Peter King's musings on Cam

[bigdavis]

This is quite the positive re-evaluation of Cam, by Peter King.

You'll recall that, when Cam first came out of college, King lambasted him for the comment Cam made that he considered himself "an icon and an entertainer."  King's take on that was that Cam was arrogant.

Frankly, at the time I thought that those words from Cam were parroting some thing he'd been told by Under Armour, his initial sponsor.  I'm not sure "icon" was even in his vocabulary then.  But that's beside the point here.

The key to this article isn't so much what King now thinks of Cam (though it is significant for King to do such an about-face in his evaluation of a player) -- it's what he quotes Cam as saying.  It indicates to me that Cam is reaching a level of maturity which will only help him (and the Panthers) reach his goals.

[rayzor]

Got a link to said article?

[carpanfan96]

2 minutes ago, rayzor said:

Got a link to said article?

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2019/07/29/cam-newton-panthers-training-camp-nfl-fmia-peter-king/

[ellis]

I remember meeting King when I was working radio during Cam’s first camp. It seems like he came in to that camp with an axe to grind, exercising a good deal of confirmation bias. He just seemed to be really bothered by Cam Newton. 

Don’t know how else to explain it. Maybe my interpretation was off, but I don’t think it was.

In any event, good on him for finally figuring it out.

[ladypanther]

Great read.  Also a good video of an interview with Curtis Samuel in there.  I like what Cam is saying.  Norv has been really good for him.

 

Quote

 

 I asked: “Do you worry that you’ll never have the fastball you had, let’s say, in 2016?”

“This is what I do know,” Newton said, sounding placid. “You can look back at any type of player. You can look back at any type of sport and as a player grows, your game has to change. I remember reading and seeing a lot of clips about Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Brett Favre, even Peyton Manning to a degree. When you get old, you have to change certain things. It kind of keeps you young. I actually look forward to it. I embrace this whole process because it’s made me feel like a rookie again. Learning certain things, learning new mechanics, focusing on the little nuances of playing a quarterback position and trying to master it. So at this point in my career, it’s not about velocity. It’s not about throwing a ball 70 yards. It’s about efficient football that’s gonna win football games.

 

[ladypanther]

Quote

 

The only time in our conversation that Newton bristled a bit was when I wondered how he’d feel if he couldn’t be the old Newton. Understandable … because even Newton doesn’t know exactly what his shoulder’s going to feel like this fall.

“See,” he said, “it’s still speculation. You know, at the end of the day, God has possessed me with things that I’m grateful for. … Now, being older, you kind of look at things different. For me, it’s not that I’m limited with certain things, or that I’m not capable of doing certain things, it’s just other ways to do it. I’m not saying I’m not gonna run people over. I’m not saying I’m not gonna run the football. I’m not saying I’m not gonna throw the ball down the field. I’m just in a position now where none of that matters but one thing, and that’s winning football games. If it requires me to do all those things, I’m willing to do it. And if it doesn’t, I’m still fine with that.”

 

 

[BrianS]

If Cam is being real here, and we have no reason to believe he isn't, the NFL better be paying attention.  A Cam who is committed to making those around him better is gonna be super scary for the rest of the league.  It makes those "special" things he does even more dangerous because now he isn't doing it all the time.  If he makes those Cam things happen three to five times a game, those moments become even more effective because the defense won't be able to predict it.

[MHS831]

2 hours ago, BrianS said:

If Cam is being real here, and we have no reason to believe he isn't, the NFL better be paying attention.  A Cam who is committed to making those around him better is gonna be super scary for the rest of the league.  It makes those "special" things he does even more dangerous because now he isn't doing it all the time.  If he makes those Cam things happen three to five times a game, those moments become even more effective because the defense won't be able to predict it.

If you think about it, when has Cam had weapons around him?  Steve Smith was double teamed most of the time.  Olsen has been his primary target.  Benjamin (bust) and Funchess (bust larvae).  When has his OL been elite? Kalil, Turner, and Norwell was a solid interior, but at T?  This OL has a chance to be very good. 

We now have 3 players on offense capable of breaking one at any time--you can't double team that.

 

[bigdavis]

40 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

If you think about it, when has Cam had weapons around him?  Steve Smith was double teamed most of the time.  Olsen has been his primary target.  Benjamin (bust) and Funchess (bust larvae).  When has his OL been elite? Kalil, Turner, and Norwell was a solid interior, but at T?  This OL has a chance to be very good. 

We now have 3 players on offense capable of breaking one at any time--you can't double team that.

 

Good points, all.  And it is the totality of those factors that should make us all optimistic.

The only question marks are 1) Cam's shoulder (and at this stage, there's NO sign that he hasn't lost his velocity) and 2) his protection on the left side -- but there are various options for LT to be manned adequately.

I was happy to read in the King article that Cam has totally bought in to the OC's theory that he doesn't have to be the hero (Superman), but just get it to the playmakers, of which there are finally more than just 1 or 2.

Barring injuries (but that caveat can be said of ANY team) I see no reason why we shouldn't expect an average output of 28-31 a game.  We've got as many scoring playmakers as any team in the league -- double teams against this offense will leave another scorer open.

[CarolinaNCSU]

Good stuff all around.  Not exactly breaking news here, but this team has insane potential.  As does Cam with a "new" style we saw a glimpse of the first 6-8 games last year. Stay healthy and get back to the ways of forcing turnovers and winning that battle, and we're without question a contender. 

[MechaZain]

3 hours ago, MHS831 said:

If you think about it, when has Cam had weapons around him?  Steve Smith was double teamed most of the time.  Olsen has been his primary target.  Benjamin (bust) and Funchess (bust larvae).  When has his OL been elite? Kalil, Turner, and Norwell was a solid interior, but at T?  This OL has a chance to be very good. 

We now have 3 players on offense capable of breaking one at any time--you can't double team that.

 

The bar is low and the sky is the limit. I can't name a #1 WR I've ever seen with worse hands than Ginn and Benjamin but Cam put up numbers with both. Breton Bersin carved out a five year career here simply because he was a guy who could reliably catch a football. There's no telling what Cam will do with a group that can catch because he's never had one.

[TheSpecialJuan]

[Navy_football]

6 hours ago, MechaZain said:

The bar is low and the sky is the limit. I can't name a #1 WR I've ever seen with worse hands than Ginn and Benjamin

Funchess?

[JawnyBlaze]

17 hours ago, MechaZain said:

The bar is low and the sky is the limit. I can't name a #1 WR I've ever seen with worse hands than Ginn and Benjamin but Cam put up numbers with both. Breton Bersin carved out a five year career here simply because he was a guy who could reliably catch a football. There's no telling what Cam will do with a group that can catch because he's never had one.

Naanee 

edit: I know he wasn’t the #1 but he was a starter somehow