Perception is reality, right?
Wrong!
That's the simple lesson that's being learned in New England this days as perceived diva QB Cam Newton and the buttoned-up, Bill Belichick-led Patriot Way are coming together seemingly better than anyone could have ever imagined.
Though admittedly not a single game snap has yet been taken heading toward Sunday afternoon's 2020 season opener against the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium, all signs are pointing to the marriage between Newton and Belichick's Patriots as having the potential to be blissfully productive.
Sure, Newton arrived in early July after floundering for months on the free agent market, a former NFL MVP and Super Bowl QB without a football home.
Sure, Belichick had as all convinced by his lack of quarterback additions that Jarrett Stidham was the guy to lead his team following Tom Brady's dynasty-shattering free agent departure.
Sure, even Newton himself admitted to wondering how he'd "mesh" with Belichick and life in New England, a working environment that's proven over the years to be tough to deal with for many a set-in-his-ways veteran.
How could a guy known almost as much for his postgame press conference attire and his look-at-me post-touchdown Superman celebrations be the man to lead Belichick's team?
Simple, actually.
Beneath the fancy, over-the-top hats and hoodie with the sleeves cut off, Newton and Belichick are more alike than anyone would superficially perceive.
Football is important to them. Losing is abhorrent to them.
The rest, just misleading cover art.
So it is that Newton is not only Belichick's starting quarterback for the Patriots in the first season post-Brady in Foxborough but also a team captain set to guide the franchise through what might be one of the most interesting, challenging campaigns in recent memory.
Rather than being the odd couple, Newton and Belichick appear to be the perfect fit for the here and now in New England.
"I didn't know what to expect, and I am just being as honest as I possibly can because I know you guys want to hear," Newton said this week on the Greg Hill Show on WEEI. "I didn't know what to expect. Just the same questions that a lot of people and talk shows, gossip talk, barber shop talk, chit-chatter, text messages -- they wanted to know, I wanted to know as well. I wanted to know is it real what they say about Belichick? Just, I didn't know.
"Honestly, it's been a match made in heaven for me just knowing I am at a place where everything is pulling in the same direction and everything is geared towards winning. Coming from a person that has won at all levels, I feel as if that if I do the things the right way, trusting the same people who have gotten me to this point and trust their coaching, I think this is something that when you look at an opportunity in a timely manner, it can be accomplished."
Newton went on to proclaim a unique perspective on the so-called Patriot Way, just a couple months after beginning to live football life under its all-encompassing umbrella.
"You can see it," Newton told the GHS of the Patriot Way. "That's a swagger in itself. You know what I'm saying? For people to kind of walk around saying that's the Patriot Way. I think we all have our own swagger in our own ways. Some people it's a little more subtle than others, but at the end of the day that's what it's all about, having that chip and having that edge in life. Not just in the organization, it's in life. For me, the day I stepped foot here I realized a lot of things are different and not saying where I was was bad or good, it's just the expectation is different. The way from eating, to dieting, to nutrition, to training, preparing, to practicing, to rehabilitation. Just everything. So, yeah, every team has their own little niche and it's up to the players to keep up with the way. So, yeah, I do believe there is such a thing as called the Patriot Way and it may be kind of against the current to some eyes, but like an old coach used to tell me there's no hill for a climber. I have my eyes set on this opportunity and like I said it's nothing that's been overwhelming that's not capable of being attained, so just got to get it done."
Get it done. Said another way, do your job.
Which is what Newton has done since his first drive up to One Patriot Place into Gillette Stadium and life in the Patriot Way.
Early to arrive. Late to leave. Energy in everything he does. A focus on football.
A unique new leader for the quarterback position in Foxborough.
The unsure pairing now looks like the perfect fit, on and off the field.
So despite the initial concerns of how the two might mesh, now that preconceived perceptions have been buried in football-first reality, it's probably no surprise that there is already talk that the Newton marriage is one that Belichick might want to continue long term. According to ESPN, it's now a question of when rather than if the salary cap-rich Patriots might look to ink Newton to a long-term contract, extending the late-developing relationship beyond its current one-year pact.
"Mark my words, in two to three weeks, the early storyline that we will be talking about is when is Cam Newton getting that extension?," former Jets and Dolphins executive Mike Tannenbaum said this week on ESPN. "If, and it is a big if, Cam Newton stays healthy, I love this match and more importantly moving forward, I think he could be the Patriots quarterback for the next three, four, five years."
How will Newton "mesh" with Belichick and the Patriot Way? How will the swagger-oozing QB fit with the dour, stone-faced coach?
Right now, it truly does seem like a match made in post-Brady heaven.
