Panthers All-Time Top 5 QBs: Making People Stupid

Re-contextualizing Cam Newton in retrospect, remembering the tumultuous Kerry Collins and satisfying that hankering for some fast-food chicken.

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1. Cam Newton

I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon. – Cam Newton to Peter King, February, 2011.

Cam Newton makes people stupid. – Darin Gantt, 4,267,943 times.

Newton is the avocado toast of quarterbacks.

Newton, like avocado toast, reached American consciousness in the very early 2010s. Both are enjoyable and have a lot of merits: Newton was an intermittently outstanding quarterback, while avocado toast is a tasty, nutritious breakfast or lunch. Neither is all that new and controversial: avocado toast is basically an open-faced BLT or green bruschetta and has been around for decades, while Newton walked a trail (more of a zigzag path) blazed by Randall Cunningham and many others. 

Most notably, both Newton and avocado toast became lightning rods at the epicenter of a brain-pulverizingly idiotic culture war. If someone sought a divisive hot-button buzzword to trigger auto-response salvos across the red-blue/old-young sociopolitical No Man’s Land of the late 2010s, that individual needed only invoke a slice of bread smeared with guacamole and spices or the Icon and Entertainer. (Yoga pants were also acceptable.)

Longtime readers know I love the Facebook father-in-law trope: the grouchy old white guy who isn’t at all racist/homophobic/etc. – just ask him – but wants everyone in the Neighborhood Grievances group to know that his Ring camera spotted a “suspicious” character walking around town in the middle of the afternoon. America’s Facebook father-in-laws had very strong opinions about avocado toast (it prevented young people from paying college tuition and mortgages) and Newton (overrated, selfish, pretty-boy scrambler who cannot read a defense) in the last decade. 

Or did they? The whole avocado toast meme was popularized and disseminated by professional outrage peddlers specifically so terminally-online Millennials would take the bait and publicly rend their garments in outrage and despair. And it worked! You probably only remember the avocado toast/mortgage “debate” filtered through overheated reactions to it. It’s safe to say this sideshow distraction of a talking point did not lead to a more nuanced/informed/useful national conversation about mortgage rates or potential solutions to housing issues: most folks dished out some self-important snark on one side or the other, then waited for the next youth-sports participation trophy debate to flare up.

As for Newton, many grumpy grampys certainly held him in contempt, often for not-so-carefully coded racial reasons. But gosh, we didn’t have to spend Newton’s whole career taking the cheese and letting the haters and reactionaries define the parameters of the Newton narrative. Nor did we have to become protective of Newton and overcorrect that narrative, as I think many media types (myself included) did at times. 

It's funny to hear a female talk about routes like -- it's funny. – Newton in response to a question from Jourdan Rodrigue, 2017.

Newton had a gift for scoring own-goals: lots of NFL players (and grouchy grandpas) tacitly scoff at female reporters, but Newton lacked the self-editorial skills to not blurt out an offensive remark. Steve Smith has spent years re-contextualizing his stormy relationship with Newton, usually by putting a positive spin on past complaints about Newton’s “maturity.” Lots of quarterbacks play poorly in Super Bowls. None that I can recall showed up for their post-game pressers wearing leave-me-alone hoodies and stormed off in a huff after two minutes.

I always felt unspoken pressure to downplay such matters. Bleacher Report, in particular, was Pro-Cam, a stance which ended up laden with its own baggage. Many of my readers in the late 2010s were likely to react to an insight like “Ya’ know, maybe Newton needs to grow up a smidge” with the same YOU SHALL BURN, BLASPHEMER fervor with which they reacted to, “Gosh, maybe cutting back on overpriced breakfast goodies and other creature comforts might help you reach some financial goals.” It wasn’t worth it, especially when I was likely to end up under the same tent as the Facebook father-in-laws.  So I would write about Newton and wonder: am I being laudably anti-racist with this take, or am I just stanning for a young man who is playing poorly and acting like a big weenie? I did not always trust my own answers.

Cam Newton, in other words, was making ME stupid, particularly after Super Bowl 50, when it became clearer every year that his career was not going to have long second or third acts. 

Newton spurred the zone-read revolution as a rookie in 2011: young dual threats from Jalen Hurts to Jayden Daniels owe Newton (and Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin, Colin Kaepernick, Tim Tebow and others) a debt of gratitude for making designed quarterback runs an acceptable NFL tactic. Newton was absolutely breathtaking in 2015 and pretty good in a few other seasons. Injuries took a mighty toll on his career. But so did Newton’s unwillingness to conform to expectations or conduct himself like a conventional quarterback. Perhaps non-conformity is laudable, but it sometimes has its consequences, whether the cool kids on the Internet accept that or not. Newton acted like an overgrown kid at times, and folks like that can be fun to appreciate from a distance but a nonstop headache to deal with every day at work. 

Can we be honest? The reason why they released me is because indirectly I was going to be a distraction, without being the starter. Just my aura. That’s my gift and my curse. – Newton, per Ben Volin, Boston Globe.

Newton understands why his career was cut short. Self-knowledge is a gift. He appreciates himself for who he is. Let’s do the same. 

2. Jake Delhomme

When viewed in hindsight, the results of many Super Bowls feel preordained by the nature of their quarterback matchups. Roger Staubach versus Craig Morton? We know who is winning that one. Terry Bradshaw versus Vince Ferragamo? Same. John Elway versus Chris Miller? Patrick Mahomes versus Jimmy Garoppolo? Get serious.

When non-legendary quarterbacks win Super Bowls, they are generally pitted against other non-legends. Trent Dilfer’s Ravens beat Kerry Collins’ Giants. Joe Flacco’s Ravens beat Colin Kaepernick’s 49ers. Brad Johnson outdueled Rich Gannon in Super Bowl XXXVII, Jim Plunkett bested Ron Jaworski in Super Bowl XV. There are exceptions, which we will get to in the Giants and Washington segments, but there are not many of them. Legendary quarterbacks beat mere mortals in Super Bowls. It’s what makes them legendary.

Sometimes, a legend swats away a near-great like Boomer Esiason, Matt Ryan or Donovan McNabb. Maybe Newton also belongs in that category. In those situations, the near-great is often consigned to historical purgatory: the Hall of Very Good, or the Land of Tarnished Legacies. When a Miller, Ferragamo, Joe Kapp or Stan Humphries wanders onto pro football history’s greatest stage, however, he becomes a trivia question or a curiosity for history buffs like me. And that’s where Jake Delhomme comes in. 

Delhomme went undrafted out of University of Southwestern Louisiana. The Saints signed him and shipped him off to the World League of American Football, which operated as a developmental league at the time. He returned and stuck as a Saints backup for several years. 

The Panthers signed Delhomme in 2003 to compete with Rodney Peete for their starting job. Peete won the job in camp, then lost it at halftime of the season opener. Delhomme led a comeback win off the bench. The Panthers won a 12-9 overtime squeaker the next week. They would win three other overtime games, including a playoff game, losing one. Delhomme led five regular-season fourth quarter comebacks. 

With his Cajun drawl, unorthodox style and flair for the dramatic, Delhomme drew comparisons to Brett Favre. “Don't really know him, but he seems like a great guy,” Delhomme once said of Favre. “He likes to hunt more than I do. I like to shovel s--- because of the horses. I guess that would be a difference.”

Delhomme led the Panthers to the Super Bowl, where he faced Tom Brady’s Patriots. 

This wasn't the easiest week for the rabbit-eating Cajun from Breaux Bridge, La. All week he was Mary Ann to Tom Brady's Ginger. Brady was called the new Joe Montana. Brady had that Joe Namath dimple women love, that pick-proof caution coaches love and that rescue-the-damsel winning streak press-box poets love.

Delhomme? The best anybody could think to say of him was that he threw a decent enough ball for a sidearmer. Delhomme was the one who was a backup for the Amsterdam Admirals, the one who wasn't even Carolina's starter when the season began. You know the quarterback who was at the State of the Union Address? It wasn't Delhomme. – Rick Reilly, Sports Illustrated, February, 2004.

Delhomme was erratic early in Super Bowl XXXVIII. The Patriots took a 21-10 lead in the fourth quarter. The Panthers answered with a touchdown. Brady threw an interception. Delhomme threw a touchdown pass to give the Panthers a 22-21 lead (they kept failing on two-point conversions). Brady led a touchdown drive, capping it with a touchdown pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel. Delhomme answered, capping his drive with a touchdown to Ricky Proehl. The score was tied with 1:13 to play. Color commentator John Madden wanted the Patriots to take a knee and play for overtime. Brady and fate had other plans. He was destined to lead a field goal drive and become a legend, with Madden admitting his tactical mistake on the air. Delhomme was destined to stay on the field after the loss until the ushers all-but dragged him off. 

"I guess I just wanted it to hurt as much as possible," Delhomme said after the game, per the Reilly column quoted above. "I wanted to watch the celebration so that it could hurt, so I could remember it, for motivation."

Delhomme grew into his role as a starter. He finished 13th in the NFL in DYAR in 2004, 10th while leading the Panthers to the NFC Championship Game in 2005. With Steve Smith leading his playmaker corps, Delhomme acquired a wily gunslinger reputation. He and Smith even starred in some Dukes of Hazzard-themed Bojangles restaurant commercials.

A thumb injury sidelined Delhomme at the end of the 2006 season. An elbow injury ended his season after three games in 2007. Delhomme underwent Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2008, and the Panthers went 12-4, with Delhomme finishing 12th in DYAR and leading four more fourth-quarter comebacks. 

The Panthers faced the Cardinals in the playoffs on Delhomme’s 34th birthday. They were 10-point favorites at home. They got massacred 33-13 due to five interceptions and a fumble by Delhomme. "I'm at a loss for words," Delhomme said after the game. "Disappointed. Extremely disappointed. I don't know what else to say. My fault. I should get the blame. It's inexcusable."  

The Panthers signed Delhomme to a five-year, $42-million extension after the 2008 playoff meltdown. On the one hand, he was the most successful quarterback in franchise history, coming off a 12-win season. On the other, he was 34 and coming off both elbow surgery and a playoff disaster. Delhomme had some very shaky games in 2008 – three interceptions against the Buccaneers, four against the Raiders – and was a low-stat game manager in many of the wins. Coaches and management had to have some sense that his skills had rapidly deteriorated. But they extended him anyway.

Delhomme threw four interceptions and lost a fumble in the 2009 season opener. He threw two interceptions in a loss to the Cowboys, three in a loss to the Bills. John Fox refused to bench Delhomme, shutting down weekly questions with the stock phrase “he gives us the best chance to win.”  

Delhomme broke a finger late in a four-interception loss to the Jets that began with a Darrelle Revis pick-6. Fox finally had no choice but to relieve his desiccated husk of a starter. “If his finger wasn't an issue, I couldn't with a straight face make a change,” Fox said at the time, with a straight face. Matt Moore led the Panthers on a too-little, too-late end-of-season hot streak. Delhomme was waived the following March. He bounced around the league a bit, then returned to his true calling: chicken commercials.  

Delhomme’s best statistical seasons as a passer never lined up with the Panthers’ best seasons. His would-be Super Bowl comeback got Brady’d. His final playoff game and final season in Charlotte left a sour taste. Newton soon rewrote the Panthers record book and team history, though his saw-toothed career mirrors Delhomme’s in some ways. If Steve Smith ever reaches the Hall of Fame, it may force us to remember what an entertaining and successful quarterback Delhomme was for many years. 

If not, we’ll always have Bojangles.

3. Kerry Collins

That 1995 Panthers team — the first in Carolina history — was loaded with characters, commoners and cast-offs. Everyone was from somewhere else. Most had been told “No” by at least one NFL team.

“When that 1995 team first got together, we were kind of like the island of misfit toys,” said Dwight Stone, a special teams ace for that squad. “You know those toys that you used to have and no one wants to play with them anymore, but they’re still in pretty good condition? And then one time you pull them out and start playing with them and you remember why you got ‘em in the first place? It was the same thing here.” – Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, February 6, 2023.

Collins, a cannon-armed 6-foot-5 pocket passer, was the Panthers’ top pick in their first-ever expansion draft. He started the season backing up Frank Reich and Jack Trudeau, but took over in Week 3 when Reich was ineffective. 

The Panthers practiced in Charlotte but played at Clemson University that year; Fowler’s feature quoted above is full of tales from the 10-hour bus rides to and from games. Led by Sam Mills and Lamar Lathon, the misfit toys went 7-9 in their inaugural season, making them the best first-year expansion team in NFL history. Collins ranked 29th in DYAR but at least generated some big plays with his deep passing.  

Edge rusher Kevin Greene, tight end Wesley Walls and cornerback Eric Davis joined the Panthers in 1996. They rocketed to 12-4, then beat the Troy Aikman-led Cowboys in the playoffs before falling to Brett Favre’s Packers in the conference championship. Collins cut way down on his sacks and turnovers, ranking 10th in DYAR. Stardom appeared imminent. 

Behind the scenes, however, problems were beginning to manifest.

Collins apparently has the kind of relationship with a small group of black players on the team in which they can occasionally trade racial epithets, in jest, without offending one another. It has gone on for years and players say there have never been any problems.

But at a players-only party to celebrate the end of training camp several weeks ago, Collins, according to two players who were present, used a racial epithet with wide receiver Muhsin Muhammad, apparently thinking he had the same kind of leeway with Muhammad that he did with some of his other black teammates. In what context the racial slur was used is unclear.

Muhammad became highly upset, and an argument ensued. One player said it almost deteriorated into a fistfight. Eventually, things were calmed down and Collins apologized, according to several players who were at the party. – Mike Freeman, New York Times, August 24th, 1997.

Freeman went on to note that Lathon confronted Collins about his “partying” during the 1996 season.

Collins threw 21 interceptions as the Panthers crashed back to 7-9 in 1997. The Panthers started the 1998 season 0-4. And then … 

Kerry Collins, the player selected with the Panthers' first draft pick, sat down in the Wednesday quarterbacks' meeting and nudged backup Steve Beuerlein. "You're starting," Collins said.

"What are you talking about?" Beuerlein shot back. "Come on, man, this is not April Fool's Day, stop messing around."

"I'm serious," Collins said. "I just told Coach [Dom] Capers my heart's not in it, I'm not happy, and I don't feel like I can play right now."

At odds with some teammates and management for more than a year, the 25-year-old Collins had walked into Capers' office at 8 a.m. and essentially quit the team. Collins, who as of Monday had not spoken about his decision publicly, was deactivated last Friday and did not make the trip to Dallas. Barring a last-minute move before Tuesday's NFL trading deadline, he was expected to be waived by Carolina.

"Kerry was a groomsman in my wedding," says guard Frank Garcia. "But I'm out there playing with an injured knee, a broken finger and bruised knuckles, and I'm bleeding and sweating and I have tears in my eyes, all so I can help block for this guy? I don't know." – David Fleming, Sports Illustrated, October 1998.

The Panthers waived Collins. He signed with Mike Ditka’s Saints, who faced the Panthers in Charlotte a few weeks later. Panthers fans jeered Collins (who did not play in the game). Collins was arrested for driving while intoxicated during the overnight hours after the game. 

Collins sought treatment for alcoholism after the 1998 season. He got his life and career back on track. We will catch up with him in some capacity when we cover the Giants, and we caught a glimpse of him when we covered the Oilers/Titans.

Looking back on the Collins saga, I’m struck by how modern and reasonable it sounds. A young individual leaves college, encounters fortune and fame, doesn’t have his habits under control just yet, jeopardizes his career and friendships, seeks and finds help, gets handled with some measure of acceptance by employers and peers and returns to the top of his profession by his late-20s. It’s a long way from lionizing Bobby Layne for poking cops during traffic stops. Collins is roughly my age, and I know lots of people who walked similar paths, as well as those who strayed. Collins deserved to lose his job with the Panthers, but he also deserved his second chance, and I am happy to tell a story that lacks a tragic ending.

4. Steve Beuerlein

Beuerlein started for Notre Dame during their mid-1980s down years. The Raiders drafted him in 1988 and noodled with him for several years. He won a Super Bowl ring starting (and winning) four games in relief of Troy Aikman for the 1991 Cowboys. He was the Jaguars’ first starting quarterback, giving way to Mark Brunell early in the 1995 season. He became the Panthers’ starter when Collins nudged him and told him his heart wasn’t in football anymore in 1998. Beuerlein led the NFL with a 63.0% completion rate and finished 15th in the league in DYAR in 12 starts.

In 1999, at age 34, Beuerlein suddenly finished fourth in the NFL in DYAR while throwing for 4,436 yards and 36 touchdowns. The Panthers didn’t have great playmakers: Wesley Walls and Muhsin Muhammad, holdovers from the Collins era, were Beuerlein’s top targets. Nor was he working with a play-calling guru: offensive coordinator Gil Haskell, who survived a regime change from Dom Capers to George Seifert, was just a solid B-lister from the Mike Holmgren tree.  The defense that made the Panthers upstart contenders was gone, but Beuerlein kept the team respectable at 8-8. 

Beuerlein’s signature play of the 1999 season – if not his whole NFL career – was a game-winning touchdown run on a quarterback draw play in Week 13 against the Packers.

"I gave them the play while the timeout was still going on, so they could get their minds around it," Beuerlein said.

He kept his delivery simple.

"Well, you're not going to believe this. But we're running the quarterback draw," Beuerlein told his teammates in the huddle.

Again, there was widespread laughter. Tight end Wesley Walls made it clear that he believed it would make more sense to throw a pass in his direction. After all, Beuerlein had been sharp and precise with his reads and throws the entire game. Walls had posted six catches for 96 yards.

Beuerlein's totals for the day already were staggering. He had completed 29-of-42 passes for 373 yards (then a team record) and three touchdowns without throwing an interception, outdueling Packers quarterback Brett Favre, who had completed 26-of-38 attempts for 302 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

And Walls wasn't Beuerlein's only option he could target. He also could have thrown to one of his wide receivers. Patrick Jeffers and Muhsin Muhammad each had already made eight receptions with Jeffers' piling up 147 yards receiving and catching both of Beuerlein's touchdown passes.

Center Frank Garcia later admitted being flat-out shocked upon hearing that the plan was for Beuerlein to run the ball instead of throw it.

"We were all surprised," Garcia said. "It was really unexpected. We had to hear it again to make sure that we heard the call right. It was a gutsy call."

So Beuerlein tried to settle his teammates down in the huddle and sell them on the fact that they were indeed going to put the game in his hands - or more accurately on his feet.

"Hey guys, I'm serious here. This is the play we're going to run. Just do your jobs," Beuerlein told them. – Joe Menzer, Panthers website, 2019.

You can see Beuerlein’s five-yard run by following the link at the end of the block quote. Beuerlein not only threw three touchdown passes in that comeback against the Packers but four more to beat the 49ers the next week and five to rout the Saints in the season finale. Alas, the Panthers failed to make the playoffs.

Beuerlein took a step back in 2000, leading the NFL with 62 sacks. The Panthers went 7-9. Siefert and owner Jerry Richardson initiated a rebuild. Their quarterback of choice was Jeff Lewis, a former Broncos prospect the Panthers acquired two years earlier. Beuerlein was waived in an unpopular (and bad) decision in the 2001 offseason.

Collins ranks ahead of Beuerlein because leading an expansion team to a historic inaugural season, followed by a trip to the NFC Championship Game, is a greater set of accomplishments than throwing for gobs of yards for a .500 team. Also, the Collins/Beuerlein story makes much more sense in chronological order.

5. Chris Weinke

Jeff Lewis did not work out as a Panthers starter. At all. Fortunately (???), the Panthers chose Weinke in the fourth round of the 2001 draft.

Weinke spent several years after high school in the Toronto Blue Jays farm system. He returned to Florida State (he spent a few days there before choosing baseball) in 1997 and won the Heisman Trophy at age 28. 

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but a 28-year old who is excelling in college athletics is not a prospect with outstanding “poise” and “maturity” but a grown man competing against a bunch of kids.

Actually, I do know who needs to hear that: NFL general managers and decision makers. I’ve talked to real personnel people about overaged prospects, and many just don’t seem able to grasp the concept of the relative-level-of-competition issue. They will say things like: Sure, he’s at his peak now, but we’ll get him at that peak for four years, and that’s plenty! No, no, no: a 28-year old whose peak is college football glory is probably someone who would never have cut it at age 23 in football or baseball (Weinke batted .186 in AAA ball at first base in his final minor league season). He’s likely to play like any other rookie, but without any physical/mental/emotional development ahead of him. Baseball people seem to understand this. Football people still trip over it. And it’s likely to become a bigger issue as NIL keeps players in the college ranks longer. 

Anyway, Weinke was dreadful, the Panthers went 1-15, and Seifert was fired as coach/GM in favor of John Fox and Marty Hurney. Weinke is probably not the fifth-best quarterback in Panthers history, but pickin’s are really slim, and I had a tirade teed up.

6. Teddy Bridgewater

Conducted himself like a pro and managed games reasonably well for Matt Rhule’s 2020 team, which was dreadful because Rhule is a doofus.

7. Rodney Peete

Conducted himself like a pro and managed games reasonably well for John Fox’s 2001 team, which was competitive because Fox, while a doofus, ran a pretty tight ship and had Steve Smith and Julius Peppers on the roster.

8. Sam Darnold

Dear lord. Really? Darnold. Yep. He played well in his first few starts of 2021 and had some sharp games after Rhule got fired midway through 2022. Darnold was never NOT surrounded by doofuses until last year, when he rode the bench for the 49ers. I think he could still end up like Steve Beuerlein and have a surprise year or two given the chance.

9. Matt Moore

Went 4-1 in relief of Jake Delhomme in 2009, nearly got the Panthers in the playoffs and threw the touchdown pass on which Steve Smith broke his arm.

10. Bryce Young

This is a charity/pity choice. The alternatives included P.J. Walker and Jimmy Clausen. Don’t make me regret this, Bryce.