Keidel: Newton, Palmer Very Different QBs Eyeing Same Goal
By Jason Keidel
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America's game welcomes a wide swath of people, personalities and performances.
Enter Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers and Carson Palmer of the Arizona Cardinals, who, other than winning the Heisman Trophy, don't seem to have much in common.
Palmer is a laconic, understated man who plays a hard position with modest aplomb. Few players in NFL history have taken a longer road to the conference championship game than the Cardinals' QB.
By contrast, Newton seemed to have been born to athletic eminence. Built like a linebacker, legs like a wideout, arm like a howitzer, Newton seems to have assumed the video-game contours of Bo Jackson in Tecmo Bowl.
While Palmer (6-5, 235 pounds) is hardly a small man, he and Newton appear to be on different levels of evolution. The Carolina QB is so massive, gifted and bold, you wonder how any team can corral him for four quarters. At least this year, no one has.
Palmer is the quintessential pocket passer, relying entirely on his right arm. Newton is the Swiss Army knife of quarterbacks, able to gut you with bombs or 30-yard gallops. Other than Ben Roethlisberger, it's hard to think of anyone who requires more group tackling than the 6-5, 250-pound Newton.
They certainly are on opposite ends of their respective career arcs. At 36, Palmer is the classic graybeard trying to bag a ring before retirement, one creaky joint at a time. Palmer is a walking billboard for liniment. From his mangled limbs to his famously wrapped index finger, he seems to be playing despite the fortunes of football, not because of them.
While no one ever doubted Palmer's ability -- he just posted club records with 4,671 yards and 35 touchdowns, and led the NFL in total QBR, at 82.1 -- it seemed he was fated for playoff failure. When the Bengals were loaded in 2005, he blew out his knee. When the Cardinals were loaded in 2014, he blew out his knee.
But it speaks to his talent and temerity that he's 60 minutes from Super Bowl 50. And while he may not be the best of the final four quarterbacks jousting for a title, he may be flanked by the most talent. John Brown, Michael Floyd and big-game behemoth Larry Fitzgerald will surely make Palmer's job much easier.
At 26, Newton is just, well, killing it. Great players make it look easy. And no one makes football look more facile than Newton, even if no one else can quite do what he does.
Like Palmer, Newton passed for 35 scores, but also led all quarterbacks in rushing yards (636) and touchdowns (10). Bill Parcells said you are what your record says you are. If that's the main metric -- and no position is more tethered to wins or losses than an NFL quarterback -- then Newton is easily the league MVP.
All the concerns about Newton -- the me-first mantras, the postgame gripes and the excessive pouting when things don't go his way -- have been way more muted. Fans are still chafed by his convulsive first-down and touchdown dances. But many of them would gladly trade their jeers for cheers if Newton were under center in their city.
Would Newton be even better if he had Palmer's phalanx of all-world wideouts? Or is his game fueled by ample improvisation? Since his Panthers are 15-1, it's hard to argue with his electric persona or his performance.
Both were made and meant to be quarterbacks. Palmer in football-rich California, where he was groomed by QB gurus and starred for perennial power USC. Newton, born in football-rabid Georgia, took a more circuitous root to college stardom -- some of it his own doing -- but once he put his physical and metaphysical powers in order, he became a force.
Football is billed as the ultimate team game, built on parity, trading on the wholly American notion that you can go from nothing to something in quick time. But not without a quarterback, which brings the paradox of needing a singular player to elevate a selfless ethic.
Palmer and Newton. Cam and Carson. Both have regal names and regal games. Just as there are myriad solutions to the same problem, there are many ways to win football games. But not without a quarterback. With new school Newton vs. old school Palmer, we should all be taking notes this Sunday.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel