I thought it would be bigger.
When Cam Newton said ahead of the Panthers matchup with division rival New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football in what amounts to the Panthers theoretical last gasp at a playoff berth that he had a broom hanging in his locker – sent to him from the Saints – after Cameron Jordan, Drew Brees and the Saints beat the Panthers three times in 2017, twice in the regular season and once in the wild-card round of the playoffs, I was picturing a large, comical chimney sweep the likes you would see in Mary Poppins or in the hands of a middle-school janitor.
So I hustled back over to the locker room and peered into Newton’s locker room and sure enough, there it was – a CleanX 2032X Jumbo Indoor/Outdoor Heavy Duty Angle Broom with Grip Handle that according to Amazon, has a 15 inch sweep range.
The packaging is still on – and that’s purposeful.
“If you need any type of boost, spruce, chip on your shoulder versus this game – I have a constant reminder each and everyday when I look at my locker that I was gifted last year and I can’t wait,” said Newton. The quarterback, who is 7-7 in his regular season career against the Saints, was asked if he was referring to the bottle of wine that defensive lineman Cameron Jordan famously sent to Newton after the Saints final victory in 2017.
“Yeah, it’s the wine. And they sent a broom, too. I ain’t taken the [packaging] off – so I’m going to send it to the sender if everything gets taken care of the way we know we can do it.”
Hanging on the left side of Newton’s locker is the broom, a constant reminder every time Newton goes back to change after or before practices or on Sundays this season that the Saints beat him and his team three times – as if this rivalry, that the Panthers lead 24-23, needed any more spice.
The Panthers will need at least one victory over the Saints to get into the playoffs, and likely two – while Cam called the sending of the broom “disrespectful”, the team doesn’t need any extra incentive to go out and get a victory when you’re on a six-game losing streak.
But still, three games last year? A sweep?
“That’s rare that a team beats you three times in one year and we still hold that chip, we still hold that nasty taste,” said defensive tackle Kawann Short. “We’ve got to come out, we’ve got to be ready [and] we’ve got to start fast.”
“They kind of embarassed us last year – they beat us three times, it’s hard to beat a team twice, but those guys beat us three times,” said Captain Munnerlyn.
While Newton looks at the broom as all in good fun – joking that he and Jordan “respecfully dislike each other”, other members in the locker room didn’t even realize the broom was there; Trai Turner said he was looking at it for the first time when we pointed it out to him. Other players, when asked about the broom, assumed we were referring to the video that swept – pardon the pun – social media last season that saw Sean Payton holding a broom in the Saints locker room as the team celebrated their playoff victory.
“At the end of the day, the Saints of this past year and this year….We all know what the Saints used to be, right? So let’s not forget their real history,” said Newton, referring to the Saints pre-Brees decades of mediocrity. Those days are over now as the Saints have already clinched their second consecutive NFC South title. “I mean, they got the juice.”
“But at the end of the day, we’re coming Monday with a cup for our own, too.”
