Sunday wasn’t just a homecoming for Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. It was a rebirth, in more ways than one.
In Week 11, Newton took the field at Bank of America Stadium for the first time in over two years. So it must’ve felt pretty good to experience the love, the emotion and even the old, familiar feeling of that end zone.
But for Newton, this particular day holds some extra importance that transcends what went on in-between the lines.
“Today was a special day for me. It was my resurrection day,” Newton said in his postgame presser. “I’m not sure if a lot of people know, November 21st is a very special day for me. I took a big ‘L’ in my life. It was a big scar that ended up being my biggest scar. I was incarcerated today, when I was in the University of Florida. And this day is always significance of where I came from.”
On Nov. 21, 2008, a then-19-year-old Newton was arrested in Gainesville, Fla. on felony charges of burglary, larceny and obstruction of justice. He was accused of stealing a fellow student’s laptop computer and “tossing” it out of his dorm room window in an attempt to conceal the theft.
The charges would later be dropped after Newton completed a pre-trial diversion program. He then transferred from the university two months later and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today’s history will look back on Nov. 21, 2021 as the day Newton came back under center in his professional home of Charlotte, N.C. He scored three touchdowns—one of which came on the very first possession of the game—while totaling 235 total yards.
And even though this triumphant moment came in a 27-21 defeat, Cam is still going to soak it all in.
“I was just going to enjoy the moment. Still am gonna enjoy the moment,” Newton added. “I think my life could be who knows where right now.”
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