He also became the only quarterback ever to have 300 yards passing, five touchdown passes, and over 100 yards rushing in the same game. Newton capped off the 2015 season by capturing MVP honors and leading his Panthers to a 15–1 record and a trip to the Super Bowl 50.
Unfortunately, he was not able to deliver the same spectacular play he had in 2015 up to the Super Bowl 2016 during the current season which is why the Panthers never made it to the NFL playoffs.
During the 2011 NFL lockout, Cam Newton spent up to 12 hours a day at the IMG Madden Football Academy in Bradenton, Florida, spending up to two hours per day doing one-on-one training with fellow Heisman Trophy winner and ex-Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke.
Before the draft, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson asked Newton to maintain his clean-cut appearance after Newton told Richardson he had no tattoos or piercings and was thinking about growing his hair longer.
Although it is similar to a policy the New York Yankees has on all of its players, the directive gained some controversy on Richardson’s part due to the fact that other players, most notably Steve Smith and Jeremy Shockey, had visible tattoos and, in Shockey’s case, had longer hair earlier in his career with the New York Giants.
Reactions were so strong that some even accused Richardson of racism. Despite the issue, Newton agreed to Richardson’s dress code policies as a condition of being drafted first overall.