Hugh Freeze reacts to Auburn retiring Cam Newton’s jersey

It was announced on Monday that the University of Auburn will officially retire Cam Newton‘s No. 2 jersey number this season. The ceremony, which will take place during Auburn‘s game against rival Georgia on Oct. 11, will cement Newton’s legacy at the University forever.

He will be the fourth player to have his number retired in program history, joining Bo Jackson, Pat Sullivan and Terry Beasley. Newton, Jackson and Sullivan are Auburn’s three Heisman Trophy winners.

During his lone season at Auburn in 2010, Newton won the Heisman Trophy, the Maxwell Award, the Walter Camp Award, the Manning Award and the Davey O’Brien Award. Along with also being named a unanimous First Team All-American and College Football Player of the Year, Newton headed a Tiger team that won the 2010 BCS National Championship.

What makes this feat more impressive is that no Auburn offensive player, other than Newton, was selected in the NFL Draft. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze, who was the offensive coordinator at Arkansas State during Newton’s season at Auburn, discussed Newton’s jersey retirement on Wednesday.

Freeze discusses Newton’s jersey retirement

“Man congratulations to Cam Newton on his jersey retirement,” Freeze said. “I think that’s incredible for him and his family and all he did for this program. I got to visit with him last week and kinda knew it was coming and got to celebrate that with him some. So we are very proud of that and it’s obviously very deserving.”

Following his college career, Newton was selected with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers and rose to the top of the sport in 2015 when he was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player.

“The combination of strength and charisma… the dude had fun. He was always having fun and was competitive. Cam Newton is the best (college) football player I’ve ever seen with my eyes,” college football analyst David Pollack said earlier this week. “Look, I’ve seen Johnny (Manziel) and I’ve seen (Tim) Tebow. I’ve seen those guys and I’m not knocking them. But that guy was different and what he did with that 2010 team was un-freaking believable.”

Auburn and Freeze could most certainly use Newton at the quarterback position this season. The Tigers open their 2025 campaign on Aug. 29 in a non-conference clash against Baylor. Kick-off is scheduled for 8:00 PM on FOX.