For one of the few times in his life, Cam Newton has been upstaged by a sibling. And, not surprisingly, the former Auburn star and Heisman Trophy winner is more than OK with that.
Howard University, an HBCU in Washington D.C., went out to Las Vegas this past weekend as a 45-point underdog to UNLV. Led in large part by Caylin Newton, Cam’s younger brother, the FCS school stunned the Rebels in a 43-40 win that serves as the biggest point-spread upset in college football history.
Tuesday, Newton had plenty to say about the size of the heart his 5-11, 194-pound brother possesses -- and the fact that he actually has a first name as well.
“I’ve got my hands full of trying to follow up a great performance by him,’' Cam Newton said according to ESPN.com. “I just see all of the notoriety he’s been getting. I’ve just been seeing a lot of, ‘Cam Newton’s little brother. Cam Newton’s little brother.’
“I would just prefer his name be Caylin. He’s deserved that right.’ ...
“He’s a very undersized quarterback. But yet, it doesn’t measure the heart that he has, what he brings to the table. He has that ‘it’ factor to have guys follow him. That’s what you want in your quarterback.”
And, it seems, it was lessons learned from the older brother that the younger brother took to heart and paid dividends for both the player and his team.
“You can tell your kids everything they’re about to go through, but as soon as they go through it they’re like, ‘Man, I remember you telling me,’ '' he said. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, I told you.’”