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The 2020 season didn’t go as planned for Cam Newton and the New England Patriots. That’s probably one of the biggest understatements one could make.
As rough of a year as it has been for Newton and the Patriots, the quarterback is still focusing on the light at the end of the tunnel. Pressed to think back on 2020 by local media during his final meeting with reporters of the year, Newton talked about the thing he regrets the most from last year.
Take a look at this interview, it is completely worth your time and might be the best of 2020.
He was awarded the Ron Hobson Media Good Guy award for his cooperation with local and national reporters.
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Missing His Children
Newton seemed most impacted by not being able to see his children regularly. Newton talked about missing first steps, birthdays, and just important moments overall.
He obviously made some references to on-the-field situations, but it’s tough to miss his mention of the multiple sacrifices this season. Some of that included not spending as much time with his family as he would have liked to in 2020.
If you’re a father, you can likely relate to making a familial sacrifice for a professional move. When those professional moves don’t necessarily go as planned, it can be even tougher to absorb.
Not Having Enough Time to Learn the Patriots’ System
Newton also talked about not having as much time as he would have liked to learn the Patriots’ system. It was very different from everything he’d ever done in college and the pros. By all accounts, Newton dedicated himself to his craft as much as anyone could’ve asked. He also paid homage to Josh McDaniels and Jedd Fisch for implementing concepts that he is comfortable with, but at the end of the day, it seems he feels he would have been more comfortable with a full training camp.
Here’s a quote from the session above:
My only regret was I wish I had more time to dissect what I was actually getting into. I’ve been in this league long enough to kind of always downplay, like, ‘Man, we don’t need preseason. We don’t need OTAs. We’re ready to go.’ Yeah, maybe if I was still in the system I came from. But learning this system, you just need more time, you need more real reps to kind of go through because there’s only but so much you can kind of make-up.
How many athletes have felt like this during and after a season? Now, how many would be secure, open, and honest enough to share it?
Say what you want about arm strength or whatever. Newton is a special dude and in many ways, he made this Patriots season worth watching and caring about on a daily basis.
Will He Be Back?
I’d love to see Newton back, but that’s a decision Bill Belichick and Co. will make in the weeks to come after Sunday’s regular-season finale. It seems obvious the Patriots love Newton’s presence, work ethic, and personality, but they also have to look to the future.
If he is back, the team still has to draft a young quarterback, and they may even have to bring in a more ready-to-play veteran to compete with Newton for the starting spot.
Either way, both veterans have to be somewhat vested in helping to develop the young arm the team has in camp. Hopefully, with a more normal training camp, we’d get an opportunity to see what Newton truly has left in the tank.
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