Madden 2013: Cover Diss Adds Fuel to the Fire for Panthers' Cam Newton

So the voters didn’t think Cam Newton was worthy of the Madden 2013 cover.

Beware NFC South.

While Calvin Johnson was certainly a worthy choice, you can bet Newton is going to use this diss as motivation to have a monstrous year. If over 651,000 voters don’t deem him worthy now…they sure will next year.

It was clear that the larger-than-life personality of Newton would have loved to be on the cover. He even made a video trying to convince fans to pick him. You can’t deny he must be feeling slighted for not getting the nod after such a ridiculous season.

Newton is fresh off winning Rookie of the Year, en route to registering 4,051 yards, 21 TDs and 17 INTs through the air and 706 yards and 14 TDs on the ground. Those numbers are silly even for a season’s worth of Madden. He set an NFL record for rushing TDs by a QB, and became the first ever QB to throw for 4,000 yards and rush for 500 in the same season.

And he was a rookie…in a lockout-shortened year that robbed him of valuable practice time with his teammates in the summer.

Now with a full year under his belt, a full offseason to work with the Panthers coaching staff, the Madden snub motivation and RB Mike Tolbert now on board, the expectations are going to be even higher.

Then there is the whole Saints Bountygate situation, which means the division is wiiiide open. Are the Atlanta Falcons going to be a strong team again? I’m not convinced. Tampa Bay is still a ways away and that leaves a Panthers team that has really shored up a horrendous defense to give this team some serious sleeper potential.

With the fear of the Madden curse not hanging above him like some sort of dark and dreary cloud, Newton is going to end up with another jaw-dropping season.

Are Newton and the Panthers playoff bound?

Don’t be shocked.

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