It’s common for athletes to say that winning a Super Bowl is more important than an individual award, and most top NFL quarterbacks will downplay the MVP. Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson are examples of this.
However, Cam Newton doesn’t agree.
The former Carolina Panthers quarterback, now a commentator on ESPN’s “First Take,” challenged the usual view on Thursday when Stephen A. Smith asked if he would trade his MVP award for a Super Bowl win.
Expecting Newton to choose the Super Bowl he never won, Smith was surprised when Newton answered with a firm “no.”
Newton criticized Smith’s question as a “journalistic viewpoint” and asked whether impact or championships are more important. He then explained his thoughts, mentioning three non-elite quarterbacks who won a Super Bowl:
“Everybody’s not going to be Michael Jordan. Everybody’s not going to be Patrick Mahomes. Everybody’s not going to be these individuals who have the luxury of saying, ‘Hey, I not only dominated this sport, but I also have championships to back it.’
“Let me remind you, Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Respectfully, Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. So, yes, when you look at those guys and you say, ‘OK, what’s more important? Would you have preferred to win a Super Bowl?’
I think that’s the humble approach, but if we’re being honest, the impact of you holding yourself accountable to say everybody has a responsibility to do, and you can say as an MVP award winner or an All-American, you’ve held your end of the bargain down. That’s what it really comes down to for me.
“I know that’s not the popular pick, I’m not trying to be popularized! My take is, I’m taking individual success because I did my job. Football is not about one guy trying to do 11 jobs, it’s 11 guys doing one job.”
The discussion was made more entertaining by Newton’s large hat and the reaction of his co-panelist, Jason McCourty, who won Super Bowl LIII with the New England Patriots.
Newton played 11 seasons in the NFL and reached the Super Bowl once, which was during his MVP season. In 2015, he led the Panthers to a 15-1 regular-season record and Super Bowl 50, but they lost 24-10 to Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.
Aside from that season, Newton’s Panthers lacked the kind of talent that is typically needed to win a Super Bowl. Newton didn’t believe he was part of the problem, although his performance did decline after that year, partly due to injuries.
