The NFL is a harsh business—a lesson Cam Newton is all too familiar with.
While taking fan questions for a recent episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, the Carolina Panthers great opened an old wound involving his old head coach, Ron Rivera. The viewer asked Newton why he believes Rivera never reached out to him for a spot on his Washington Commanders.
“It wasn’t just Ron Rivera,” replied Newton, who thought he’d at least get some interest from Washington. “It was damn . . . [former Panthers general manager] Marty Hurney. It was [former Panthers head athletic trainer] Ryan Vermillion. Everybody. It was Panthers reincarnated in Washington. Did not get no call?”
Rivera and Newton both joined the Panthers in 2011, when the former was a first-year head coach and the latter that year’s No. 1 overall pick. What ensued was a beautiful working relationship—one that resulted in a pair of NFL Coach of the Year awards for Rivera as well as Offensive Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards for Newton.
The two also helped produced quite a few accolades for the organization itself. Under their lead, the Panthers became the first team in the NFC South’s current alignment to capture three straight division titles (2013 to 2015) and clinched the franchise’s second-ever Super Bowl appearance.
Both would also depart Carolina after the 2019 campaign, as Rivera moved over to the nation’s capital and Newton over to free agency. Save for a one-year stint in New England in 2020 and an even shorter return to the Panthers the season after, Newton has spent most of his time since then on the open market.
Unfortunately, that reunion will probably never happen—at least in Washington. After a four-year run, Rivera was fired by the Commanders this past January.
But maybe, just maybe, Cam gives Ron a call to join him in his new digs.
