The door was opened today for Cam Newton to retire with the Carolina Panthers
A day filled with emotions, memories and two Carolina Panthers greats saying goodbye to their playing careers.
Tight end Greg Olsen and linebacker Thomas Davis Sr., shared a retirement ceremony Thursday, both signing one-day contracts to finish their careers as Panthers.
Both players came back “home” after playing their final seasons elsewhere — Los Angeles and Washington for Davis and Seattle for Olsen.
The importance, however, of returning to Bank of America Stadium to finish their careers was evident from their emotional speeches. Touching moments from Olsen reiterating he wasn’t a crier, as his eyes teared up, and Davis making sure to simply take the moment in. Luke Kuechly, Captain Munnerlyn, Shaq Thompson, Mike Tolbert, Jeremy Chinn and Chris Manhertz were among the former and current players present Thursday.
A couple of noteworthy items from the day.
Cam Newton retiring as a Panther?
Former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was a noticeable, but not surprising, absence from a video that kicked off the festivities with a number of former teammates and coaches of Davis and Olsen sharing their congratulations and fond memories. Newton and Carolina didn’t quite have an amicable separation last offseason when the team decided to move on from the 2011 first-overall pick.
Olsen also had a particularly close relationship with Newton during their time together in Carolina. Both of their tenures as Panthers overlapped entirely from 2011-19. Olsen had dedicated an entire portion of his speech to the quarterback; however, realized afterward his emotions had gotten the best of him and forgot to recite it.
“I had a whole thing written there and in the midst of my emotions and getting going, I sat down next to my wife and I said, ‘oh my god, I forgot Cam,’” Olsen said in a virtual press conference later. “As I was going through guys that have been impacted my career here, Ryan Kalil is a lifelong best friend and Luke Kuechly is a lifelong best friend and Thomas and J.J. (Jansen). Cam is at the top of that list and it just kind of haunted me since the second I sat down.
“I said, ‘how did I miss the guy that I probably talked more about for 10 years?’ I probably talked more about that guy than anyone in my life. In the midst of the emotions and coming down, I was kicking myself.”
Team owner David Tepper did make reference to Newton retiring as a Panther when discussing the importance of bringing former players back to Carolina. He alluded to the quarterback when discussing how three players were extremely involved in giving back to the community.
“When I got here, I looked at the people here and I said, ‘man, there’s some people who are really active in the community,’ and three guys, particularly, two of them are here now,” Tepper said. “Bring the other guy back home. Don’t worry about that. One day.”
Later, when Olsen asked if he thinks Newton should get an opportunity to come back to Carolina and have a retirement ceremony like his former teammates received Thursday, there was little doubt in his mind.
“(Cam’s) the best thing that ever happened in my career, I don’t know if I had the career I had if I didn’t have those nine years together with him. He made me a better player,” Olsen said. “... When that day does come, if anybody has earned the right to have a day like today, to recognize all he gave to this organization and putting this organization on the map nationally, it’s him. It’s Luke Kuechly. It’s guys that transcended just being good football players. Those guys are generational players.”
Olsen also remarked on how much his relationship with the quarterback, who is scheduled to become a free agent next week after spending a season with the New England Patriots, meant to him off the field.
“I know there’s 100 other guys that played with him that feel the way I do about him,” Olsen said. “I hope that day, we can all be there and to give him the send-off that he deserves.”
Greg Olsen almost signed with Washington in 2020
Last offseason, the Panthers decided to part ways with Olsen prior to the Super Bowl, despite his desire to return. Even with the way they parted ways, Olsen was happy to get the call from Tepper about month ago to return for this ceremony.
The Panthers releasing him early gave him a significant amount of time to sign with a new organization. Multiple teams were considered, including the Buffalo Bills. Former Panthers defensive coordinator and current Bills head coach Sean McDermott recorded a video as part of the opening tribute to the two players and joked that he could never convince either to come play for him.
Olsen shared that it was down between the Seahawks, Bills and Washington Football team for where he would play in 2020 with both Buffalo and Washington offering opportunities to play for familiar coaches and alongside former teammates again.
He made a difficult decision that he felt was best for him.
“It was hard calling and Ron (Rivera) and McDermott and (Bills general manager Brandon Beane). Those guys are guys I really care about, and it was hard to call them and say I’m going somewhere else,” Olsen said. “It haunted me for days, it’s a decision I didn’t love having to make, but I made a decision that I thought was in my best interest and those are guys that I root for and cheer for and care about as people.”
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 1:09 PM.
