Be Honest, How Many of You Were Cam Fans When He Was At Auburn?

[2jakefansinva]

Roll Tide.....

[PantherWake]

7 hours ago, B.BERSIN said:

I was not. He destroyed the Gamecocks in the SEC championship game, so I just didn't like him.

Its different now.

Same he was so dominant in that game man. Kinda like he is now.

GO GAMECOCKS tho. We a basketball school now lol

[KJ89]

I never watched him in college but once I learned about him in the draft I passionately wanted us to draft him over Luck. 

He was clearly a very special talent and I still can't understand the people who didn't see it. It continues to baffle me to this day. 

[manu4t]

I married into a rabid AL family and he was picked a month before I got married. I had a one yr moratorium placed upon me on buying anything Newton in my pre-nup.

They have warmed up to him since them but they dont forget the 2010 AL v AUB loss......

[jdpanther5]

When Luck returned to school, I wasn't really big on any particular quarterback. There were so many guys that got first round buzz at some point - Newton, Locker, Gabbert, Ponder, Dalton, Kaepernick, Mallett - that I was more hoping that we'd trade back into the 2nd and get one that fell. Gotta say, while I was right about Dalton being underrated and Gabbert overrated, I really thought Locker was gonna be good. 

That said, I was all-in on Green. I actually loved the Bengals' draft, taking my favorite prospect in the first and then Dalton second way after Locker, Gabbert, and Ponder seemed like a coup at the time (and still looks pretty good).

Kinda crazy to look back at the talent at the top of that draft. After Carolina, every team that didn't take a QB in the top 16 picks got a Pro Bowler. Poor Tennessee, Jax, and Minnesota. 

EDIT: Forgot Fairley, but still...12 of 16 picks were Pro Bowlers. And Fairley was one of the guys considered to be in the top pick running for awhile. 

[teeray]

I was.

I was born and raised in NC, and have lived here my whole life.  So when the Panthers came to fruition they were immediately my NFL team and was always a UNC fan.

But my father graduated from Auburn and so growing up I watched a lot of Auburn football and have always rooted for them, so I saw a lot of Cam Newton that year, and thought he was a unique specimen and thought his game actually would translate to the NFL because their wasnt many (if any) past QBs to compare him too.

 

[ncmonzta]

The first time I watched him play was the sec championship. He did a smooth ball fake and heaved the ball down field for a long completion.  At the time, Jake was getting killed behind our oline. I looked at my friend and said "that's who we need".  

[DeeJay]

I hated the pick to be honest

[UpstatePanther]

9 hours ago, B.BERSIN said:

I was not. He destroyed the Gamecocks in the SEC championship game, so I just didn't like him.

Its different now.

It actually had the opposite effect for me. Toward the end of the season, I began to realize that Cam would be the top pick in the draft and it was obvious the Panthers would own the top pick. I was a die hard Gamecock fan at the time, but Cam destroyed my passion for college football allegiance. By the SEC championship, it was nearly a done deal. I could no longer cheer against players that might soon be Panthers players when the Panthers were my true football love. 

I ended up becoming a general Carolina college football fan. I used to hate Clemson, but they've grown on me. Had a grudge against UNC, but I actually like them now. I still have a soft spot for USC, but instead of disliking Cam Newton, I began to dislike having one specific alliance in the college football world.

[Kakarot]

I'm a Mississippi State fan, and still mad he didn't end up there lol. 

I've always liked him, and knew I wanted him on the Panthers. Well, I wanted Fairley for about a day, but other than that, ive always known I wanted him on my team. I remember dapping up my homie during the draft after it was announced we picked him. I just felt in my heart he was going to be special. I've been defending him on here and to the outside world ever since he came to Carolina, and him possibly winning MVP and helping us bring home a a championship makes it feel like it was all worth it. 

[KissMyConverse]

I LOVED watching him play that year, had zero thought he would ever be our QB. 

It's funny one of the main images from Cam at Auburn to me was him running to the student section and getting them pumped up. I loved how he played to the crowd. They fed off him... Never imagined he would be doing that to us, let alone critized for it lol. 

[Rags]

9 hours ago, PhillyB said:

I was hesitant to draft him because of everything i heard from scouts. i thought the safest route was to grab dareus, build the trenches, and try to find a guy in free agency.

luckily i'm more of a dumbass than the panthers FO and scout team

Pretty Mich this. Except with A.J. Green, draft Kapernick in the second, who I thought was a better thrower than Cam and a better person.

 

Boy was I wrong.

 

I saw the LSU game and after that, I kept up with him. But the only other game I watched was the Championship. I liked Can, but I thought he was a project, and I felt like with the lockout and is not having a staff to devolp him, I wanted us to get another playmaker in the draft,  it was fuging loaded. Green, Peterson, Dareus, Miller. You name it. Hell I thought Gabbert was a safer pick than Cam, and if we HAD to take a QB at 1, I preffered him. Welp.

 

After we drafted Cam, I was unsure at first. I think there was a thread here that asked "What would your reaction be if we drafted Cam?" And I think my reply was something like this:

http://imgur.com/qFQyZLo

But expand the first panel for a week.

 

Which was fairly accurate. My hesitation subsided when Can showed how great of a guy he was and a team player, and hell he kept Smitty around, cool. During Preseason, I...got nervous based on his performances, and almost wanted Claussen to start week 1.

 

Then the Cardinals game happened, and, well, the rest is history.

[tiger7_88]

10 hours ago, RickyManningJr said:

I myself was pulling for Luck, but was intrigued by Cam Newton.  I honestly felt about as good about a consolation prize as you could.

When he was at Auburn I remember all of his cut back scrambles while Auburn was pulling out the tough SEC matchups and I watched the Natty, but I never thought he would be this good.  To be honest when he started his first game at Arizona I was expecting a stat line similar to his preseason games, 150 with a TD.

How did everyone else feel about Cam BEFORE he became our guy?

Well, I'm Auburn '85 here, so not only was I a Cam fan from the start, I was also a fan of:

 

Back in the day.

:)

[tiger7_88]

7 hours ago, WVPanther said:

I did not hate him @ Auburn till the scandal - felt it was BS and NCAA turned the other cheek with him because of the success and great story lines and $ they made off of him and his name/personality - therefore, in the end...NCAA made a s hit ton more on him that he ever did on them, so good for him.

lol... Auburn football has been hit by probation and NCAA penalties 7 times in their history.

The NCAA has *never* turned the other cheek when it comes to Auburn.  Hell, there's a saying in the state: "Everytime Bama gets caught cheating, Auburn gets put on probation."