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Two of the greatest Carolina Panthers of all time have some strong ideas about a certain flashy quarterback and whether he should make the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
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The Panthers in question are former coach Ron Rivera, who is the team’s winningest head coach of all time, and Luke Kuechly, the dazzling linebacker who will be inducted into the NFL’s hall of fame himself in one month.
The quarterback they’re talking about?
Of course, it’s Cam Newton.
Newton will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the first time in 2027. But his induction will be far from a shoo-in this or any other year. The former NFL Most Valuable Player will face a crowded field and is hampered by the fact that he never won a Super Bowl and didn’t have as long a career as some of his competitors.
Kuechly, Rivera and Newton teamed up on the terrific Panthers teams of the 2010s. The best of those teams won 17 games and reached the Super Bowl in 2015, in the midst of making the playoffs four times in five seasons.
I was interviewing Rivera for an unrelated story not long ago when he brought up, with no prompting, that he believes Newton should make the hall of fame.
“For seven seasons, before he hurt his shoulder, Cam Newton was at the top of the NFL,” said Rivera, speaking of the 2011-2017 seasons. “There’s got to be some serious consideration for the hall of fame. And I mean that, because that guy redefined the position.”
In a separate interview a few days later, I asked Kuechly about Newton’s candidacy. Kuechly has already posed for his own bust that will be displayed in Canton, Ohio. He’s been fitted for his own gold jacket. He’s started writing his own induction speech. He will be one of the star attractions in early August, when the Panthers play in the Hall of Fame exhibition game Aug. 6 and Kuechly is inducted two days later.
Kuechly believes Newton should get to go through all of those steps, too, and advocated for Newton’s candidacy.
Of Newton, Kuechly said: “That one dude changed how people defended the quarterback. When he was rolling, he was the best player on the field at all times. I know he was the league’s MVP and a Pro Bowler and all that stuff. But just think about that: Whenever he was on the field, he was the biggest, most physical and best player on it.”
While Kuechly made the hall of fame on his second attempt, that was a rarity. Partly because there is a logjam of worthy players and partly because the hall of fame itself recently changed its rules to make it harder to get in, many tremendous former NFLers get stuck in purgatory.
Former Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith, for instance, once won the NFL triple crown for receiving, ranks among the career league leaders in numerous reception categories and had a career (in terms of games played) about 50% longer than Newton’s.
Still, Smith has been waiting for the HOF call since 2021, and in 2026 didn’t see his hall of fame candidacy advance as far as it did in 2025 among the hall’s 50 voters.
Torry Holt, the former N.C. State star wideout who had a superb NFL career with the St. Louis Rams, has been a top-15 modern-era finalist seven times but has never gotten in (with the new rules, it’s common for only 3-4 modern-era players to make it a year).
And every year new players who have been out of the game at least five years join the eligibility list — this year Ben Roethlisberger, Rob Gronkowski and Adrian Peterson are all possible first-ballot selections. (Bill Belichick, now the head coach at North Carolina but a legendary NFL coach at New England, didn’t make it in his first attempt last season in a separate category. After the blowback that decision received, however, I’d be shocked if Belichick wasn’t a part of the Class of 2027).
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Kuechly doesn’t have to worry about any of that. He’s officially hall of famer No. 386 now. He will be presented by his father, Tom Kuechly, for induction on Aug. 8 and then give an 8-12 minute speech.
“I thought at first 8-12 minutes would be plenty of time,” Kuechly said. “But now I’m realizing all the people I want to thank, and I’m not sure that’s going to be enough.”
Rivera noted that Kuechly’s election might help Newton. He pointed out that Kuechly — who retired early, at age 28 — had eight excellent years in the NFL from 2012-19 where he was arguably the best inside linebacker in the league.
In the former coach’s way of thinking, Newton played at an elite level from 2011-17. Midway through the 2018 season, Newton sustained a massive hit on his throwing shoulder. He had been able to rehab many other aches and injuries before, including to that very shoulder. But after that crushing hit from Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt, neither Newton nor that generation of Carolina teams ever totally recovered.
But, as Rivera said of the QB he entered the NFL with in 2011: “For seven seasons, he was pretty damn good. I mean — NFL (Offensive) Rookie of the Year (in 2011), goes to the Super Bowl and is league MVP (in 2015)…. He should be at least talked about.”
With his ability to run the ball and pick up fourth-and-goals seemingly at will, Newton shepherded in a new version of a running quarterback that is now practiced by Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
“Some of the things that (former Panthers offensive coordinators) Rob Chudzinski and Mike Shula did with him were pretty damn innovative,” Rivera said. “Those guys did some really tremendous things with a very special quarterback.”
On the other hand, Newton played poorly in his one Super Bowl, with his two fumbles on strip-sacks leading directly to two Denver touchdowns in a 24-10 loss. Newton didn’t even attempt to jump on the second fumble, much to everyone’s dismay.
There are many examples of QBs in the hall of fame who never won a Super Bowl, however: Dan Marino, Fran Tarkenton, Warren Moon and Jim Kelly are among them. Most had far longer careers than Newton.
It’s an argument that may be waged for years, particularly if Newton’s candidacy drags on. I’m not a hall of fame voter but do know a number of them. My guess is Newton won’t make it in his first year and may not for several years — but that eventually, he will get in.
Rivera and Kuechly, meanwhile, have staked out their turf. There’s no doubt in their minds: Cam Newton should one day be in the hall of fame.
This story was originally published July 8, 2026 at 5:30 AM with the headline “Campaigning for Cam: Two Panthers greats make their Hall of Fame case for Newton.”
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