Panthers’ Cam Newton has advice for Deshaun Watson before NFL combine

Panthers quarterback Cam Newton offered some advice to Deshaun Watson as the former Clemson quarterback prepares to enter the NFL:

Expect criticism. Ignore criticism. Silence critics by winning.

Watson shared Newton’s message Friday at the scouting combine, where Watson will throw Saturday during the passing drills at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Watson and Newton have been close since Watson played in Newton’s all-star, 7-on-7 camp during his junior year of high school in 2013. By then Newton was an established NFL star, while Watson was on his way to a record-setting career at Clemson.

“He’s like a big brother to me. We talk all the time,” Watson said. “During our communication the past couple years, we really didn’t talk too much about football unless I asked a question. We just talked about life and just hung out with each other.”

Newton, who won the Heisman Trophy and a national championship in his lone season at Auburn, answered questions at the 2011 combine about a comment he’d made to sportswriter Peter King about wanting to be an entertainer and an icon.

Newton became the No. 1 overall pick and has become one of the league’s stars. Watson and North Carolina’s Mitch Trubisky are the top quarterbacks in what’s considered a weak QB class.

Newton told him the best way to deal with the naysayers.

“You’re a great player. Walk around like that because you’ve earned that right,” Watson said Newton told him. “People are going to criticize you all the time. But you just do what you do and at the end of the day winning solves everything.

“You can’t take that away from anyone. You can talk bad about their techniques or the bad decisions. But if a guy wins, then you can’t really say anything.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 3:57 PM with the headline "Panthers’ Cam Newton has advice for Deshaun Watson before NFL combine."