Getty Cam Newton
Is Cam Newton going to retire after an undeniably disappointing 2020 season? The 2015 NFL MVP talked about those rumors on Monday.
The New England Patriots fell 22-12 to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The loss ended their playoff hopes for 2020 and set off a blitz of questions for the players and coaching staff.
One of the many questions posed to Newton centered around a potential retirement. Newton answered that question during his weekly spot on WEEI’s The Greg Hill Show, and he made himself perfectly clear.
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Has Newton Thought About Retiring? “No, I’m Not There.”
Newton hasn’t been to the NFL mountaintop, though he has won league MVP and been to a Super Bowl. The No. 1 overall pick back in 2011 has already performed enough as a professional to assuredly escape the bust label.
He owns several rushing records for quarterbacks, has thrown for more than 30,000 yards in his career, and has 187 touchdown passes to 118 interceptions. No one will mistake Newton’s passing numbers for Peyton Manning’s anytime soon, but as a complete quarterback, he’s done things that no one else before him has done.
There’s value in that, and if he wanted to call it a career after 2020, there are far more who wish they had Newton’s resume than there are guys who have accomplished more. Even with an impressive trophy case and a strong set of numbers on his Pro Football Reference page, Newton isn’t ready to walk away from the game.
He was asked if he had contemplated retirement, and this was his response, after laughing off the notion:
Man, listen, I know I’m not there. One of my goals this year, for what it’s worth was just to finish the year healthy. And you know, this year, God has granted me and, and gave me the opportunity to play a healthy season. And, I still have a lot of football left, and I still want to play football and I have the urge to be better. After putting out this film? Like, I can’t go out like this. I definitely can’t go out like this.
Here is a look at the entire interview:
Newton Isn’t Washed
Despite the narrative being pushed by so many, Newton can still be a winning an effective quarterback in the NFL.
Does he need to be more accurate especially on short throws? Yes. Does he need to get more comfortable with the Patriots and any other offense he might find himself in? Yes.
That said, he has still shown the ability to throw the ball effectively on deep and intermediate throws. He’ll never have the accuracy of Troy Aikman or Aaron Rodgers, but he doesn’t necessarily need that because of some of the other qualities he brings to a team. Will the Patriots put him in the position to succeed? Maybe, but perhaps he needs to land somewhere else to find that comfort zone.
In any case, Newton still has gas left in the tank. He has remained healthy all year–except for COVID–and that bodes well for him moving forward.