Life comes at you fast. And no player, perhaps, knows that lesson more than Cam Newton.
For the first time in 315 days, the league’s former Most Valuable Player hit a regular-season NFL field. And for the first time in 795 days, he did so in a Panthers uniform.
So maybe, when he scored a touchdown on his very first play back, we can’t blame him for exuding some emotion (and taking his helmet off a bit too early) in the process.
“Well, I’ll put it like this. This time last week, I was eating a bowl of cereal,” Newton said about being penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct in the back of the end zone following the score. “I told Coach [Matt] Rhule that will never happen again. That one on me. But, yet, I was eating cereal last week, ya know what I mean? So that just puts things into perspective.”
Newton, who would score again on his second play of the game, shed some more perspective on his return in the 34-10 victory. He realizes much of the attention for this remarkable story will continue to be aimed his way, but is focused on making it all about the Panthers as a whole.
“I know a lot of people in the media, the titles of the newspaper, the blogs and things like that—they wanna make it about me,” Newton said. “It’s not about me and I keep saying it’s not about me. This was an impeccable team win.”
The triumph was also paced by starter P.J. Walker, who completed 22 of his 27 attempts for 167 yards. While Walker did not chalk up a touchdown of his own, his confidence and poise impressed Newton, as did the rest of the crew.
“I’m so proud of P.J., for him to look down the barrel on so many different times and deliver the ball—as well as everybody pulling together,” Newton added. “It was exciting for us—as a team, as an offense—to take turns making plays.”
They’ll look to keep making those plays next week, when they welcome in head coach Ron Rivera and his Washington Football Team to Bank of America Stadium. Until then, Cam may still have some Cheerios waiting for him back at the crib.
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