Auburn football: JBoy names Cam Newton #1 SEC player since 2000

We all knew it was coming, Auburn football fans, but it happened much earlier than expected. Bill Belichick made the decision to release former Auburn QB Cam Newton and name rookie Mac Jones as the Patriots’ starter.

Newton’s response was to tell people not to feel sorry for him. Despite Newton having a great preseason, it’s clear Belichick is ready to start building a Patriots team around former Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

None of this can take away what Cam has already accomplished. From an undefeated season and National Championship to a Heisman Trophy to the #1 pick in the NFL Draft, Newton has had an incredible career. In fact, Jake Crain of The JBoy Show released his Top 5 SEC players since 2000, and Cam was right at the top of the list:

Perhaps a controversial take, Crain said reluctantly that he’s pretty certain Newton’s NFL career is done– in the sense that he’s no longer a guaranteed starter that could go anywhere. But his college career in the SEC is still legendary.

According to Crain, Newton tops the list over Tim Tebow because he had a bigger role on the Auburn football team than Tebow on the Florida Gators. The Tigers had four players drafted after they won the title, and 19 players were drafted from Florida in the Tebow era.

Newton was the heart and soul of the 2010 Auburn football team. He didn’t win that championship alone, by any means, but he was unstoppable, according to Crain:

"“In football, it is so hard for one guy to dominate as much as he did. He was automatic on third and short, jawdropping. And there’s really nothing that you could do, outside of hoping the bus broke down, to stop him either on the way or during the game.”"

If Newton had been on the Plains for three years, how many championships would the Tigers have won? How would the Auburn football program have looked if Newton stuck around for a few more years while the team changed around him?

There’s no denying that Cam Newton was a college football superman, and at Fly War Eagle we agree that he’s the #1 SEC player since 2000.