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Christensen: Newton’s Fantasy Football


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By Todd Christensen
January 12, 2011
 
"What if your reality exceeds your dreams?"  

That’s a line that has been utilized frequently in verse, prose, movies, theater, television, and every sales pitch known to man.  Of course, it’s something that only the minutest of the population has to concern itself with as reality has a tendency to obfuscate the idyllic future we once harbored as younger people.

This isn’t the case with Cam Newton.  In fact, his story is the sort of human interest with which movies, television, poetry, etc. are made.  

Ostensibly recruited to take the place of Tim Tebow at quarterback for the Florida Gators, maybe the greatest and most respected college player in history, Newton made a number of missteps, most notably operating a stolen laptop computer.  He was subsequently kicked out of UF, an ignominious departure that tainted both his reputation as a person and player.  He humbly and purposely made his way to Blinn Junior College in Texas, where he attempted to repair his sullied past and to burgeon his athletic prowess.  

He would then matriculate to Auburn, where little was expected of him in the toughest conference in the country, dominated by Florida and Alabama.  

But Newton went on a ride for the ages, leading the War Eagles to an undefeated season and strengthened by his ability to come from behind, something they did seven different times.

It seemed appropriate that the national title game would come down to the last two and one-half minutes with the score tied at 19 and Auburn with the ball.  While Michael Dyer did a lot of the heavy-lifting, it was Newton that led the charge down the field to where the Tigers were able to kick the winning field goal with no time left on the clock to give the Alabama Plains faithful their second national title in football and first in 53 years.

Along the way, Newton was responsible for 50 touchdowns (30 TD passes and 20 TD runs) and was named the landslide winner of the Heisman Trophy.  He’s likely to be a relatively high first round draft pick in the National Football League in three months, which will make him a millionaire and possibly set for life financially.  

Funny to think that at this time a year ago, he was just another JUCO quarterback set to take a shot at Division I football.  Could he have conceived of a more glorious scenario than what transpired over these last five months?  

Whether you are a fan of the 6'6" 250 pound signal caller or not, you have to appreciate the fairy-tale quality of what has occurred and acknowledge that, despite our inherent cynicism, dreams can come true…and then some!


See all of Todd Christensen's blog postings HERE.
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