Carolina Panthers icon Cam Newton recently opened up about how a harrowing car accident reshaped his outlook on life.

Back in 2014, the star quarterback endured a fractured back following a dramatic car collision in Charlotte. Newton found himself hospitalized after his vehicle somersaulted multiple times.

Reflecting on the incident during an episode of Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Newton described the moment vividly.

He recounted driving an elevated truck, which he deemed “too high,” on a day off when his path intersected with another vehicle, resulting in a simultaneous acceleration at an intersection.

“As I’m blowing the horn, he clipped my back left wheel, and it flipped over. And as I’m flipping, I’m saying to myself, ‘Oh my God, not like this. Not like this.'”

After exiting the vehicle, Newton realized how close he had come to flipping off of a bridge.

“That could have been it,” he said. “You don’t know the time, the hour, or the day.”

Cam Newton opened up about a saying his father used to tell him, which rung true after this incident.

“My father would always say, ‘Son, be careful. One day you could be on top of the world, and the next day the world could be on top of you. Do right by people.’ And no matter what you say about Cam Newton, you can never find a person that I did wrong.”

Thankfully, Newton ultimately made a complete recovery from the accident. The subsequent year saw him clinch MVP honors with an impressive tally of 35 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns, leading the Carolina Panthers to an NFC championship.

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