NEW YORK (AP)-Cam Newton’s selection as the No. 1 pick turned out to be one of the few predictable elements of this most unusual NFL draft.
While the league’s labor dispute played out in the courts, and the commissioner struggled to speak over a howling crowd chanting “We want football,” the draft got under way Thursday night with some surprises.
Newton was not one of them.
The Auburn quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner went to the Carolina Panthers – the worst team in the league – and vowed to immediately fix that. Newton led Auburn to an undefeated season and its first national championship since 1957.
“I’m ready to change this whole organization around, to go from worst to first,” he said. “Just being a Panther is the most special part about this.”