‘The Cam Chronicles’

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‘The Cam Chronicles’: The Life and Career of Cam Newton

Few other athletes have risen and fallen like Newton—from big-time SEC football, to JUCO ball in Brenham, Texas, to NFL MVP. Tyler Tynes tells the story of one of football’s best quarterback talents in a six-episode narrative podcast series.

By Tyler Tynes Jul 13, 2020, 8:05am EDT

 

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Dalan Overstreet

Cam Newton has been one of the defining sports figures of the past decade. He won the 2010 Heisman Trophy while leading Auburn to the national title. He won the 2015 NFL MVP award while leading the Carolina Panthers to a Super Bowl berth. He’s been honored, criticized, questioned, and released. In June, he was signed by the New England Patriots.

Over the past year, The Ringer’s Tyler R. Tynes has spoken to coaches, teammates, friends, family members, reporters, and even Newton himself about the QB’s life and career.

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1. “Atlanta”

This episode takes us to Atlanta, where Cam was born. We spend time with Cam and his father, Cecil, at a local football clinic and at their church in Newnan, Georgia, to take a peek at the life Cam has built away from football. Cam’s life has always revolved around God, family, and football. That upbringing turned him into a five-star high school phenom. Getting Cam to open up to us, however, proves to be harder than we imagined.

 

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2. “Florida”

We head to Gainesville, Florida, the “Hollywood of the South,” as Cam’s father calls it. Cam encountered the hardest challenge he had faced in his life at the University of Florida: fitting into the Gator community and backing up Tim Tebow. His time in Gainesville ended after he landed in legal trouble as a sophomore.

 

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3. “Blinn”

After leaving Florida, Cam landed in Brenham, Texas, the home of Blinn College. There was very little in Blinn aside from football and cow pastures, making it a good environment for Cam to forge a new path back to big-time college football. Now Brenham is known primarily for three things: Blue Bell Ice Cream, Blinn College, and Cam Newton.

 

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4. “Auburn”

After one year at Blinn, Cam returned to the SEC, this time at the University of Auburn. Prime-time football amid hot attitudes of the Saturday gridiron in the South. Cam built a lasting legacy at Auburn while making a lot of people mad on his way to a national championship and Heisman Trophy, including the NCAA.

 

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5. “Charlotte”

Cam was the no. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft and instantly became one of the league’s most exciting—and polarizing—players. He reached the peak of his career in 2015 with an MVP season and a Super Bowl appearance. In 2016, however, the nation’s protest movement reached the NFL, and Charlotte, in particular, putting Cam in a challenging position.

 

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6. “New Beginnings”

Mounting injuries have taken their toll on Cam, and in early 2020 his time in Charlotte—the only team he’s ever known—came to an end. Months went by, and no interested teams emerged. It wasn’t until June that an unlikely suitor emerged. Today, the question is: Can Cam find glory one more time?

 

 

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