Cam Newton's legacy as arguably the greatest quarterback in the history of the Carolina Panthers is and forever will be tied to the No. 1 he sported across 10 seasons with the franchise. Moving forward, it's likely the number that will be Newton's forever and one no Panthers player will ever wear again. And that may be thanks to the apparently outrageous demand of Newton's former teammate and fellow quarterback.
During an interview with 2Cool2Blog, Newton claimed he wanted to wear No. 2 upon being drafted in Carolina, the same number he took to glory and a national championship at Auburn. But the number already belonged to incumbent quarterback Jimmy Clausen, who allegedly put an incredible markup on it.
"He's like, 'Shit, if you want it you've got to pay for it.' I'm like, 'Cool, how much?' He said 'a million,'" Newton said. "I said, 'Boy, kiss my ass ... A million dollars, bro? People don't make a million dollars in a lifetime, let alone I'm gonna give you a million dollars just for a f---in' number, bro. So I thought he was playin'.
"The motherf---er comes back and said, 'OK bro, I talked to my people, we'll do it for $750,000.' I said, 'Oh, oh you for real!' I hung that phone up ... I called the equipment manager, I said 'I'm rockin' with No. 1.' I made an ode to myself, I said, 'That will be the last time that Jimmy Clausen will ever be heard of in Carolina.'"
Newton was chosen No. 1 in the 2011 NFL Draft one year after the Panthers earned the worst record in the NFL in 2010, largely with Clausen directing a pitiful offense that scored only 16 touchdowns the entire season. Clausen would end up sticking in Carolina for two more seasons as a third-string quarterback -- and actually would later switch to No. 7 -- but wound up being resigned to the dustbin of Panthers history as Newton led the Panthers to their greatest successes in franchise history and won NFL MVP honors in 2015.