If you’ve been following the New England Patriots for the past month, you’ve probably read and heard all about the “energy” Cam Newton has brought to his new team.
But what exactly does this mean?
Dancing in stretched lines and noisy after-game celebrations are part of it, of course. But Newton’s life-filled technique for the game can also be noticed through more sophisticated gestures.
One example: Newton, who joined the Patriots less than two months ago, already has a traditional handshake for his offensive teammates: talented players and linemen.
“We’ve had the same handshake for years, just a bird sign,” receiver Damiere Byrd, who played with Newton for four seasons in Carolina, said Wednesday in a video conference. “Obviously, my last call is Byrd.Array … Everyone in the clique has their own handshake. And it’s just a way to give power and make the environment vibrate and really unite everyone.”
Left tackle Isaiah Wynn has known Newton for just a few short weeks, and the two already have what Wynn called a “dope” shake.
“He has his own handshake with everyone, ” said Wynn. “Enter and energize everyone.”
When asked Wednesday about the genesis of those handshakes, Newton said he was encouraged to see an athlete superstar from another sport: LeBron James.
“I’m going to be fair to you, like I bit someone else’s purpose with LeBron, ” said Newton with a smile. “I saw LeBron years ago having other handshakes for users on the list. And I thought, “Dude, that’s pretty good.”
Handshakes serve two purposes, Newton said: to animate the team’s morale and keep the former NFL Most Valuable Player on guard. Remembering a dozen or more custom greetings can’t be the simplest task, and Newton knows he’ll disappoint his teammates if it fails.
“A kind of handshake for a user talks about the quotes they might have with that express user,” Newton explained. «… But when I started doing this, I started to realize how some handshakes just become what that particular user knows. So it was a lot of fun, and surprisingly the guy knows me and perceives my power level, (I know) it takes once to do it and another time not to, someone’s going to say, ‘Hey, man. , I didn’t squeeze my hand.
“We all have indirect and direct tactics to empower others, and that helps keep you locked up in (during) practices so we can keep everyone’s power at a record level.”
Newton believes that bringing energy to the educational field, walk-in closets and any other team environment is “extremely important.” In his mind, a positive outlook is important to triumph over the obstacles of any season that the 2020 Patriots must face in the first year of the post-Tom Brady era.
In short, Newton needs his power point – his “vibra”, he called it – “more or less the norm” in New England.
“Entering that locker room has been such a clever power here that I just want to make sure I do my part,” he said. “Even though we may have a dull day on the offensive, it’s just my job as one of the predetermined leaders in my position to make sure that both of you know we need to improve. We want to make sure we hold others accountable and that’s all I try to do one or both days.
“So, for me, it doesn’t matter if it comes with a handshake, no matter if you just jump up and down, no matter if you stand up front to tell them a joke, those things can happen when I focus.” in others and smart, but more or less, it’s just that I consider myself guilty more than anything else Array because I pass through a code and stick to the code if you say something to Fix, you better make sure to keep you under control as well. And that’s what I’m looking to do.”
Newton appears to have taken a dominant lead over Jarrett Stidham and Brian Hoyer in the Patriots quarter-final competition, monopolizing reps in exercises 7-7 and 11-11 since last Thursday. Still, the 31-year-old said he himself was not the team’s starting quarterback.
“Absolutely not, ” he said. “Every day is one-day paintings for me, and that label is not for me right now.”