The joy on the big quarterback’s face was evident every time he reached the end zone Sunday.
The first time Cam Newton hit paydirt, he looked back at his teammates, pointed to the ground and spiked the football. The second time he scored, he handed the ball to teammate David Andrews and yelled excitedly as his big center spiked it.
Newton had missed this, waited for this, taken a pay cut for this … and by the end of his first game in New England, a 21-11 win over the Miami Dolphins, it was easy to come away thinking we were not only watching the inevitable evolution of the Patriots’ offense, we were also watching the former MVP establish himself as early frontrunner for NFL comeback player of the year.