Can Cam Newton handle the Patriot Way? In truth, when it comes to what matters — winning at all costs — Newton and Bill Belichick have more in common than it might seem.
We’re about to find out if Cam Newton can handle the Patriot Way, the vaunted and storied and universally glorified method of running a professional football team in the 21st century. But prepare yourself: In the months before it happens, there will be content to consume.
We’ll breathlessly debate the pressures that await Newton: the steely gaze of Bill Belichick; the swirling fumes of the Tom Brady legend; the expectations brought upon by two decades of reliance on the entire spectrum of strategies and tactics — the legal, the sorta legal and the definitely illegal.
The Patriot Way allegedly demands the individual bury within himself each of the deadly sins — except maybe wrath — in the pursuit of collective success. It’s not just a job, after all; it’s an obsession. Everywhere and everything surrounding the New England Patriots signifies a monklike devotion to the game. There is no music in the locker room, no televisions beaming the latest news from around the league, no frivolous distractions such as pingpong or cornhole.
« I’ve had some moments where it was pretty tense, and there’s a lot of sacrifice, » Patriots wide receiver Jakobi Meyerstold me in December. « I’ve had to tell my family, ‘I can’t do anything with you right now, because I’ve got to focus.’ The expectations are something you feel as soon as you get here. »
Can Newton handle it? He has been NFL MVP more recently than Aaron Rodgers, and he has been to the Super Bowl more recently than Russell Wilson. Newton appears to be healthy for the first time in two years. He spent last year on the sideline for a Carolina Panthers team that assured the world as recently as February he was in its plans, then released him two weeks later. After months of silence, he was signed to a low-risk contract to quarterback a team that was otherwise left with second-year signal-caller Jarrett Stidham, who has significant promise but no experience.
Brady in Tampa is a cute aside, but this is the most remarkable and potentially shape-shifting move of the offseason.
« You almost wonder, Why would the league allow this? » says George Whitfield, a private quarterback coach who has worked extensively with Newton. « From a competitive standpoint, Cam and Belichick is a natural fit. It literally takes a shark to recognize another shark. »
It might not work, for reasons both football-related and not. Nine years of hits — a preposterous 922 of them, 307 more than Wilson in second place, according to ESPN Stats & Information — with Carolina could render him incapable of returning to his peak. On the surface, the Patriots’ offense looks similar to the groups that surrounded Newton with the Panthers: deficient at wide receiver, average at running back.
