Few athletes inspire more heated discussion in football right now than Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.
Few athletes inspire more heated discussion in football right now than Auburn quarterback Cam Newton.
With the opening round of the NFL draft a week away, there is a raging debate as to whether or not Newton is worthy of being selected first over-all by the Carolina Panthers.
There are some who are even suggesting that the Bills should stay away from Newton if he is still available with their selection, third over-all.
Newton is a rare physical specimen that just so happens to be coming off of a dream season for an NCAA quarterback. Newton led the Auburn Tigers to a perfect 14-0 record and a win over Oregon in the National Championship game. He also won the Heisman Trophy after he threw 30 touchdowns and ran in for another 20.
Maybe Newton’s most impressive performance took place on November the 26th in Tuscaloosa, Alabama as he led the Tigers to an improbable comeback win over the Crimson Tide. Down 24-0 in the second quarter, Newton proceeded to lead the Tigers to their biggest come back win in the 117 year history of their football program.
Yet despite all of his physical tools and impressive accomplishments, there are still some people out there who doubt whether or not Newton will be able to make the transition to being an effective NFL quarterback.
Because of size and running ability, Newton has been compared to Ben Roethlisberger for his knack of extending plays and making throws down the field. While they are similar in stature, six feet five inches 245 pounds, Big Ben could never run the 40 in 4.59 seconds the way Newton did at the NFL combine.
At his pro day workout, Newton answered the questions about his throwing accuracy when he completed his first 19 passes.
The biggest problem hanging over Newton as draft day approaches is that obscure term "character issues."
Most of these stories stem from the allegations that Cam’s father Cecil worked out a pay for play deal with Auburn. The NCAA declared that Cam was unaware of his father’s actions and cleared him of any wrong doing. Take that for what it is.
Some other people have made a big issue of the fact that Newton likes to add marshmallows to his Lucky Charms in the morning. Just because the kid likes to eat marshmallow laden Luck Charms in the morning, does not mean he’s going to turn into a bloated version of JaMarcus Russell.
When people speak of Newton’s "character" they should also bring up the fact that he fought through a painful back injury in the second half of the National Championship game and still lead the Tigers to victory.
Some people tried to make a deal out of the fact that when questioned by ESPN’s Jon Gruden, to remember one his plays at Auburn, he could not come up with anything.
What I saw on the video was a polite young man, wearing a shirt and tie and taking copious notes of whatever Gruden was telling him. Then when Gruden got him out on the field and asked to make throws off of a three and a five step drop, Newton nailed every one.
Newton doesn’t have a lot of experience working under centre because the Auburn offence didn’t require him to. Any NFL coach can teach a quarterback how to properly execute a three, five and seven step drop. Any NFL coach can teach a quarterback the nuances of a pro style playbook and offence. What they can’t teach is God given size, speed and arm strength.
After reviewing game film of Newton, Broncos president John Elway was quoted as saying that he is a guy with "rare competitive instincts in the second half." This coming from the quarterback that wrote the book on second half comebacks.
I don’t pretend to be an expert or have all the answers. I never have and I never will.
But I do know one thing; any team that doesn’t end up drafting Cam Newton because they bought into all the stories about his so-called "character issues" will rue the day.
