Cam Newton Snubbed from the College Football Hall of Fame class of 2026

The College Football Hall of Fame class of 2026 was revealed on January 14th, and there were some notable names who made the cut, legends of the game such as Aaron Donald, Ndamukong Suh, Heisman winner Mark Ingram, and many more

There was one glaring omission from the list, though: the Auburn-turned-Panthers legend Cam Newton.

Newton is widely known as one of the best quarterbacks in the history of college football and arguably had the best single season of all time, which of course led to him being the No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, going to Carolina.

Wait. So Cam Newton, who authored the greatest single season in college football history for Auburn in 2010, was not voted into the College Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

If he's not a Hall of Famer, there's no such thing.
— Kevin Scarbinsky (@KevinScarbinsky) January 15, 2026

Newton, in his lone season as the Auburn starting quarterback, lit the college football world on fire, leading the Tigers to an undefeated 14-0 record and a national championship, the university’s first since 1957.

Newton also won the Heisman, and deservedly so; he threw 30 touchdown passes and had 20 rushing touchdowns. Oh, and if that’s not enough, he also caught a touchdown pass in his one year of dominance at Auburn.

These are absurd stats that someone can even reach on their College Football 26-player. The fact that he wasn’t the first person accepted into this class is mind-boggling beyond belief and completely invalidates the selection process as a whole.

The stats don’t tell the full story either. Auburn wasn’t the most talented team that year, unlike 2019 LSU with first-round picks galore around the QB. Newton’s team had three other draft picks, with only one first-rounder who was on defense; the other two were both seventh-rounders.

Cam Newton could’ve taken ANYONE to the national championship in 2010 😳

“If you put Cam Newton on ANY team in the top 25, that team would win a national championship.” pic.twitter.com/W8XuF3NiJq
— The Right Time with Bomani Jones (@righttimebomani) January 13, 2026

Newton hasn’t commented on his omission himself yet. If he treats this like any other controversy, he’ll be sure to go off about it on his 4th & 1 podcast. The idea of him not making it is so laughable that he may not even need to go on a tangent about it, but if he does, no one will blame him for it.

Before the class was announced, On3’s Andy Staples dropped his seven “no brainers’ for the college football hall of fame, and guess who’s at the top of the list, yup, it’s Cam Newton, listed right above other notable names, some that did make it, like Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh.

NEW: No-brainers for the next College Football Hall of Fame class via @Andy_Staples🏆 https://t.co/4oU776Pi7Q pic.twitter.com/AfrQ92UD7w
— On3 (@On3) June 3, 2025

Now, there will always be fingers pointed at the College Football Hall of Fame; they’ve completely ruined their reputation by not giving Newton his flowers and recognizing him as a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Whenever they come to their senses, whether it’s a second-ballot or third-ballot induction, it'll always be scrutinized, and rightfully so.

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