Cam Newton responds to the take his 2010 season was the best by a college football player ever

On a recent episode of Glory Daze with Johnny Manziel, Manziel called Cam Newton‘s 2010 season at Auburn the best individual campaign by a college football player of all time. Newton took the compliment in stride, reflecting on the historic season.

“That’s dope,” Newton said. “… What I’ve been able to do, especially now in my life, has been able to say, ‘I got everything from football.’ I’m good with my résumé. When we do our tests, it’s like, ‘All right, pencils down.’ Man, I walk into the teacher with my scantron, I feel good — with anybody, you dig? I don’t have to always speak about what I’ve done, but more or less feel vindicated because of the effort that I put into it when nobody saw.”

Newton’s effort paid off. In the 2010 campaign, Newton completed 66.1% of his pass attempts for 2,854 yards and 30 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions. While Newton’s passing numbers alone are impressive, he was also dominant in the ground game.

Newton finished the year with 1,473 rushing yards and 20 touchdowns on 264 carries. Newton’s 1,473 rushing yards are still the most ever by an SEC quarterback in a single season. He was also the first SEC player to ever throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in the same season.

Newton’s individual efforts weren’t in vain. Auburn went on to win the SEC Championship and then defeat Oregon in the BCS National Championship. It was Auburn’s first national title since 1957.

In the win over the Ducks, Newton tallied 262 passing yards and two touchdowns, compared to one interception. Additionally, he rushed 22 times for 65 yards.

For his fantastic season, Newton won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award and the Manning Award. Moreover, he was named the AP College Football Player of the Year and the SEC Offensive Player of the Year.

Cam Newton was recently named a member of the College Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2026. Other members of the class include Mark Ingram, Dez Bryant and Ndamukong Suh. Alas, none of them can claim they had a better individual season than Newton.

Now, Newton is embracing the next era of football talent. For the first time since he won the award in 2010, Newton attended the Heisman Trophy ceremony this year to show his support for Travis Hunter. Newton has been outspoken about helping the next generation.