Newton shows media his workout routine

[DaKCMan AP]

Newton shows media his workout routine

SAN DIEGO -- Enjoying the San Diego sunshine and saying that he's "shooting for greatness," Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton gave the media a glimpse of the workouts he's going through daily as he prepares for the NFL combine and draft.

Wearing gray shorts, a black long-sleeve T-shirt and orange cleats, Newton did agility drills and then threw passes to a handful of receivers for nearly 45 minutes at a suburban high school on Thursday.

Newton has been in San Diego since late January, working six days a week with quarterbacks coach George Whitfield Jr. and receiving advice from Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon.

While his passes looked crisp, there's a lot for Newton to work on. Chief among them is taking snaps from under center. He often took snaps in the shotgun formation as he ran the spread offense at Auburn, which he led to the BCS national title.

He said he's working on "the whole grand scheme of playing quarterback in the NFL. A lot of times I probably can count on one hand the times I took a snap from under center in one game. But now it depends what scheme you go into, but at the same time you have to be able to get a snap from under center and be fluent at it. That's one of the first things we tried to tackle."

Asked if he was surprised some people don't think his skills won't translate to the NFL, he replied: "That's the competitor that I am. I won't be surprised - I'm making that leap right now - until I'm a Super Bowl champion. That's what I'm going for from Day One, reaching for greatness. The supporting cast that I have is pushing me to be great, I'm pushing myself to be great and I demand greatness for myself. So coming in the door, working out every single day, I'm shooting for greatness."

Whitfield said the session was "a snapshot of his training. He's been working really hard at this. He is an excitable kid. He's been pumped for this."

Whitfield worked with Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during his four-game suspension.

While Whitfield is Newton's coach, Moon described his role as a mentor.

"But if I see something that I can help him improve on, I'm going to do that," Moon said.
During the session, Moon picked up on something and told Newton.

"He wasn't transferring well," Moon said afterward. "He was throwing leaning backward. Even though he has a very strong arm, I don't care how strong of an arm you have, if you're not in the right throwing motion, you're not going to get good accuracy on the football, the ball is going to go high on you. As soon as he gets that weight transferred, he throws the ball as accurately as anyone you've been around."

Moon isn't at every session, but Whitfield films every workout and sends it to him.

"I just see him improving," Moon said. "Every day he does something a little bit better than he did the day before, whether it's taking the snap from center or whether it's transferring his weight from dropping back to throwing the football. That's where he's making his biggest adjustment, to me, is being able to drop back, because that's something he's never had to do, and then transfer that weight forward to get velocity behind your throws and also to get accuracy."

Newton usually does throwing with Whitfield in the morning and then does classroom work and speed work in the afternoon.

Trent Dilfer, a Super Bowl-winning quarterback who's now a TV analyst, gushed about Newton's workout.

"I couldn't be more impressed. For one, I think this whole thing is genius," Dilfer said of the workout in front of the media. "People are knocking it. I think it's brilliant.

"He is a special talent," Dilfer said. "He's uniquely gifted. To be this much of a puppy, I mean, he hasn't played a lot of true quarterback in his life; to be this refined mechanically, you don't see this very often. This is the top of the top of the top. That's what you're looking at."

A month removed from Auburn's BCS title game victory over Oregon, Newton said he's approaching things as a professional athlete.

"This whole transformation from the college level to the NFL is a big leap," he said. "But at the same time, you have to be mature enough to be able to work on your talent when nobody is looking. This is your profession, this is your job. And I have to come at it every single day trying to get better at what I do."

Newton couldn't stop raving about the weather.

"I think I'm going to have a surfing party at the house," joked Newton, who's staying in Encinitas in northern San Diego County. "Everyone's welcome to come."

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/1...#ixzz1DecJvZeT

[pr_capone]

Originally Posted by doomy3

I want him to be quarterback of the Chiefs.

[Chiefnj2]

He played an entire season with a lot of scrutiny over every move. That's a lot of pressure for a young man to handle, and overcome.

[Bewbies]

Athletically the kid is amazing. The most important things about him, his work ethic, his attitude, desire, teach ability, personal influences and thing none of us around here will ever know.

If he checked out in all the areas we'll never know I'd have no problem with him being in KC. And all those other areas I think Pioli does as good of a job as anyone figuring out.

He'll be picked long before 21 though.

[Nightfyre]

All you folks with boners over the "athlete" at QB need to get over it. Far and away the most important aspect of the quarterback at the NFL level is mental. The ability to read defenses, make the right decision quickly and deliver the ball there in a timely fashion.

[KCrockaholic]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

All you folks with boners over the "athlete" at QB need to get over it. Far and away the most important aspect of the quarterback at the NFL level is mental. The ability to read defenses, make the right decision quickly and deliver the ball there in a timely fashion.

Somebody finally said it.

Vince Young is hella athletic too. But his brain is made of pudding.

[mnchiefsguy]

Michael Wilbon says he should be the #1 pick of the whole draft on PTI the other day. Heisman winning QB's don't have a great track record lately in the NFL, do they?

[Bump]

after all of the combine work is done, I am willing to bet money that Cam Newton will be a top 5 pick overall. Maybe #1 if the Panthers can see that Clausen sucks.

[Bump]

Originally Posted by mnchiefsguy

Michael Wilbon says he should be the #1 pick of the whole draft on PTI the other day. Heisman winning QB's don't have a great track record lately in the NFL, do they?

Sam Bradford seems legit.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

Yeah, not sure why all the hate on this guy other then the whole money thing. This guy will probably turn out to be the best QB in a pretty deep QB draft.

This isn't Tim Bebow here. Newton can make all the throws.

I don't understand the obsession with arm strength and athleticism. Why do people hate the guy? He cheated on his exams, which leads me to believe that a) he's not very smart; b) he's going to look for shortcuts. And he took a massive sweetheart paycheck in college, which leads me to believe that he cares too much about money and will start loafing when he gets a big check.

Thing about Tim Tebow is that you know he's in that film room every waking hour he's not on the field or in practice.

I'm pretty convinced that any franchise QB has to be a franchise rat, with the rare exception of a freakishly good athlete like Vick (and even still, you could argue that). There is nothing in Newton that leads me to believe he'll be that guy. You can make the playoffs and club a lot of teams with athleticism, but you're not going to beat Pittsburgh or Baltimore, etc... in the playoffs if you don't have it between the ears.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't understand the obsession with arm strength and athleticism. Why do people hate the guy? He cheated on his exams, which leads me to believe that a) he's not very smart; b) he's going to look for shortcuts. And he took a massive sweetheart paycheck in college, which leads me to believe that he cares too much about money and will start loafing when he gets a big check.

Thing about Tim Tebow is that you know he's in that film room every waking hour he's not on the field or in practice.

I'm pretty convinced that any franchise QB has to be a franchise rat, with the rare exception of a freakishly good athlete like Vick (and even still, you could argue that). There is nothing in Newton that leads me to believe he'll be that guy. You can make the playoffs and club a lot of teams with athleticism, but you're not going to beat Pittsburgh or Baltimore, etc... in the playoffs if you don't have it between the ears.

I think that nj makes a solid observation below.
Add the fact that he (and his advisors) showed some intelligence in providing this workout, and it appears to me this kid has more smarts than you're giving him credit for.

As for TeBow, I have no doubt that he's going to work as hard as he can to become an NFL QB, but his windup mechanics give him the slowest release that I believe that I've ever seen.

Until, and if, he fixes that, he won't be worth a damn against teams that can get consistent quick pressure in the playoffs.

Originally Posted by Chiefnj2

He played an entire season with a lot of scrutiny over every move. That's a lot of pressure for a young man to handle, and overcome.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't understand the obsession with arm strength and athleticism. Why do people hate the guy? He cheated on his exams, which leads me to believe that a) he's not very smart; b) he's going to look for shortcuts. And he took a massive sweetheart paycheck in college, which leads me to believe that he cares too much about money and will start loafing when he gets a big check.

Thing about Tim Tebow is that you know he's in that film room every waking hour he's not on the field or in practice.

I'm pretty convinced that any franchise QB has to be a franchise rat, with the rare exception of a freakishly good athlete like Vick (and even still, you could argue that). There is nothing in Newton that leads me to believe he'll be that guy. You can make the playoffs and club a lot of teams with athleticism, but you're not going to beat Pittsburgh or Baltimore, etc... in the playoffs if you don't have it between the ears.

I honestly don't remember which game it was I was watching, but he was fitting the ball into crazy windows to his receivers. He also seemed to be a pretty good leader and his teammates like him and he will be a hell of a guy to bring down. I think he can be Big Ben if he hits or at worst probably David Garrard. The NFL is always evolving and having a QB that make plays with his feet and arm is always a nice weapon to have. Even if he isn't Michael Vick, Steve Young and John Elway made a pretty good living with those legs as well.

I think he has a much better throwing motion and is more accuarte then what I saw out of Vince Young in college as well.

There are about a half a dozen QB's in this draft that I would be thrilled to have.

[milkman]

Originally Posted by BigCatDaddy

I honestly don't remember which game it was I was watching, but he was fitting the ball into crazy windows to his receivers. He also seemed to be a pretty good leader and his teammates like him and he will be a hell of a guy to bring down. I think he can be Big Ben if he hits or at worst probably David Garrard. The NFL is always evolving and having a QB that make plays with his feet and arm is always a nice weapon to have. Even if he isn't Michael Vick, Steve Young and John Elway made a pretty good living with those legs as well.

I think he has a much better throwing motion and is more accuarte then what I saw out of Vince Young in college as well.

There are about a half a dozen QB's in this draft that I would be thrilled to have.

Micheal Vick hasn't been able to advance to the SB yet.

Steve Young wasn't able to lead his 49ers to the SB until he learned to continue to scan the field and make plays with his arm rather than his legs.

John Elway was always a QB that looked to mke plays with his arms first.

Not a single QB that wasn't a passer first has ever won the SB.

Mobility is a great weapon to have, but I hope that any mobile QB that we might ever have is a guy who continues to look downfield looking to make a play with his arm while eluding a rush.

[BigCatDaddy]

Originally Posted by milkman

Micheal Vick hasn't been able to advance to the SB yet.

Steve Young wasn't able to lead his 49ers to the SB until he learned to continue to scan the field and make plays with his arm rather than his legs.

John Elway was always a QB that looked to mke plays with his arms first.

Not a single QB that wasn't a passer first has ever won the SB.

Mobility is a great weapon to have, but I hope that any mobile QB that we might ever have is a guy who continues to look downfield looking to make a play with his arm while eluding a rush.

I agree, just saying it's a hell of a luxury to have if a guy can do both compared to just one. We sas Rodgers and Ben do a great job in the playoffs scrambling for some nice gains as well. Of course being a solid throwing QB comes first, but extending a drive or 2 a game with those legs never hurts.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by DaneMcCloud

If JaMarcuss had a brother, he'd almost be as bad an NFL QB as Newton.

That's a very apt comparison. After all, both of them are black QBs.

They may play completely different styles of football. They may have very different levels of work ethic. They may even have completely different personalities. The fact remains that they are both black QBs and, as such, they are very similar.

Cam Newton also reminds me a lot of Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham. If you break down the film on those guys coming out of college, it becomes clear that they were also black QBs.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by milkman

I think that nj makes a solid observation below.
Add the fact that he (and his advisors) showed some intelligence in providing this workout, and it appears to me this kid has more smarts than you're giving him credit for.

As for TeBow, I have no doubt that he's going to work as hard as he can to become an NFL QB, but his windup mechanics give him the slowest release that I believe that I've ever seen.

Until, and if, he fixes that, he won't be worth a damn against teams that can get consistent quick pressure in the playoffs.

Maybe so. But to me, it tells me that he's motivated by money. He seems to do all the right and smart things to position himself to make more money, but what happens when he gets that first paycheck? IMO, the fact that he couldn't motivate himself to even try to succeed in the classroom tells me that he's not going to put the kind of time he needs to once he gets paid.