Panthers legend, Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly campaigns for Cam Newton to receive massive honor

On the Thursday ahead of Super Bowl LX, fans officially learned that retired linebacker and Carolina Panthers legend Luke Kuechly had been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for the class of 2026. 

During a recent chat with Joseph Person of The Athletic, Kuechly campaigned for former Carolina quarterback Cam Newton to also be enshrined in Canton. Newton will be eligible to become a first-ballot Hall of Famer next year. 

Luke Kuechly: Cam Newton was one of the most dominant players in NFL history

"I think he was one of the most dominant players in the NFL at any position," Kuechly said about Newton. "He won an MVP. He’s been in the Super Bowl. He’s been an All-Pro. He’s been a Pro Bowler. When people think about Cam, he was so dominant and so much better of an athlete. He was bigger than everybody. He could rip it. He could run through guys. He could run around guys. He was so dominant — not just at the quarterback position, but in the NFL. That’s what everybody needs to really think about (with) the Hall of Fame. And the dominance (with) which he played the game is what I think needs to be talked about the most. He was just so much better than everybody else on the field. There wasn’t much he couldn’t do."

As Kuechly referenced, Newton earned regular-season Most Valuable Player Award honors for the 2015 campaign as he guided the Panthers to Super Bowl 50. However, Carolina suffered a 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos that Sunday, and that season proved to be the best of Newton's career. 

From 2011 through 2021, Newton tallied one first-team All-Pro nod, three Pro Bowl selections and three total playoff victories. His last postseason win occurred in January 2016. 

Cam Newton was a larger-than-life figure in multiple ways

"Go look at pictures of him in the huddle with people (or) when we’d go out for the coin toss (against) teams you wouldn’t play a lot," Kuechly added about Newton. "You’d walk out and shake hands with Cam Jordan with the Saints or Lavonte David with the Bucs, they’d know how big Cam is. But when you go play a team from the AFC that’s never played Cam, and they’d walk out before the game, they’re like, 'Holy smokes, this guy’s gigantic.'" 

That's all well and good, but recent history suggests Newton will have to wait before he receives a Hall-of-Fame visit that may or may not ever happen. This winter, New York Giants icon and two-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Eli Manning fell short of being selected as a Hall of Famer for a second straight year. Others who have earned at least two Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Awards during their careers are already Hall of Famers or are considered locks to be enshrined in Canton at some point down the road.