Cam Newton is Fully Committed to the Patriot Way Now
By Liam McKeone
The whole concept of the Patriot Way is kind of dumb. I'll be honest about that, even as an avid fan. There's nothing magical about the Patriot Way, it's just what everyone decided to label Bill Belichick's whole schtick up in New England because there had to be some reason that his team was always better than everyone else's, right? It can't simply be "great coaching." It must be something unknown, something mysterious. Thus, the Patriot Way.
However, as dumb as it is, the Patriot Way is a quantifiable method of coaching in certain ways. It's about leaving behind individuality and buying into the team concept entirely, embracing the idea that as long as you do what you're supposed to, good things will happen, and never, ever giving the media fodder to work with. It's about football, nothing more and nothing less.
That is why many questioned the marriage between Cam Newton, perhaps the brightest and loudest individual personality in the league, and the Patriot Way. But this Newton quote from his appearance on the Greg Hill Show in Boston today may as well have come from Belichick himself.
"I have to have endurance like a wide receiver, I have to have the physical toughness of a running back, and just the intuitiveness and being cerebral like a quarterback. I wouldn't call myself a quarterback, I'd call myself a football player..." Cam Newton, to @TheGregHillShow
— Mike Reiss (@MikeReiss) September 22, 2020
"I'm not a quarterback, I'm a football player" is almost too perfect of a quote from a Patriots player. It's suspicious, frankly. There is no manual we plebeians know of that explains the Patriot Way, but if there were, this would be a central theme.
Hell, Newton has already surpassed 2019 Tom Brady in Patriot Way-ness. Last year, whenever Brady got asked about his receiving options, he'd mumble and grumble his way through an answer, clearly displeased with the talent at his disposal. Newton, on the other hand, listed off the names of every receiver on the roster and said the answers are right there.
Cam Newton asked if he feels the Patriots need to make a move at the WR room: "The answer's in that locker room. ... We're good to go." He rattled off the team's receivers, and expressed contentment with them.
— Henry McKenna (@McKennAnalysis) September 22, 2020
Newton is all the way in on the Patriots' program, however much that aligns with public perception of the Patriot Way. So far, so good for a pairing that looks unusual on the surface.