He missed almost an entire season through injury and was released by the Panthers.
Public opinion about the 33-year-old’s career has been shaped largely by what happened after he left the Carolina Panthers.
Cam Newton took on the impossible job of replacing Tom Brady in New England. No matter how well he did early on in his career with the Patriots, Newton was mostly seen as an underperforming QB. He was part of the first New England Patriots team to have a losing season since 2000.
He played 15 games and only threw for 2,657 yards. This was the first time in his NFL career that he had played more than 75% of the games and not thrown for at least 3,000 yards.
Newton also only managed to throw eight TDs in New England before he was re-signed by the Panthers as cover for injuries in 2021.
How do we sum up Cam Newton's NFL career?
Anyone who tries to argue that Cam Newton wasn’t a generational talent is being foolish. He did everything that a first-pick quarterback is supposed to do except win the Super Bowl.
He put up outstanding numbers and helped move the league towards the era of the dominant mobile quarterback that we are now enjoying.
Every athlete reaches the end of their physical rope. After barely missing a game as a professional, Newton was never going to be able to keep playing like Brady and Peyton Manning did.
In 2022, he probably isn’t a player you’d sign. Newton simply doesn’t bring much to the table anymore and seems to have hit his limit in terms of productivity.
However, when looking at Cam Newton's career stats, one will struggle to argue that they are brilliant. Taking into account his 16 comebacks and 20 game-winning drives, he is clearly one of this millennium’s best quarterbacks.
Did he have the longevity of some first-ballot Hall of Famers? No. Does that matter? It shouldn’t.
Cam Newton's NFL career was an undoubted success. We often forget that these young men are people as well as athletes. Newton has made a lot of money, made a lot of people happy, had some great moments and will one day be in the NFL’s Hall of Fame. If he does make it, it'll be because he deserved it.
