Old North Banter
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How Cam Newton saved a city

By Joshua Dows

Jan 17, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates with fans following their 31-24 defeat of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 17, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates with fans following their 31-24 defeat of the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Divisional round playoff game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Cam Newton draft pick had tremendous impact. How it single handily changed the culture for two states and saved sports in Charlotte.

When Cam Newton was drafted to the Carolina Panthers in 2011 it’s safe to say he was the teams last hope. I’ve been a die hard Panther fan for 21 years. I seen us go through the Jimmy Clausen experience, the Matt Moore experience, even the Chris Weinke experience. We had hung our hates and dreams on one Jake Delhomme who was more none for his chance taking then anything. The last time two times we saw Jake on the field for the Panthers he had a combined 12 INTS…6 vs the Cardinals in the playoffs, then 6 to the Eagles on opening day the next year. I mean we seemed to be in a dead end for a few years.

Then we set all our hopes and dreams on Andrew Luck. He was going to be our savior. He was concerned to be the new Peyton Manning. Well, all of our hearts got broken when Luck  announced he would be staying another year at Standford. Now what? What where we going to do?

Our attention drew to the national champion Auburn QB Cam Newton. He was very cocky, had a lot of backlash from the NCAA for money allegations. He did not seem like the type of guy Jerry Richardson normally drafts. But, what other options did we have? Andy Dalton? He was good but he hadn’t done the things Cam had done in college. So with our eyes closed and breaths held we took Cam with the number one pick.

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Fast forward to 2016. Cam panned out to be everything we needed and some. A 15-1 season. What appears to be the first MVP in team history. That cocky self centered QB from Auburn has turned into the guy who gives out footballs to kids after every touchdown.

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The city of Charlotte couldn’t afford to have Cam to fail. Rumblings of the NFL wanting us to move to LA started to stir even though Jerry Richardson said he would never move the team. The city had already lost the Hornets at one time. Even though the fans are very loyal in the Carolina area, we as fans were getting tired of what seemed like bad choices by the GM. The slow pace “We wanna build through the draft” mind set was getting old. We never took chances or got big name FA’s to come to Charlotte in any sport…so Cam had to work out.

After winning Rookie of the year and winning this team now 3 straight NFC south championships. He started to get national attention, he became a role model. Cam Newton brought spice back to a city that had got use to 7-9 and 8-8 seasons which are considered just avg. Cam has lead the Panthers to a franchise best 15-1 record.

Winning a MVP would put him on Panthers’ Mount Rushmore forever, more importantly winning a Super Bowl would do so much for the Carolinas: both states. It would generate more jobs, more national games, more job openings in Uptown Charlotte. It would put bloggers like me in a position to show the world we have been overlooked for a long time. Cam Newton is still flashy and very bold. but in all the right ways.

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