By Phillip Murray

Faster than a speeding Safety. More powerful than a linebacker. Can leap over a defensive line in a single bound. While Cam Newton is by no means Superman he is in fact the embodiment of the son of Krypton when it comes to playing quarterback on the field.

All throughout his life Cam Newton electrified and amazed spectators everywhere with his unique physical athleticism, combined with a very high football IQ. With great power for many athletes a great ego. Pre NFL draft, many analysts thought Cam would be another mobile quarterback who would show flashes of greatness but due to their intangibles wouldn’t last long in a dominant traditional passing league.

There were plenty of examples that backed up their argument; Michael Vick, Vince Young, Jamarcus Russell, all were quarterbacks who were suppose to be great but either had short great careers, or were busts due to injury, intangibles, or lack of football IQ. Cam was indeed full of himself. There is no question about it. There was an extreme abundance of confidence illuminating from Cam and he meant to back up. Fresh off of winning a Heisman trophy, and a National Championship, Cam Newton looked to continue his success and dominance football’s greatest stage. In his rookie year, Newton broke numerous rookie and all time NFL records for both passing and rushing yards. He became the first rookie quarterback to throw for 400 yards in his first game shattering Peyton Manning’s record by 120 yards. He also broke Otto Grahm’s 61 year old record for passing yards by an quarterback in an NFL debut. Newton would go on to become the first rookie quarterback to thow for 4000 yards in a season and rush for 700 yards. A probowl and unanimous Offensive Rookie of the Year award later Cam seemed to have made his statement as to what type of quarterback he is and that no one is going to stop him.

Fast forward 4 seasons and another probowl award, entering into the 2015 season there wasn’t much expectation for Newton and the Carolina Panthers. His number one WR Kelvin Benjamin went down during preseason to an ACL injury, the prior year, the 12 year Panther Vet WR and locker room leader, Steve Smith was released in the off season along with WR Brandon Lafell, and a year later, RB Deangelo Williams. With his familiar weapons and offense looked as if it was decimated, many NFL analysts assumed the Panthers would win maybe 7 games at most.

Cam Newton ascended to the role of leader and took on the challenge by putting the offense on his back. This season the football world saw Cam Newton go from good to great. Newton led the Panthers to a 15 win season, the most the franchise has ever accomplished and he did it his way. Newton tallied a league tied best of 4 fourth quarter comebacks including a game winning drive against the 2x defending NFC champions Seattle Seahawks, at Seattle! Drew Brees twice, Aaron Rogers, Russell Wilson, Eli Manning, all Super Bowl quarterbacks, were outplayed against Newton when their teams face the Carolina Panthers this season.

What was more alarming is that never once did Cam show any hesitance, or doubt, that he couldn’t beat any team even when the Panthers were down in a game or had their backs up against the wall. Instead we saw the opposite. We saw the flash of that perfect smile, a dozen or so Dabs in the endzone, dozens of footballs handed to little children in the stands, and sideline celebrations from Cam Newton. What was always viewed as a battlefield of men, was nothing more than a backyard football game to Cam. He along with the rest of the Carolina Panthers were having fun. Newton enjoyed playing the most complete season of his career. 3,837 yards passing, 35 TDs to 10 INTs, and on the ground 636 rushing yards and 10 TDS, made Cam a legit contender for the coveted MVP award.

Finishing a 38-10 demolishing of the Tampa Bay Bucs in week 17, Cam seemed to have the award gift wrapped. Newton also entered elite company by equalling Steve Young’s record for most career games with a Passing TD and rushing TD. What is even more interesting is that Cam accomplished the feat in half the games it took young to do it. There is no question that Newton will break that record very soon and make it impossible to beat considering he is just in his 5th season. While he hasn’t won it yet Cam Newton should be the clear cut favorite. No one can argue that Cam Newton was the best NFL player this season, while playing on the best team, and working with less than other MVP candidates in terms of weapons.

Continuing the trend of breaking records and accompanying elite players, if Newton wins the MVP he would do what only one player in Football history has done; win both the Heisman Trophy AND the NFL MVP. Only one player has ever achieved the rare feat and that is Roger Staubach. With already a record breaking career and season looming, plus a very good chance at going to the Superbowl, Cam Newton may have speculators wondering, “does he belong in the conversation as being one of the best football players ever?” Or because of his dominating dual threat ability, does he belong in his own category? Even though the playoffs haven’t started yet and the post season can change in terms of the favorite Panthers going to and winning the Superbowl, one thing is certain. SuperCam is flying high right now, and being in the early stages of his career doesn’t seem like he’ll be landing anytime soon.

Phillip Murray is a sports enthusiast and writer who resides in Atlanta, Ga. Murray has been following Georgia athletics. Both football and basketball for 20+ plus years, and also Nationally as well both college and professional football and basketball. Follow@Philosopher1024 on Twitter, Phillip Murray on Facebook