A week after throwing with Mohamed Sanu, Patriots quarterback Cam Newton was on the field this week with another new teammate who will be catching passes from him this fall.
Newton organized a workout with Patriots 2019 first-round pick N’Keal Harry on the UCLA campus in Los Angeles that was expertly documented by John Aguero of EBA Sports.
Newton and Harry have spoken frequently since the former NFL MVP signed with New England, and the two Patriots teammates met and worked out together for the first time on Thursday.
The Pats hopefully prolific duo threw for about an hour running plays that they’ll be using this season, but Aguero says it was Newton’s presence and natural leadership skills that stood out.
“I’ve been with Jared Goff, Josh Allen, Matt Barkley; they just kind of warmup real quick and throw. But when I went with Cam and N’Keal, it was a presence I’ve never been around,” Aguero told CLNS Media.
“They didn’t just go into working out. Cam went into a whole lecture just telling him [Harry] about the NFL and growing and having a good season. It was electrifying. His presence is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.”
The EBA Sports head explained that Newton’s mentoring of Harry lasted about 20 minutes, followed by a warmup, and then the ball started spinning from Newton’s hand to Harry’s mitts.
“The way the ball flies, you can hear that spiral [with Cam Newton]. It’s insane. They did well,” said the EBA Sports founder.
Aguero says that the Newton-Harry team-up was as unique of a workout as he has ever seen, which includes filming players from the Los Angeles Rams, and Buffalo Bills, among other NFL teams.
The main difference was that Newton took his time getting into the workout, mentoring Harry, and waiting until everyone was comfortable to ramp things up to full speed.
“It took 40 minutes to start running routes, but he [Newton] took his time to get in the zone. I feel like he knew when he was going to get in the zone. It was just different,” Aguero explained.
After about an hour of throwing, two more surprise guests came to catch up with Newton.
“Next thing you know [Odell Beckham Jr.] shows up. Then after that [rapper] Blueface shows up. It was crazy,” the EBA Sports founder said.
Newton and Beckham, who is currently under contract with the Cleveland Browns, are friends, and Beckham regularly catches passes from the Pats quarterback in the offseason.
Former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady’s very public friendship with Beckham started rumors of the Pro Bowl receiver coming to New England; those whispers might continue with Newton in the fold.
“Cam already knows OBJ’s routes. They’ve been throwing a little bit together.” Aguero said.
Aguero, a Los Angeles native, says that his connection to NFL players started after his High School history teacher and strength and conditioning coach, Jeff McCann of McCann Sports performance, opened his own gym and called on Aguero to do some promotional work. The EBA sports founder also credits Jamal Tooson, Harry’s agent, and Travelle Gaines of Athletic Gaines for giving him his start.
“I said, ‘I took a video production class in High School, and I have a GoPro at home, I can swing by, and just record and then I can help you grow your YouTube.’ That’s how I started. I built it through connections. My thing just got bigger and bigger.”
Now, Aguero gets calls from Harry, Bills running back Zack Moss, and others to document their offseason workouts so they can share them with fans on social media.
As for Newton and Harry, the two will try to link up again before the start of training camp at the end of the month as Harry bounces back and forth between Los Angeles and Houston, where he trains with Rischad Whitfield (aka Footwork King).
Newton was also throwing to Patriots rookie tight end Devin Asiasi, who lives in the Los Angeles area and is working out six times a week near UCLA’s campus, although that workout was separate from Thursday’s session with Harry.
After working with Harry this week, Sanu last week, and Asiasi in between, one thing is for sure; Newton isn’t wasting any time getting to know his new Patriots teammates.
