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WATCH: Cam Newton takes off for 24-yard touchdown

SimonGibbs_UserImageby:Simon Gibbs•11/21/21•

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Grant Halverson/Getty Images.

Cam Newton sure looks comfortable in his Carolina Panthers threads.

After nine seasons with the Panthers, Newton had a rather anticlimactic exit, as the Panthers in 2019 opted not to bring back their franchise quarterback. Newton proceeded to sign with the New England Patriots for a year. However, he was cut by the Patriots, too, leaving him an unrestricted free agent; rather than take up one of the first opportunities that came his way, Newton waited for the perfect one — and it came in the form of a reunion in Charlotte.

In Week 10 of the 2021 regular season, Newton — fresh off a few-month-long hiatus as a free agent — played limited minutes for the Panthers. He completed three of his four pass attempts, throwing for eight yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 14 yards and a touchdown, too. Fast forward one week, and Newton had re-earned the starting quarterback role that he’d manned for the entirety of his first nine NFL seasons.

He’s starting to look quite a bit like he did in his first stint with the Panthers, too. At the first-half two-minute warning, Newton is doing it all for the Panthers offense. He has nine completions in 11 attempts, good for 78 passing yards and a touchdown, while adding six carries for 28 rushing yards and a touchdown as well. His latest score — a 24-yard touchdown rush — looked the version of Newton that Panthers fans fell in love with years ago.

Last week, Newton played limited minutes in a road game against the Arizona Cardinals, a game in which the Panthers pulled off a shocking upset. Before his return to Bank of America Stadium, which was met with roaring applause from the Panthers’ fanbase, he made sure to pack the stadium with fans who might not otherwise get the chance. Earlier this week, Newton announced that he would give away 50 free tickets to Panthers fans hoping to attend Sunday’s matchup with the Washington Football Team.

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“Simple and plain, I only know one Bank of America Stadium,” Newton said. “So with that being said, this is a challenge for people to make my kind of prophecy correct. I said there’s no other place in football that I would rather be on Sunday than Bank of America Stadium because it will be a playoff atmosphere for more ways than one. Discredit who I am and what this game means to me, discredit who we’re playing and what that game means to them. Let’s get back to getting that edge and bringing the pride back to Carolina, how I once knew it to be.”

Newton, a product of Auburn and the Panthers’ first-overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, is a three-time Pro Bowl selection, the 2011 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, and the 2015 Rookie of the Year. He has the Panthers off to a 14-7 lead over Washington with one minute remaining in the first half.