Cam Newton has everything he wants from life…except for that one missing piece. The Carolina Panthers quarterback revealed what that one thing is in an interview with C Jackson Cowart of the Charlotte Observer at his fifth annual 7-on-7 football tournament on Saturday.
Here’s a hint: Newton came awfully close to attaining this one thing very recently.
Speaking to the kids at his tournament, Newton gave an inspirational speech in which he told them those who work hard to perfect oneself get what they deserve.
“I’m looking at my life right now and I’m saying, ‘I’m missing one thing: I want a Super Bowl,’” Newton said. “Yeah, but it’s really certain things that you have to really fine-tune and say, ‘Am I deserving to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback? How can I push myself to be a better me?’
“The only way I put myself in this situation to be successful was I didn’t have no plan B …” Newton said. “I told myself, at the end of the day, I’m gonna be a football player and a football player only.”
Of course, Von Miller and the Denver Broncos at least temporarily squashed any chance Newton had of winning a championship a couple Super Bowls ago. And quite honestly, in that case it’s hard to pin the blame on Newton — he had poor protection in that game, which is a problem that could very well persist into the upcoming season.
After falling just short of winning a title after the 2015 season, Newton and the Panthers fell flat in 2016, winning just six games and finishing last in the NFC South. Poised for a bounce-back campaign, they added a couple of dynamic weapons in the draft — Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel — who could be a big help offensively.
Many quarterbacks and players in general have worked hard to perfect themselves, however, and never reached the pinnacle of the NFL. It’s the same for everyone in life. Sometimes bad breaks just happen, no matter what people do to give themselves the best chance of achieving their dreams.
Winning championships is the goal of every player who plays for the love of the game, but most never live up to their goal. So while Newton’s message is generally one we can get behind — working hard to perfect yourself — in the end it’s slightly flawed.