Behind the scenes with Cam Newton

[PhillyB]

i found this interesting:

NFL Network analyst Joe Theismann wasn't even sure whether the Auburn star was worthy of a first-round pick. The reviews were so harsh that Newton's mentor, Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon, wondered whether they were fueled by racism.

"But I can't sit up here and look at it like, oh man, my critics are racist," Newton says. "I blame JaMarcus Russell and to some degree Vince Young. If you have the opportunity to make that kind of money doing something you love to do, why would you screw it up? I'm trying to be a trailblazer. If Baylor's Robert Griffin decides to come out, I want people to say 'He can be the next Cam Newton' instead of 'He's gonna be the next JaMarcus Russell.'"

[PhillyB]

also this:

Around midseason, with his frustrations about to blow, Newton's cellphone rang. It was Ray Lewis, the Ravens' future Hall of Fame linebacker. "Baby boy," crackled the voice on the other end of the line, "whatcha so mad about? Listen here, you ain't going through nothing that anybody that is great hasn't been through."

A defiant Newton swallowed hard, stood up straight and tried to explain himselfand Lewis filled his ear with laughter. "Four years," Lewis shouted. It took him four years to get Baltimore to .500. (In Year 5, the Ravens won the Super Bowl.) "This isn't who you are," Lewis said. "Why ain't you smiling? Get a damn smile on your face." To a man, Newton's teammates and coaches say they welcome his outspoken, unrelenting competitive fire. But if Ray Lewis calls out of the blue to say you're too intense, maybe it's time to chill a bit. "People are gonna respect the Panthers," says Newton. "And I want what I do as a quarterback to be scary. I want people to be in fear. I want it, and I'm gonna get it. But I realize now it's a process."

[bleys]

"People are gonna respect the Panthers," says Newton.

:cheers2: