Some say the hardest part of retiring from the world of sports is finding an outlet to still be competitive. After all, most professional athletes have spent the better part of 30 years doing nothing but training to be competitive.
Well, I doubt Cam Newton is going to have any issues finding an outlet, because Newton apparently loves to find himself a pick up game of basketball, beach volleyball, or really any sport out there.
One such tail includes Newton taking in not one, but two flag football games last offseason. He apparently wanted nothing to do with playing quarterback and took the field as a wide receiver, catching a fade pass or two for touchdowns and then deciding to buy out the snow cone vendor after the first game.
The Panthers QB was also one of the biggest fans of what was happening on the field, according to the article in The Ringer:
Newton caught a few fade passes with ease (he is 6-foot-5, after all) and was, Terry said, “the world’s greatest hype man.” When one player took a screen pass and ran for a huge gain, Newton was elated, screaming: “Without a block!? He did that without a block!?” He was, Terry claimed, more excited for AthElites’ scores than regular members of the team.
He apparently loves playing basketball and volleyball too, which leads us to the very best part of that article, the inclusion of this volleyball play:
She flat rejected him! That’s awesome!
We’re not so sure how much in love the Carolina Panthers are with this news. It’s not like they have $100 million invested in their star quarterback or anything…oh wait. Ron Rivera clearly isn’t fully in love with the physical activity of his QB:
Rivera praised Newton’s competitive spirit and eagerness to hang out with fans. “It’s him,” the coach said. But he also admitted that the increased physical activity for his star concerns him.
“Yes, it does,” Rivera said. “Cam is so competitive, you don’t want to see him get hurt.”
Regardless of what the team may want their QB to do or not do, at least Newton is enjoying being part of everyday American life rather than just holed up in his gated community like so many stars do today.
For that, Newton deserves to be praised. Let’s just hope it also doesn’t cost him his future thanks to a freak injury.
