Cam Newton Is Getting His Number Retired At Auburn
Newton put a gym teacher and a bunch of three stars on his back en route to a national championship at Auburn.
It's official, former Auburn Tiger and NFL great Cam Newton is having his No. 2 college jersey retired by the university on Oct. 11.
It will be quite an honor for Newton, as he becomes only the fourth player in Auburn football history to have his number retired by the school, joining Pat Sullivan (7), Bo Jackson (34), and Terry Beasley (88) in that exclusive club.
In my opinion, it's much deserved, for as impressive a player as he was in the pros (three-time Pro Bowler, 2015 MVP, Super Bowl appearance), Newton was even more dominant in college.
Even his accolades, on the surface, are impressive.
Newton won a national championship in his lone season as the Auburn starting quarterback in addition to a Heisman Trophy, an SEC Player of the Year award, and a first-team All-American selection for good measure.
What's even more awe-inspiring is the supporting cast with which Newton achieved all these accolades while on the plains of east Alabama.
For starters, not a single offensive skill player outside of Newton took a single snap in an NFL regular season game.
The prodigious quarterback was on the worst championship roster from a recruiting ranking perspective of any team since the turn of the millennium.
Auburn's average player rating when using the 247Sports recruiting composite rankings was 0.8662 in 2010.
The next lowest champion of the 21st century, the 2016 Clemson Tigers, clocks in at 0.8914.
The coaching wasn't much better, either.
Tigers fans famously booed then-head coach Gene Chizik after he landed on the tarmac in the Yellowhammer State, and for good reason.
Chizik's record at his previous stop (Iowa State) was a robust 5-19.
Without Newton by his side, Chizik's record at Auburn was a perfectly balanced 19-19 (14-0 with him).
Newton won a national championship in the SEC at the height of the conference's powers with a MAC roster and a glorified gym teacher for a head coach.
If that isn't the most dominant season by a college football player in the history of the sport, I don't know the meaning of the phrase.
One of the fans in the comments section put it much more succinctly than I ever could.
Cam Newton was truly one of the most dominant college athletes of our era, and his jersey retirement is long overdue.
Salute to a legend of the game.
He truly was "Super Cam."