Cam Newton’s off-the-field highlights in Charlotte: Helping kids and a scary wreck
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Cam returns to the Panthers
The Carolina Panthers have confirmed they are bringing back their former quarterback, Cam Newton, in a one-year deal.
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Cam Newton also made headlines off the field during his years as a Carolina Panther.
Most were laudatory, recognizing the star quarterback’s often behind-the-scenes impact on youth and their families. A few spotlighted lows, notably his involvement in a serious wreck near Bank of America Stadium.
In December 2014, Newton was hospitalized with two fractures in his back after a violent two-vehicle crash at what ranked as one of Charlotte’s most dangerous intersections, South Church Street and West Hill Street, The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
The collision sent Newton’s black Dodge truck tumbling sideways across a bridge over Interstate 277 in uptown Charlotte. The truck came to rest on the passenger side, its roof flattened.
Newton, who was heading to the stadium a block away to study game film on a day off, appeared dazed after crawling out a shattered rear window.
According to a police report, no charges were filed against Newton or the other driver. Eyewitness accounts differed on the speed of the vehicles involved and the collision’s apparent cause.
In April 2018, Newton was driving his $300,000 Ferrari F-12 sports car in Atlanta when he collided with a dump truck. Neither driver filed a police report, and both were OK, Fox5 Atlanta reported at the time.
Newton, however, mostly made off-the-field headlines for his get-a-look-at-this-one hats and scarves he wore on international fashion stages.
And his shock-value flair.
Like in March 2019, when he stunned a national late-night TV audience by revealing what he’d given up that month to make his mind stronger.
“In March — I hope this is an adult crowd, it looks like it is — no climax,” Newton told James Cordon, according to the show’s YouTube video of the segment.
The audience let out a sustained “wooooooo” before Cordon reacted with his classic “Shut the front door” expression of surprise.
Newton’s lasting legacy in Charlotte?
It was way more than his football stats.
Newton created a charitable foundation in 2012 that gave more than $5 million over the years to schools and non-profits in both Atlanta — Newton’s hometown — and Charlotte, his adopted one, according to Panthers.com.
The foundation also hosted a “7 v 7” tournament for 80 or more high school teams over a month each year. The top three winners of each tournament received new football gear.
Newton also quarterbacked his foundation’s “Cam’s Thanksgiving Jam,” serving Thanksgiving meals to 1,300 underprivileged Charlotte area children each year, with some of his family members and about 80 volunteers from Harris Teeter and JPMorgan Chase.
Children in Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina’s Kids Café Program are served traditional Thanksgiving meals at the private event at a site in Charlotte. Some of the children’s family members also received meals, and all guests got a second full Thanksgiving meal to make at home, according to the Cam Newton Foundation.
His annual Santa Cam benefit delivered backpacks and clothing to kids and tens of thousands of dollars in cash to organizations serving Charlotte area youth. In 2019 alone, he donated $130,000 to schools, students and faculty across Charlotte over just several days.
For all of those efforts, Newton won the Nationwide Walter Payton Man of the Year award in January 2020, “given annually to an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field with a significant positive impact on his community,” according to Panthers.com.
This story was originally published November 11, 2021 at 1:20 PM.
