Back in 2015, Cam Newton delivered a season that few could forget. Before the campaign began, the Carolina Panthers signed Newton to a five-year, $103.8 million extension, trusting the quarterback to lead their offense. Then, despite being the underdogs, Newton and stars like Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman, surprisingly led the Panthers to a 15-1 record and reached the Super Bowl. But the star QB still wasn’t a favorite for everyone.

Throughout that 2015 season, critics labeled Newton ‘immature and moody’. Why? You see, during the games in which his team was losing, cameras often caught Newton sitting alone on the sideline with a towel over his head. At the same time, Newton was also criticized for his celebratory dances and postgame antics. But now, more than a decade later, former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera just made it clear that Newton’s leadership in that season did not deserve any criticism. 

“I don’t think people quite understand the way he handled things,” Rivera told insider Caden Kubler this week. “It’s one of the things that he never put on anybody except himself, and it’s one of the things that I thought was one of the most unselfish things I’ve ever seen. He always started with himself, ‘I could’ve done this better. I could’ve been better here.’ He never said, ‘Oh, he should’ve done that, or he should’ve done this.’ He never pointed the finger, and I think people don’t understand and appreciate that about him.”

Upon his arrival in Carolina as the No. 1 draft pick in 2011, Newton stirred controversy immediately by saying that the Panthers’ locker room is “full of losers.” But Newton came with a winning mindset to help his new team.   

As a rookie, Newton started all 16 games and set a then-NFL record by throwing for 4,051 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. He also added 706 rushing yards and 14 scores. Even though the Panthers finished that season with a 6-10 record, Newton transformed the offense overnight. In 2011, the Panthers ranked fifth in scoring (25.4 points per game). On top of all that, Newton also earned a Pro Bowl nod and won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.

From 2013 to 2015, Newton led the Panthers to a 34-13-1 record and three back-to-back NFC South titles. By 2015, he had dealt with multiple injuries, but still developed into the Panthers’ franchise QB. 

Then came that 2015 season, when Newton threw for 3,837 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 363 yards and 10 more scores. In the 2015 NFL MVP Award race, Newton received 48 of 50 votes, yet the criticism never stopped. Many critics argued that New England Patriots’ QB Tom Brady deserved the award instead. They pointed not only to Brady’s 4,770 passing yards, which was better than Newton’s, but also to what they viewed as a more acceptable attitude.

“Nothing’s pretty much changed,” Newton said in an interview before the Super Bowl that year, about why he was not overwhelmingly liked by the community. “They talk about maturity with me. They talk about the skill set with this team. Nobody has changed. It’s been the same Ted Ginn that was drafted by the Miami Dolphins. The same Jerricho Cotchery, the same Philly Brown, the same Cam Newton. Nothing’s changed. The only thing that’s changed is that we’re winning.”

Newton suggested that winning amplified the spotlight on him. But he also made it clear that, in many ways, criticism only fueled him to do better. He didn’t win the Super Bowl, but the team relied on his fire to kindle their own and make that season synonymous with the Panthers. Newton’s teammates saw that drive up close.

Cam Newton’s teammate also praised his leadership in that MVP season

In that Week 10 game against the Tennessee Titans that year, Newton caught flak for celebrating a touchdown that sealed the Panthers’ 27-10 victory. But Titans linebacker Avery Williamson took offense, and many accused Newton of taunting him. However, at that time, other NFL stars celebrated too in similar ways. It’s a pretty normal thing and only becomes problematic if offensive. However, veteran QBs tend to tamp down their emotions, whether it be or joy or disappointment, and focus on winning the game.

Inside the Panthers’ locker room, Newton’s celebration was no problem. In an interview during the 2015 season, Panthers veteran Thomas Davis even praised Newton’s growth and leadership.

“As a young kid, he [Newton] came in and had a lot thrown on his shoulders early,” Davis said in an interview on SiriusXM. “But now, he’s grown into the leader that we fully expected him to become, and his maturity level has gone up tremendously, accepting that role.”

In Carolina, Newton’s leadership became evident when he delivered in clutch moments. One such example was the Week 6 game of the 2015 NFL season. In the third quarter, the Panthers were trailing by 13 points, but Newton engineered a comeback. With just 32 seconds left in the game, Newton threw a 26-yard touchdown to Greg Olsen and secured a 27-23 win for the Panthers. 

Davis also pointed to the 2014 season as the turning point in Newton’s mentality within the locker room. During a rough stretch that season, when the Panthers went two months without a win, Newton took full responsibility.

“He [Newton] put it on his shoulders and said he needed to play better, regardless of what we had gone through as a team,” Davis added. “He put it on his shoulders, and that’s when you started to see the growth. That’s when you started to see the guy step up and become the leader of this football team. And he’s been going ever since.”

Years later, in 2024, Davis spoke about the event of Cam Newton officially hanging up his cleats. According to him, “nobody has done more for a single city and for a single organization than Cam Newton has done for the Carolina Panthers.” That should sum up the who Cam Newton really was to the team.