Tom Brady is a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and we've all heard by now that Cam Newton is a member of the New England Patriots. Try telling that to an NFL fan back five years ago.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has always respected Cam Newton's abilities even when he faced him as an opponent, but now he gets a crack at coaching him.
As reported by ESPN's Mike Reiss, Belichick spoke highly of the former Auburn standout just prior to a game against Carolina in 2017:
“When you’re talking about mobile quarterbacks, guys that are tough to handle, tackle, can throw, run, make good decisions — I mean, I would put Newton at the top the list,” the Patriots coach said.
“Not saying that there aren’t a lot of other good players that do that, but I would say, of all the guys we play or have played recently in the last couple of years, he’s the hardest guy to deal with. He makes good decisions, he can run, he’s strong, he’s hard to tackle. He can do a lot of different things, beat you in a lot of different ways. We saw that in the game down there in ’13, so I would put him at the top of the list. Not saying the other guys aren’t a problem, because they are, but he’s public enemy No. 1.”
It's clear that the mutual respect between the Patriots coach and their new QB is there. The signing feels like the perfect move for both parties looking to forge a new path.
If there was ever a team that could possibly get Cam Newton back to where he once was, New England would've been the safe bet.
Both Newton and Patriots fans sure hope so.