October 23, 2010

The ‘Real’ Cam Newton

Shortly before the Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., would welcome its students back from summer vacation, principal Lynda Tremaine was surprised one morning to see a 6-foot-6 goliath of a young man standing in her doorway.

Shortly before the Wrights Mill Road Elementary School in Auburn, Ala., would welcome its students back from summer vacation, principal Lynda Tremaine was surprised one morning to see a 6-foot-6 goliath of a young man standing in her doorway.

He introduced himself as Cameron Newton and said his goal was to one day open a child-care center and help kids. He explained he was a football player at the university and he wondered if he might be able to mentor some kids who might be struggling.

At the time she had never heard of Cam Newton but most of the world hadn’t either. That was in early August and now, just over two months later, he is the hottest player in all of college football. What you need to know is that since his dizzying ascent to stardom began, he’s not missed a week without going to Wrights Mill Road Elementary School.

Every Monday he comes, sitting with a handful of fifth-grader boys who desperately need a role model, and goes over their school work, their behavior and their goals. Every Saturday he plays quarterback for Auburn, where he has led the fifth-ranked Tigers to a 7-0 record and been named as the SEC Player of the Week three different times.

With five regular-season games left to play, Newton in one touchdown away from Auburn’s record for most touchdowns in one season. He has scored 25 times, one shy of Heisman winner Pat Sullivan’s 26 in 1970. Sullivan is delighted. “I’m pulling for him because he’s a great player, but more important than that, he’s a great person. He’s representing Auburn in a first-class manner, and that’s important to me.”

The trouble is, that’s not the story America wants to hear. No, in a sad commentary on all of us, most enjoy the tale of how Cam Newton was arrested several years ago when he was at the University of Florida. We want to hear how he was suspended indefinitely and eventually quit the team.

The way the story goes is that Newton actually decided to transfer before he bought a stolen laptop. He reportedly painted it – he knew it was “hot” – and police found it behind a dumpster after Newton allegedly tossed it from a third-floor window. The joke is they knew it was the quarterback’s because it missed the dumpster.

Well, by the time the whole sordid mess got straightened out, the kid from Atlanta left Gainesville under a rather dark cloud and enrolled in tiny Blinn Jr. College in Texas. “It was a culture shock, to say the least,” Newton has since said.

“I go from the University of Florida where you can get Gatorade at your beck and call to a place you have to paint your stadium for you to at least look like the program is up to some kind of standard.”

That’s right, the players actually painted the bleachers one day. “I think it was one of the most influential changes in my life, hands down. Everybody has that turning point in their life where they can say, ‘That’s when I really decided to put things all together.’”

Better, it’s a round-about way of explaining not only how he grew up and “got his focus,” but why now, every week, he takes little bags of candy to an elementary school and goes over fifth-graders’ mistakes. “It’s a serious conversation,” said the principal, Mrs. Tremaine. “He goes through each page of their work and he’ll say, ‘Mmm … 65? Not good. What happened here?’

"He holds them accountable, too. He found out what kind of candy each boys likes but this week he had to leave it because each of his boys had gotten a behavior check. He wouldn’t give them their little rewards. That’s how serious he takes his visits,” the educator told Rachel Moreland of AuburnSports.com.

As signs like “Scootin’ Newton For Heisman” and “Yes We Cam!” have sprouted in Jordan-Haire Stadium, Cam’s presence at Wrights Mill Road Elementary has also blossomed. Now he speaks every week to children in the whole school who, through grades and behavior and kindness to others, earn the chance to visit with him.

“The teachers can’t believe the difference in attitude. He was made-to-order for our program,” the principal said. She also said she’s been floored by his sincerity. “I don’t want to speak for him but I believe he really enjoys what he’s doing here.”

Mrs. Tremaine said that once he brought the Auburn mascot, “Aubie,” with him and was surprised to find a third-grader sitting alone in the principal’s office. “Aubie scares me,” the child explained and Cam – the guy who once bought a ‘hot’ laptop– promptly sat down on the floor and had a gentle conversation that brought tears to those nearby.

“He’s doing this, without a doubt, out of the kindness in his heart. He really wants to make a difference,” the principal said. “He told his boys, ‘You know, there were times when I was bad when I was your age, too,’ but he lets them know that we learn from our mistakes.”

Obviously Cam Newton has learned much. And it’s a better tale than the more popular one going around about the best college football player in America.

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.