Jan 12, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) celebrates a passing touchdown against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the 2013 NFC divisional playoff football game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

Shocker: No Cam Newton highlight dubbed top moment of 2000s

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Zach Roberts | Last updated Jul 8, 2025 8:14 AM ET

It's pretty difficult to tell the story of the NFL without including Cam Newton. It's especially challenging when the story begins at the turn of the century in 2000. The Carolina Panthers picked Newton 11 years later, and he was easily one of the faces of the sport for the next several seasons.

Despite that, and despite a massive highlight reel of incredible, jaw-dropping plays, the Panthers QB was nowhere to be found on CBS Sports insider Cody Benjamin's list of the 25 best moments of the 2000s and onward.

Newton had highlight-reel plays almost every single game he was on the field. He lit up defenses time and again and did things really no one did before or has done since. Yet, he's absent here. He didn't even get an honorable mention, either.

The 25th best moment, for reference, is Saquon Barkley's reverse hurdle from last season. While that is an incredible play, if it's on the list, something from Newton has to be. Newton's flip over the Houston Texans in 2015 is a perfect example and option, because it came during his best and most notable season.

But that's not all. In 2013, Newton ran literal circles around the New England Patriots on Monday Night Football for one of the most unreal scrambles of all time. That was on primetime, so it deserves a mention as one of the best moments of this century in the NFL.

Newton has countless others: his flipping touchdown run against the Atlanta Falcons, another first-down run when Newton first got hit several yards shy but pushed on (also against the Falcons) through multiple defenders to secure an impossible first down. His touchdown pass around the side of a defender's helmet to Ed Dickson comes to mind, too.

Put simply, as one of the best athletes the NFL has seen this century and one of the most jaw-dropping players in its recent history, it's hard to justify ignoring the Panthers QB entirely on a list like this.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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