Super Cam Returns

 
     It's not every day that a multimillionaire, multi-talented athlete with his own statue in front of the stadium whom left school early returns to get his degree. Yesterday, at my school at least, that happened. Yesterday, Super Cam returned.

      At this point, I feel borderline insulted having to explain who exactly Cam Newton is but I do realize that somehow some people just don't know. I'll briefly run through the highlights. In 2007 and 2008, Cam was the backup quarterback at the University of Florida to the biggest name in college football at the time, Mr. Timothy Tebow. In 2009, he won his first national championship as the starting quarterback at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. The next year, he became a superstar in his own right, shattering nearly every major college record for his position as the starting quarterback of the Auburn Tigers football team, winning the Heisman Trophy and his second national championship along the way.
     Having done everything one could possibly do in college football short of being handed a diploma, Cam made the exciting leap to the NFL, being drafted in the top spot on April 28, 2011. He received the largest shoe and apparel contract for an incoming NFL rookie in history before ever playing a second as a pro. In his first game with the Carolina Panthers, after signing a $22 million contract at the age of 22, he broke a Peyton Manning rookie record. Despite losing more games than he won that year, he was selected to play in the Pro Bowl, the annual exhibition showcase of the NFL's elite.

     At the same time, Cam could be seen appearing regularly in commercials for Under Armour, Beats by Dre, and Foot Locker, among others, hobnobbing with Katy Perry, on a billboard in Times Square, modeling for GQ, on an actual limited edition bottle of Gatorade, and more T-shirts and merchandise than you can shake a stick at. There's a cutout or display of him in seemingly nearly every store in the Auburn mall. He's also been immortalized in the opening lines of a Lil Wayne song (one of the truest tests of fame) and has found time start his very own clothing line and his own foundation for children.
     Now, at the seasoned age of 23, Cam Newton is making a respectable return to Auburn University, my soon-to-be alma mater, to earn one more award.
     Word leaked on Monday. I, along with a few of my co-workers, were sworn to secrecy. One of the perks of being an office aide in the department where Cam Newton majored is being able to find out when Cam is coming back to school. When I say holding this secret for more than 24 hours was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, I'm not kidding. And that includes calculus.
     Finally, Tuesday morning, news articles began to pop up proclaiming the return of Super Cam. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the Yahoo! Sports headline. I had to hold my secret no longer.
     Tuesday afternoon at Auburn was utter chaos. Seriously. Twitter and Facebook were on fire with reports of sightings, well-wishes, and musings as to what he was driving and where he was living. An inordinate amount of students milled around in the lobby of the building he was reported to be in. It's a wonder he got out alive. Everywhere you went, friends would breathlessly ask each other, "Have you seen him?!" There was very little doubt as to who "he" was.

     I'm happy for Cam. Coming back to obtain his degree is commendable and sets a great example for all those who look up to him. Since his original time at Auburn, Cam has never shied away from being a role model and mentor for kids and I am proud to call him my peer, academically speaking. I hope that sometime in the near future, perhaps after everyone has had their "Cam sighting", Cam Watch '13 can die down and this superstar athlete can quietly attend school in his spare time and get the degree he's worked hard to earn. I wish him luck and success, both in the classroom and out of it, and hope against hope that just maybe I'll run into him at McDonald's one day and just maybe he'll have a job opening.