An eerie silence fell over the indoor practice facility at Auburn’s Woltosz Football Performance Center as Cam Newton took the field to throw at the Tigers’ pro day.
The attention of most in attendance Tuesday afternoon was squarely on Newton, the former Heisman winner and national champion-turned-No. 1 overall pick and 2015 NFL MVP, as he returned to his alma mater with an NFL comeback in mind. As Newton warmed up by throwing passes to his younger brother, former Auburn wide receiver Caylin Newton, he turned and posed a question to no one in particular.
“Any music would be a sin right now?” he shouted.
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After Cam Newton’s first two pass attempts of the workout — a pair of long completions down the right side of the field to his younger brother and former Auburn receiver Shedrick Jackson — the speakers cut on, and Lil Baby’s “Low Down” began to blare from the sound system.
“Ay! Thank you!” Cam Newton shouted in response as he flashed his trademark smile and walked back downfield with a bounce in his step. Cam Newton was back in his element on Tuesday at Auburn — back to where he became a program legend more than a dozen years ago, guiding the Tigers to the national title in 2010 while becoming the third Heisman winner in school history.
“He’s basically the reason why this generation comes to Auburn,” former Tigers defensive lineman Colby Wooden said. “Because of him. So, it’s cool to see somebody of his stature come back and just be Cam.”
In front of personnel from all 32 NFL teams — most on hand to evaluate Auburn’s prospects in next month’s draft — Cam Newton completed 28-of-34 pass attempts during Auburn’s pro day while throwing passes primarily to Caylin Newton and Jackson. He made throws on the run and in the pocket. He completed passes on short, intermediate and deep routes, with only a handful of throws that appeared to be off target.
A couple of those were thrown behind Jackson, who did his best to adjust on routes over the middle of the field. There was a drop by his younger brother, who then made up for it with a one-handed tip to himself for a catch on Cam Newton’s next pass attempt on a throw up the seam. There was an overthrown ball on a rollout to the right sideline, which was his first incompletion after 15 consecutive completions to open the workout. And there was a slightly overthrown ball from the goal line that Jackson caught just beyond the back of the end zone toward the end of the workout.
The good throws far outweighed the bad, though, as Cam Newton — 14-plus months removed from his last NFL snap — showed flashes of the player he was for the better part of his 11-year pro career.
“He’s still got it,” Jackson said.
That’s in part why Cam Newton threw at Auburn’s pro day, to show to NFL teams that there aren’t “32 mother[expletives] better than” him, as he put it in a video on social media Monday evening announcing his participation in the day.
After his seismic impact during his lone season at Auburn in 2010, Cam Newton became the No. 1 overall pick in the following NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. He spent 11 seasons in the league, most of it with the Panthers but also a one-year stint with the New England Patriots. During that career, he started 144 games and threw for 32,382 yards, 194 touchdowns and 123 interceptions while completing 59.9 percent of his passes. Cam Newton also has 5,628 career rushing yards and 75 rushing touchdowns, which are the most by a quarterback in NFL history.
Following his return to Carolina during the 2021 season, when he started five games, Cam Newton went unsigned last offseason and did not get picked up by an NFL team this past season. But the 33-year-old, who did not make himself available to media in Auburn after his workout, believes he still has something left in the tank.
“He came to show his ability, show he still has it… and prove to everybody he’s not sitting around,” Caylin Newton said. “He’s still got it. Whatever organization wants to get a winning quarterback, his number’s still open and available.”
The younger Newton described his brother’s presence at pro day as more of a “selfless act” than anything else. It was Caylin Newton’s idea for his brother to throw on Tuesday. The two have been training together this offseason, and Caylin Newton thought it would be cool if the two of them were on the field together at their shared alma mater—a tidy bookend on their common Auburn journeys.
Caylin Newton started his career as a quarterback at Howard, where he made a name for himself and led one of the biggest upsets in college football history by beating UNLV as a freshman in 2017. He transferred to Auburn before the 2020 season and spent two seasons as a wide receiver and special teams contributor before finishing his career at William & Mary last season. He returned to Auburn this week for pro day, looking to carve his own path in the NFL.
And he wanted his brother by his side for it.
Caylin Newton proposed the idea during one of their training sessions together. Cam Newton’s eyes got wide, and his mouth dropped as his little brother asked if he would throw to him at his pro day. Shocked, Cam Newton agreed to do it, but the two kept it a secret up until Monday night, when Auburn teased Cam Newton’s presence in a post on Twitter and the quarterback confirmed in a video posted to his account shortly thereafter.
“Honestly, this was him showing love to me,” Caylin Newton said. “He doesn’t owe anybody anything. He has had an amazing journey, an amazing career in the NFL. He has nothing to prove to anybody. This was just to show love to his little brother and to share this moment with me.”
As the two brothers played catch on the turf at the new indoor facility, it was like they were back to playing “backyard football” at their childhood home in the Atlanta area. It was a moment neither will soon forget, and one they each hope leads to an opportunity in the NFL—for Caylin Newton, a chance to prove himself in any capacity at the next level, and for Cam Newton a chance to show he’s healthy and still has what it takes to play quarterback in the league.
“Cam still has it,” Caylin Newton said. “…What everyone sees on the TV screen, and they see his character and they see his confidence — they don’t see the grit. They don’t see how many hours he puts in, so the media has what they say about who he is; I know who he is, and anywhere he’s been, they know who he is too.”
Tom Green is an Auburn beat reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Tomas_Verde.
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