Super Bowl QB Cam Newton counts a Godly heritage, exhibits uneven path to glory
By Mark Ellis and Robert Ashcraft, Special to ASSIST News Service
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (February 1, 2016)
-- When Carolina Panthers Quarterback Cam Newton walked away relatively
unscathed from a horrible accident that rolled his truck in December
2014, he offered praise to God.
“Somebody
had His good hands on me,” Newton told reporters. “One plus one always
equals two. I’m looking at this truck. I’m looking at this accident, and
I’m like dude, one plus one ain’t equaling two, because I’m looking at
this truck, and I’m like, somebody is supposed to be dead. Me being a
religious person, God is good. I’m lucky to be standing in front of you
today.”
Newton,
arguably the NFL’s greatest player of 2015-16 and a Super Bowl
contender, is on top of the world. Passing for 400 yards in his debut
game in 2012, he bested Peyton Manning’s passing record of 280 yards in
Manning’s first regular season game. This year, the Panthers are 15-1.
His dual threat capabilities crushed the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 in the
NFC finals.
But
while his professional trajectory seemed to sail through the air on
heaven’s wings, things in his personal life have not always gone so
well. He was hounded by an NCAA investigation for receiving payment to
enroll at college, and he was accused of stealing a laptop at Auburn
University. As a pro, he met and began to live with ex-stripper Kia
Proctor.
Newton had grown up with God. His father, Cecil Newton, is a bishop overseeing five Pentecostal churches in Georgia.
But
the intoxicating power of riding atop the sports world may have caused a
momentarily lapse from his humble, God-fearing roots. After the
accident left him shaken, he received a none-too-subtle reminder about
his need for God.
On
that fateful day, he was negotiating a confusing intersection in
Charlotte when another car slammed into the rear side of his black
pickup truck and sent it rolling. He clambered out the back cabin
window, and paramedics took him to the hospital where doctors treated
him for minor fractures in his lower back.
He only missed one game as a result of the accident.
“I am a prime example of how God can turn something that was bad into something that good,” Newton said after the crash.
Photo captions: 1) Cam Newton in action. 2) Mark Ellis.
About the writers: Mark Ellis is senior correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also founder of www.GodReports.com,
a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host for “Windows on the World” with ANS
founder, Dan Wooding, on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv). Robert Ashcraft is a student at the Lighthouse Christian Academy in Santa Monica, California.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
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