Former Panthers teammates, Jets' guard Greg Van Roten wary of Cam Newton: 'When he is healthy, [he] is a great quarterback'
For Greg Van Roten, a lifelong New York Jets fan, it was a dream come true to sign with the team this offseason. What may not be quite as much of a dream is facing his old teammate with the Carolina Panthers as Cam Newton recently Van Roten in the AFC East.
Signed as a free agent this offseason, Van Roten projects as the starting right guard of a rebuilt Jets offensive line. Over the last three seasons in Carolina, he turned into a steady interior offensive lineman, one with good athleticism and mobility as well as a bit of a nasty streak.
When Van Roten signed with the Jets in March, however, he didn’t anticipate that Newton would sign four months later with New England Patriots. Newton had been the Panthers quarterback since 2011, the Pro Bowl quarterback having been released in late March following an injury-plagued 2019.
Van Roten knows first-hand what Newton brings to a Patriots team that has won every divisional title since 2009.
“Just being around Cam the last three years, I feel like there is this preconceived notion that everyone has on what kind of person and player he is based on all these outside perspectives,” Van Roten told reporters via a conference call last week.
“But being in the locker room with him, seeing how he prepares and how he works and how he takes the game and seeing how he still wants to prove himself. As a friend, I’m excited for him. As a division opponent now, I’m a little like ‘This guy is going to be a force if they can figure it out up there.’ [Bill] Belichick is a great coach and Cam, when he is healthy, is a great quarterback. It is definitely not something we would have hoped for but I think we have a really good team too.
“So I’m excited to see how those games are going to go. Growing up, I was a Jets fan so I always like watching the Patriots games when we played them. So it’s crazy for me to be a part of that now and it is even cooler to play against one of my friends in Cam.”
Growing up on Long Island, Van Roten started following the Jets at a young age. After signing with the team in free agency, he posted a photo of himself from elementary school wearing a Jets uniform.
His three-year deal, worth $10.5 million with the Jets, is the culmination of a lifelong dream to play in New York for his childhood team. It still hasn’t fully sunk in yet, he says.
“It’s like a dream come true. When I was a young kid, I was a huge Jets fan,” Van Roten said.
“Being in elementary school, my fifth grade yearbook – what do you want to be when you grow up? ‘I want to be an NFL player.’ So to get to do was a dream come true and then to get to come to the Jets and walk the hallways and see the posters of all the guys I watched growing up has been incredible so far. Putting on the jersey – it is weird to see myself in a Jets uniform – we had media day the other day and the pictures – it will take some getting used to. But I’m definitely looking forward to it.”
