This is pretty dope of Cam to offer his time to be a mentor.
According to William Rhoden at the Undefeated, the Panthers franchise QB went out of his way to help Ravens QB Lamar Jackson by giving his number to general manager Ozzie Newsome to pass on. Newton knows the deck is somewhat stacked against players with a similar background and skill-set. He was just polled as the most underrated QB in the league by his defensive-playing peers. Cam says he wants to help Jackson by serving as an outlet, via Panthers Wire.
“I just wanted to be a vessel or an outlet for him. . . I just know being an African-American quarterback in this league, you’re facing different things than another quarterback might be facing and a lot of it is, your gift may be your curse. Your running ability may be something that people look down upon.”
Despite rushing yards and rushing touchdowns having equal value to passing yards and scores, running quarterbacks have always been either overlooked or dismissed as somehow being inferior to traditional pocket passers. The way Cam is perceived is perhaps the most frustrating example.
Cam’s style of play (as well as Jackson’s) should be celebrated as one of the reasons why he’s such a dynamic quarterback. In any case, Newton deserves credit for serving as a role model for players like Jackson and Deshaun Watson. Regardless of their differences, Newton believes he can help Jackson adjust to life in the NFL, per Bleacher Report.
“Now I look up and I see—here’s another quarterback, a young gunner who reminds me somewhat of myself,” Newton told Rhoden. “He may be doing it faster, he may be more elusive, but at the end of the day, I still want to make the road as easy as possible.”
“My thing has always been, ‘I’m not going to change.’ When I talk to Lamar, my main thing is, ‘Bro, do you. Be you, and that’s what a lot of people are afraid of, because when you’re comfortable with who you are, when you have that aura about yourself that nobody can really teach, that’s when you’re most dangerous.'”
This may not be a bad idea for Lamar to hit up Cam and learn from him during the offseason.
Flip the page for highlights from LJ’s rookie year.