Cam Newton recalls 'magical' 2010 Auburn season

AUBURN, Ala. – Five years before he mesmerized fans at Jordan-Hare Stadium, Cam Newton attended his first Auburn football game. 

“It was a home game, and it was at night, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” recalled Newton, who came to the Plains with his high school coach from Atlanta. “I never knew that people cared this much.”

Looking back 20 years later, Newton credits that evening with launching his journey from high school star to Heisman Trophy winner to NFL MVP. 

“Auburn was the first place that gave me that desire,” he said. “They’re celebrating these athletes like gladiators. To hear the celebration, to hear the roar, to see a bald eagle. Not knowing any of the chants. It’s like an earthquake, and I was hooked.”

After two seasons at Florida and a junior college national championship at Blinn College, Newton returned to Auburn for an official visit in December 2009, attracted by its proximity to his hometown and its roster of returning starters.

“From my doorstep to Auburn is an hour and 30, and I get an hour,” Newton said in an exclusive interview for the WarEagle+ documentary “Unspoken: 2010.”

Three years out of high school, Newton was less interested in uniforms and facilities than he was in how head coach Gene Chizik and offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn planned to utilize a 6-foot-6, 250-pound dual-threat quarterback. 

 “That whole time during that visit was really focused on implementation rather than decoration and celebration,” Newton said. 

Newton told Malzahn he wanted to be a top 10 quarterback nationally, win the Heisman Trophy and lead his team to the BCS National Championship Game.

Replied Malzahn, “’If you listen to everything I tell you to do and you do it, I can promise you that you’ll have that,’” remembered Newton.

With his father’s input, Newton chose Auburn, signing with the Tigers on New Year’s Eve in 2009.

“When I got here, it was a burning desire to want something that I’ve never had,” he said. 

With quarterbacks off limits to contact during practices and scrimmages, Auburn’s coaches and Cam’s teammates didn’t fully grasp his rushing ability until Newton gained 171 yards, ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more in a season-opening win over Arkansas State. 

“Nobody really knew until Arkansas State,” recalled Newton, who told Malzahn it would be unnecessary to employ Kodi Burns in the Wildcat formation: “I can do this.

“That one adjustment skyrocketed everything. I scored five touchdowns and every touchdown I was trying to find my dad.”

Three weeks later, Newton delivered another five-touchdown masterpiece against South Carolina, rushing for 176 yards and three scores while passing for 158 and two touchdowns, a performance that put him squarely in the Heisman conversation.

“My life completely changed after the Saturday night game versus South Carolina in week four,” said Newton, who quickly became the big man on campus. “I was becoming a distraction to everything. I was signing autographs and trying to be loved by everybody and it was draining me. It was affecting my energy.”

Before his Jordan-Hare Stadium finale against Georgia, Newton’s eligibility was questioned and eventually cleared because of his recruitment by Mississippi State.  

 “It was an emotional roller coaster,” Newton said. “It was full tsunami. When Georgia came, personally I was drained. Competitively? Fueled.” 

Cam used that fuel to accumulate 299 yards of total offense and four touchdowns, leading Auburn to a 49-31 victory over the Bulldogs. 

“Everything I did, everything I do still to this day is for acceptance and appreciation from my dad,” he said. “Personally, I was drained. Emotionally, I was enraged because of the situation.”

At halftime of Saturday’s 130th renewal of the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry, Auburn will retire Newton’s No. 2 jersey, making Cam the fourth player in program history to be so honored, joining Pat Sullivan, Terry Beasley and Bo Jackson.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” he said. “It’s an honor. When I say I appreciate this, I really do. It’s a kid’s dream come true. I’m a dreamer, always been one. You couldn’t even create a greater story.”

Auburn athletic director John Cohen and deputy athletic director/Tigers Unlimited Tim Jackson shared the news while Cam reminisced during the documentary interview. 

“The Auburn family loves you,” Cohen said. “The Auburn family reveres you. And now the Auburn family is going to get to see your name and your number up in that stadium. I don’t know if anybody’s more deserving in Auburn history.”

 “I didn’t know the impact that Auburn would have on me being a kid from Atlanta,” Newton said. “No one knew the desire to really bring something to this town that will never be forgotten.”

In the whirlwind two months after the Georgia game, Newton led Auburn to an Iron Bowl comeback win in Tuscaloosa, produced six touchdowns in the SEC Championship Game, won the Heisman Trophy and led the Tigers to a 22-19 victory over Oregon to complete a 14-0 national championship season.

“That year, it was so magical,” Newton said. “I was only here for 365 days. When I came here, I wanted to win. And win and win and win and win. That’s what it was all about. Winning.”

Looking back, Newton believes the 2010 Auburn Tigers rank at the top of the sport’s all-time greats.

“There was not another team in college football history that was a better team than the 2010 Auburn Tigers,” he said. "We didn’t have skill, we didn’t have depth. But what Coach Chizik implemented that year in the offseason: all in, buy in. You can’t determine the grit. You can’t determine the fight. 

“Subpar players are now going to play good. Good players are now getting to play great, and our great players are playing elite.

“Guys leveling up their play and making the most of their role and responsibility to the team is what makes my statement true. We are the best football team ever.”

Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on X: @jeff_shearer