Ron Rivera: Cam Newton’s Return to Panthers ‘Kind of a Cool Deal’ Ahead of WFT Game

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Washington Football Team head coach Ron
Rivera said he’s happy quarterback Cam Newton is getting a chance to
reboot his career with the Carolina Panthers.

“I think it’s an opportunity for
him to go back home, pick up where he started off. It’s kind of a
cool deal,” Rivera told reporters Wednesday.

Rivera and Newton spent nine years
together in Carolina (2011-19), highlighted by a 15-1 season in 2015
that concluded with an appearance in Super Bowl 50 and the
quarterback winning the NFL MVP Award.

The Panthers made the playoffs just
once over the next four seasons, however, which led to widespread
changes within the organization.

Rivera was fired late in the 2019
campaign, and Newton was released during the subsequent offseason
before signing with the New England Patriots in free agency.

Washington quickly hired Rivera, who
guided the team to an NFC East division title last season despite a
lackluster 7-9 record. The team also lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round.

Newton struggled as a passer with the
Pats, tossing eight touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 15 games, but
remained effective on the ground with 12 rushing scores. He was
released near the end of this year’s preseason as New England decided
to move forward with rookie Mac Jones as its starter.

The 32-year-old signal-caller remained
a free agent until last week when he rejoined the Panthers following
an injury to Sam Darnold. He accounted for two touchdowns (one
passing and one rushing) in his first game back.

Now Rivera and Newton will reunite at
Bank of America Stadium on Sunday, though this time they’ll be on
opposite sidelines.

The WFT coach explained he’s trying to
treat the situation as a “business trip” despite still having a
lot of friends in Carolina and the sudden storyline of Newton being
back with the Panthers. He did take a little time to reminisce about
their success together across nearly a decade:

“There are a lot of really cool
moments. Everything from him being our first draft pick and the work
that we put in to make him our first draft pick. You really know he’s a good person. And that’s the thing that I
really respected was just deal with the type of young man he is, but
really got the chance to see his family life, his home life. And
that’s something that I’ll always remember. …

“The thing I always remember too is
he hated to lose more than anybody I’ve ever been around. After the
2015 Super Bowl, you know, you don’t realize, you know, that they
called him a sore loser. Well, he is because he wants to win. I mean,
that’s who he is. I tried to deflect that just so people understand,
the dude’s going to give you everything he has, which he did. And
unfortunately, we didn’t win it.”

It’ll be all business once the opening
kickoff takes place, as it’s an important game for both Carolina (5-5)
and Washington (3-6) as part of a wide-open NFC playoff race heading
into the stretch run of the regular season.