Teddy Bridgewater gives us a motivational message to overcome adversity.

There is a reason Teddy Bridgewater is one of the most beloved players in the NFL.

Starring for Charlie Strong at the University of Louisville in college, Bridgewater would be a late first-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings in the 2014 NFL Draft. By his second year in the league, Bridgewater was a Pro Bowl quarterback guiding his team into the NFC playoffs. It seemed for the first time since Daunte Culpepper that the Vikings had themselves a franchise quarterback.

Then, tragedy struck…

A week before the start of the 2016 NFL regular season, Bridgewater suffered a horrifying injury on the practice field. He tore his ACL and dislocated his kneecap in a non-contact injury. You could say his knee exploded. Had the Vikings not been on the ball in that practice, Bridgewater would have surely lost his leg.

While he only played in one more game for the next two years in Minnesota Vikings, he signed a one-year deal with the New York Jets in 2018. He never played in a regular-season game for Gang Green, as he was traded to the New Orleans Saints in late August. Bridgewater played the last two seasons in the Big Easy, playing in 14 games and going 5-1 as a starter.

Finally, after a half-decade of immense personal adversity and having to be someone’s backup, Bridgewater gets his opportunity to be an NFL starter again, this time with the Carolina Panthers. It may only be for a year or so, as the Panthers are expected to be one of the worst teams in football next year, likely drafting a quarterback in 2021. Too bad Bridgewater is not backing down.

Bridgewater tweeted out a video clip of him shortly after his 2016 surgery and a message of how he’ll never give up. “Came back from this just to lay down…? You out your damn mind.”

Teddy Bridgewater will make the most of his new opportunity to start.

Football is a game of attrition, one where brutal injuries happen far too often. Everybody who suits up to play between the lines knows the demanding physical nature of this game. Football is a collision sport, one where you need to be a little off your rocker to want to play at any respectable level. It’s about wanting to burrow through another man’s soul; it’s that type of a gladiator sport.

So why do so many people want to play this game and love it so passionately? It’s choreography in motion. It’s also one day a week where everybody can put aside their differences (socioeconomic, political, etc.) and fight together to achieve a common goal. Football is the ultimate team sport and one of great sacrifice. Only a handful of players can even touch the oblong ball in a given game.

So when Bridgewater said he’s not going to lay down, you better believe him. He’s going to a team where he is the unquestioned Week 1 starter. It is a complete and undeniable rebuild in the Queen City, but one where new head coach Matt Rhule will want battle-tested men of character like Bridgewater leading the way. This is why it will work out for Rhule and the Panthers in due time.

Bridgewater epitomizes grit, fortitude and mental toughness, something that is getting lost by the day in this great country of ours. Nothing will be given to you and you better believe someone is trying to take it from you at all times. If you’re not paying attention, that only means someone else is eating your lunch every single day. Bridgewater is why we watch this game on fall Sundays.

If Bridgewater’s message doesn’t get you fired up, then your wood’s wet.

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Cam Newton worked out with New England Patriots teammate Mohamed Sanu.

Cam Newton is already putting in the work with his new New England Patriots teammates.

Newton signed a one-year deal with New England late Sunday evening after months waiting for the right opportunity in free agency. The Patriots had their eye on him from the jump, but having to see if the medicals check out in the midst of a global pandemic certainly was a challenge. In his first week as a Patriot, he has already been spotted working out with teammate Mohamed Sanu.

Newton and Sanu have a strong familiarity with each other from their time in the NFC South. While Newton spent the first nine years of his NFL career out of Auburn with the Carolina Panthers, Sanu caught passes for 3.5 years for Newton’s former rival team in the Atlanta Falcons. Sanu may only be the No. 3 receiver on the team, but he’s one of the better No. 3’s in the league.

From the looks of this quick seven-second video, it appears that Newton and Sanu are in tremendous shape. We know how seriously Newton took his rehab to come back from a Lisfranc injury that cost him the final four games of his Carolina career. It’s always been an uphill battle for Sanu in his NFL career, but his work ethic is a reason he’s had great staying power in the league.

Cam Newton working out with Mohamed Sanu has to excite Patriots fans.

It may only be just a workout, but this is the type of stuff you’d love to see if you root for New England. Sanu was traded to the Patriots mid-season by the Falcons for a second-round pick which they traded to the Baltimore Ravens for tight end Hayden Hurst to replace free-agent Pro Bowler Austin Hooper.

Are you lost? Sanu is a cerebral player, but had his issues in New England last yer getting adjusted to Josh McDaniels’ scheme. Frankly, most players struggle on the offensive side of the ball in New England for similar reasons. 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry didn’t exactly move the needle in his first year out of Arizona State. Sanu’s improvement will be key in the New England offense.

The best part is it will be with a new quarterback in Newton, who has to learn the entire playbook himself. Sure, Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham may have a better knowledge of it, but we’re not talking about a 20 years’ worth of encyclopedic knowledge of one Tom Brady at the quarterback position. It’s all about getting on the same page and it looks like Newton and Sanu are doing that.

If Newton and Sanu develop a strong rapport, that’s good for the Patriots and bad for the AFC.

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Panthers coach Matt Rhule may kneel with players during the national anthem.

Matt Rhule is looking out for his players in his new NFL post.

The former Baylor Bears head coach has left the Big 12 in favor of the NFC South, as he is the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Rhule has cultivated a reputation of tearing down a football team down to the studs and rebuilding it very quickly and triumphantly. While Carolina may struggle in a tough division this fall, Rhule is setting the tone in Charlotte with his actions.

“I would consider anything as we move forward,” said Rhule. “I’m supportive of the cause. I’m supportive of the movement. I’m supportive of social justice. I think for every person, coach or player, that will be a very personal decision. I think it has to be made at the right time and the right reason for everybody.”

Though he didn’t flat-out say it, it is implied that Rhule isn’t ruling out the prospect of kneeling alongside his Carolina players.

“I will support my players with whatever they do and then when the time comes I will really think deeply about what is the best thing for me and what is the best way I can show my support,” said Rhule.

He would finish up his thoughts on the subject by reiterating how he and his team plan to go about this will shape what the Panthers do during the playing of the national anthem at NFL games this fall.

“I think a lot of this has come from the players so I will wait to see what direction they are leaning, and then I will make my decision,” said Rhule.

Matt Rhule is open to the idea of kneeling during the national anthem.

Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said he would kneel with his players. His best defensive player in defensive lineman J.J. Watt implied that he would. Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Baker Mayfield said he absolutely would with his teammates this fall. These are just a handful of notable coaches and players who plan to support their players and teammates.

What’s interesting about Rhule is he hasn’t even coached in his first NFL game as the main man. There’s a ton of pressure on any first-year head coach, much less one potentially planning to take a knee during the playing of the national anthem when much of the viewing audience doesn’t seem to understand that it’s not about the flag.

Another interesting wrinkle here is the franchise Rhule is employed by. David Tepper is very early in his ownership of the Panthers franchise, but former longtime owner Jerry Richardson isn’t exactly well-revered these days. They had to relocate his statue in front of Bank of America Stadium, you know, the one that was never allowed to be relocated.

Rhule has plenty of time to think about how he’ll show support for his players this season.

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Do you know who doesn’t respect Cam Newton? The Carolina Panthers.

Why do the Carolina Panthers seem to hate Cam Newton so much?

Even though he’s the greatest quarterback in franchise history, made three trips to the Pro Bowl, won the NFC South three times and quarterbacked an overachieving 2015 team to Super Bowl 50 during his NFL MVP season, Newton for some strange reason just isn’t good enough to make the Panthers’ “Choose Your Goat” tweet.

Oh, it’s not going over well on Twitter at all.

The Panthers went with defensive end Julius Peppers with REPLY, wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. with RETWEET and linebacker Luke Kuechly for LIKE. Though all three of those Panthers greats will one day wind up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, Newton won an MVP for the franchise and they couldn’t give him the time of day because they’re being extremely petty.

It doesn’t matter that he’s still in the league and the other three Panthers greats are recently retired. Newton earned a spot on that graphic and everybody knows it. While he may not end up in Canton like Kuechly, Peppers and Smith, the Panthers are basically saying he’s the fourth face on your franchise’s Mount Rushmore. The guy quarterbacked the team to a Super Bowl. Come on!

The Carolina Panthers opt to go petty by not saying Cam Newton is a GOAT.

For a team that’s finishing dead-last place in the brutal NFC South this year, the Panthers need to take all the wins they can get. So what if they signed Teddy Bridgewater in free agency? He’s the fourth-best quarterback in his own division behind three future Pro Football Hall of Famers in Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Matt Ryan. Newton has a chance and Bridgewater definitely does not.

While the Panthers will eventually get it right under first-year head coach Matt Rhule, we are well aware of how the first year in Matt Rhule rebuilding efforts go. He does win big over time, but he only won two games in his first year with the Temple Owls in the AAC and just a single game with the Baylor Bears in the Big 12. Carolina is not going to be anything close to a playoff team in 2020.

So what if the Panthers and Newton aren’t on the best of terms? They did cut him after the first, and second wave, of 2020 NFL free agency came and went. If the Panthers knew he wasn’t going to play them, why not let him sign with an AFC franchise and be on his marry way? To not accept Newton as a Carolina football GOAT is to not understand what the acronym GOAT means.

Newton isn’t perfect, but he didn’t deserve to be mocked this egregiously by the Panthers.

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Cam Newton worked out with Odell Beckham Jr. and it changes everything.

It’s not every day Cam Newton works out with Odell Beckham Jr. on a football field.

Wait, what? Yes, that happened over the weekend, as illustrated by ESPN’s Field Yates’ tweet of the practice. There was a minute-long video showing the highlights of the former NFL MVP working out with the electrifying wide receiver of the Cleveland Browns. Though it could just be another workout, what’s the deal with all the production value? What on earth is going on here?

Newton has not played an NFL snap since Week 2. He succumbed to a season-ending foot injury in what proved to be his last season as the Carolina Panthers starting quarterback. Newton’s longtime Panthers coach Ron Rivera was fired mid-season. While successor Matt Rhule said he wanted Newton in 2020, that was a lie, as he signed Teddy Bridgewater and released Newton.

So while it might have just been a well-choreographed throwing session, maybe there is something we’re not seeing from Newton putting in the work with Beckham on the field. What does it all mean? It could mean anything, or it could mean nothing. But we don’t know and that’s what’s so utterly fascinating here.

Cam Newton’s workout with Odell Beckham Jr. has us all asking questions.

Is Newton thinking about joining Beckham on the Browns? No, that’s not a good landing spot for him. Cleveland has Newton’s Heisman Trophy brother Baker Mayfield firmly entrenched as the starting quarterback. The Browns also signed journeyman Case Keenum, who is a very comparable prototype to Mayfield, as his backup.

So Newton won’t be the one to take the Browns to the Super Bowl, as there any chance Beckham and Newton could link up on a new team together? Well, Cleveland would have to trade Beckham’s massive contract. He has four more years left of the five-year, $90 million contract he originally inked with the New York Giants. Beckham won’t be a free agent until spring 2024.

While Beckham could totally try to force a trade out of town, the Browns seem to be on the upswing heading into 2020. They have a promising head coach in Kevin Stefanski and a capable general manager in Andrew Berry. Together, they’ll be the adults in the room the Browns have long needed. They’ll start winning, but it remains to be seen if Beckham will be part of that equation.

Though it’s quite the parlay Beckham and Newton could be teammates together one day, let’s not count on it. What this video from their workout is trying to tell us is there are no issues with Newton’s health and he’s ready to be signed by any NFL team that wants him. He should want to be a starter because he is a starter, but he might embrace a backup role in the right situation.

Of course, Newton will need to be checked out by a team’s medical staff before he signs somewhere, but this latest workout of his with Beckham gives us 60 seconds worth of footage to know he’s healthy and ready to get back to work. If this video prominently featuring Beckham helps Newton get a job before the 4th of July, that means the video clearly served its purpose.

Newton is ready to begin his new NFL chapter, showcasing he’s healthy enough to play in 2020.

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The Carolina Panthers are taking down a statue of team founder Jerry Richardson, but it’s not what you think.

Most owners of professional sports franchises in America erect statues of the players who left a mark during their time with a team. Michael Jordan’s statue sits outside of the United Center, Jackie Robinson’s statue is outside Dodgers Stadium, and Pat Tillman is immortalized outside University of Phoenix Stadium.

Jerry Richardson, the former owner and team founder of the Carolina Panthers, decided the person he wanted to erect a statue to commorate was himself. A 13-foot tall statue of Richardson standing between two Panthers was built outside Bank of America Stadium in 2013 in honor of his 80th birthday. But after seven years of brow raises and rolled eyes, the statue of Richardson is coming down.

It’s not, however, what you might be thinking.

Why are Carolina Panthers removing Jerry Richardson’s statue?

Richardson is hardly a sympathetic character in the story of the Panthers franchise. After an NFL investigation into the team that substantiated claims of sexual and racial misconduct, the team was sold to David Tepper in 2018.

Despite the investigation and its findings, and the team being sold to a new owner, Richardson’s statue remained in front of Bank of America stadium. It’s unclear when the statue will return, but all indications are that the removal is temporary.

According to the team, the removal wasn’t part of the wave of statue removals happening around the country, rather it was deemed a safety issue.

Whether that remains the case is yet to be seen.

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Strong support from head coach Matt Rhule is to be expected, but it doesn’t erase the lingering questions around Teddy Bridgewater.

The Carolina Panthers have gone into a rebuild under new head coach Matt Rhule, with running back Christian McCaffrey as the centerpiece and an April draft that was all defensive players. Teddy Bridgewater will be the quarterback at the dawn of the rebuild, after signing a three-year, $63 million deal this offseason.

Bridgewater spent the last two seasons with the New Orleans Saints. In 2018, new Panthers’ offensive coordinator Joe Brady was an offensive assistant in New Orleans. After a one-year stint at LSU, Brady is back in the NFL and the Panthers’ signing Bridgewater has his familiarity with him written all over it. In this unique offseason, that familiarity will matter.

During an appearance on Around The NFL last Friday, Rhule sang praises for Bridgewater. The admiration goes back to Rhule’s first season as head coach at Temple in 2013, when the Owls faced Louisville and Bridgewater threw for 348 yards.

The best players in the world bring out the best in their teammates and I can tell you, since free agency started, the amount of the guys that want to come and play with Teddy has nothing to do with me or anybody else,” Rhule said. “They want to be a part of what he’s doing ’cause he brings out the best in people.

Bridgewater once looked like the Minnesota Vikings’ quarterback of the future. A division title in 2015, his first full season as the starter, raised expectations for him heading into 2016. But a significant knee injury late in the 2016 preseason altered the course of his career. He threw exactly two more regular season passes in a Vikings’ uniform, late in a blowout win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15 of the 2017 season.

Bridgewater finally got a chance to play a good bit last season, playing significantly in six games and starting five for an injured Drew Brees. His numbers got better over that stretch of starts, as he averaged over 278 yards per game over his final three starts with seven touchdown passes and one interception over that span.

Bridgewater seemed to be on the precipice of bigger things before that career-altering knee injury, and it’s worth noting he’s still 27 years old (28 in November). A more significant sample of work last year showed teams he could still play, but overall he was solid more than great (98.9 passer rating, 7.0 yards per attempt, 7.5 adjusted yards per attempt).

As a younger quarterback Bridgewater’s intangibles seemed to be far greater than his physical tools. After what he went through with his knee injury to make it back, those intangibles are stronger if anything.

Rhule’s level of belief is important, and better than the alternative. But Bridgewater is still a quarterback who has attempted 221 regular season passes over the last three seasons (196 in 2019), and the broader questions about how good he can be aren’t erased yet.

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A Pro Bowl teammate of Cam Newton says Panthers mishandled his injuries.

Were Cam Newton’s injuries mishandled in Carolina?

Newton, former Carolina Panthers quarterback of nine seasons (2011-19), experienced injuries in his final seasons with the squad and saw his final two seasons cut short because of it. In 2019, after week two he was out with a lisfranc injury. In 2018, midway through the season he played with an injured shoulder for weeks before missing the final two games and eventually undergoing a second surgery on his throwing shoulder.

Through the process, there is one teammate of Newton who says the organization completely mismanaged his injuries. The three-time Pro Bowl player and teammate of Newton for five seasons, 2012-16, Mike Tolbert shared his thoughts with the Athletic.

“They’ve been doing him wrong timing-wise for the past two or three years, if you ask me,” Tolbert told the Athletic. “It goes back to his shoulder surgery. Everyone knew his shoulder was messed up in the middle of the year two years ago. But they wait until offseason gets ready to start to have shoulder surgery. Makes no sense. Timing’s off.”

Mike Tolbert speaks out about Cam Newton’s injuries

Tolbert also explained he could clearly see the report that Newton suffered a high ankle sprain during a preseason game in 2019 was inaccurate. Even from at a distance, he could tell it was more serious than what they were saying.

”I looked at it on film carefully. It’s not a high ankle sprain, you could tell that 10 minutes after the play. You knew it’s a mid-foot sprain, Lisfranc, something like that,” Tolbert said.

While the team brushed off the severity, Newton started the first two games of the 2019 regular season before missing time. It wasn’t until midway through the season where the team decided to place Newton on the injured reserved list and decide to let Newton rest for the season. If the timing was handled better, Newton may have played for the majority of the season.

“But you (Panthers) wait till December for him to beg you to have surgery. He shouldn’t have been out there Week 1 and 2. He shouldn’t have been out there probably till Week 4 or 5, at minimum,” Tolbert says.

Instead, Newton played on an injured foot the first two games of the season. The last bit of tape on Newton has had teams wonder if he really is healthy even when he has shown otherwise on social media workout videos. Newton remains a free agent after he was released by the Panthers on March 24.

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Though Anthony Lynn revealed his Los Angeles Chargers did take a look at Cam Newton, how serious was the organization about signing him this offseason?

The 2020 NFL Draft was almost a month ago and Cam Newton still doesn’t have a home.

The former No. 1 overall pick out of Auburn University in the 2011 NFL Draft spent his first nine seasons in the league with the Carolina Panthers. In Charlotte, Newton earned three trips to the Pro Bowl and led the Panthers to Super Bowl 50 in his 2015 NFL MVP season. Despite being the franchise’s leading passer, teams are not knocking down his door to sign the Heisman winner.

Los Angeles Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn appeared on CBS Sports Radio with Zach Gelb recently. After being prompted by Gelb, Lynn revealed his organization did explore the possibility of signing Newton as a free agent. However, the Chargers opted to stay pat in NFL free agency, preferring to keep the guys in-house then drafting Justin Herbert No. 6 overall out of Oregon.

“Absolutely, Cam is a tremendous quarterback,” said Lynn. “He’s been MVP of this league, he’s led his team to the Super Bowl and he’s healthy now from what I hear. Cam is going to be on somebody’s roster and he’s going to help somebody win a few games, but yeah, we did take a look at that, sure.”

Just not for the Chargers.

Los Angeles finished as runner-up in the Tom Brady sweepstakes. Once it became clear the longtime New England Patriots starting quarterback was taking his talents to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bolts quickly narrowed their focus on the upcoming NFL Draft. Looking at Newton was smart, but so was not signing him. Lynn clearly likes what he has in his quarterback room.

“I feel really good about the quarterback room that I have,” said Lynn. “With Tyrod Taylor, Easton Stick — those are guys that a lot of people don’t talk about, but he was a Division I AA — he won like three national championships. He’s a hell of a leader, hell of a professional and I think he has a bright future in this league one day.”

Nobody will question the Chargers taking a smart West Coast kid with a rocket arm like Herbert No. 6 overall. From Dan Fouts to Kellen Clemens, Ducks always find a way to Southern California. While Lynn’s praise of Easton Stick is glowing, he is a developmental project who won a ton of games at FCS North Dakota State. There’s no issue having him in the quarterback room either.

What this ultimately comes down to is Lynn trusts the incumbent Tyrod Taylor way more to run his offense than Newton as a newcomer. Taylor has proven over the years he’s good enough to be a perennial stop-gap starter in this league. He had great success playing for Rex Ryan on the Buffalo Bills, a place where Lynn first rose to prominence as a run-first offensive coordinator.

So were the Chargers serious about signing Newton this spring? That’s debatable. General manager Tom Telesco is smart enough to at least take a look at a former top-flight talent that’s on the open market. Lynn should know Newton would do a fine job running his offense. However, the Chargers understood Herbert is their future. Taylor could handle this, but maybe not Newton.

Newton will find a new home this offseason, but it’ll be late summer before that likely happens.

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