Cam Newton opens up about relationship with Urban Meyer

Former NFL MVP Cam Newton started his career at Florida, before leading Auburn to a national title. Newton was recruited to Florida by Urban Meyer and played for Meyer for two seasons.

Despite that, for a long time, Newton didn’t have a relationship with his first college head coach.

Newton recently appeared on Pardon My Take and opened up about his relationship with Meyer and how it evolved over the years.

“It was stagnant for so many years. I mean, it’s not like I’ve got his number now, but the first time I saw Urban was at a Tim Tebow event. I think it was like my third or fourth year in the NFL,” Cam Newton recalled. “And they weren’t used to people leaving and having success. That was kind of their thing, like, ‘Well, what’s better than Florida?’ In 2008, it was Title Town USA. They had Joakim Noah in basketball, Tim Tebow, Chris Leak in football. And during that time, I don’t think they knew a rose could be created from concrete. It was just so hard to believe.

“So when I thrust back onto the scene at Auburn, it was like, ‘How could you let this guy leave?’ And everybody was scrambling like, ‘No, he left because there was so many different reports about this. He stole a laptop and this and that.’”

Newton was arrested for stealing a laptop at Florida and was suspended from the Gators team. He eventually transferred to Blinn junior college and then Auburn.

Newton shared what it was like when he ran into Meyer at the Tim Tebow event, years after leaving the Florida program.

“I approached him. And I was like, ‘Man, listen, let all bygones be bygones. Coach, I appreciate you. You raised me,’” Newton said. “But a lot of who I am, I owe it to Urban Meyer, and especially Tim Tebow. The mentality, the grit, the preparation, the attitude, the persona. All of that. I learned it initially at the University of Florida.”

It’s clear that Newton appreciates his time at Florida and how it helped him in his journey to being a Heisman winner and NFL MVP, even if his time in Gainesville didn’t go as he planned.

In addition to being at Florida with Tebow and Meyer, eventual NFL players Percy Harvin, Louis Murphy, Brandon Spikes, and Joe Haden were in Gainesville when Newton was there.

“These guys were very big personality, hard working guys, that they made working hard cool. And I wasn’t used to that,” Newton said.