Every time the Carolina Panthers score a touchdown, Cam Newton celebrates by giving the ball away to a fan. It turns out when he did it on Sunday, it had a little more meaning than it typically might.
The football Cam Newton chased down to give away went to a 6-year-old who recently lost his father
After a second-quarter touchdown, Newton gave the ball to a young Panthers fan in the stands.
That fan is 6-year-old Colin Toler, who was attending the game with his grandfathers just weeks after his father died on Sept. 30, according to WSET13. According to the report, Toler’s father had promised to take Colin to a Panthers game but died from a medical condition. Friends gave Colin and his family tickets and he was able to attend the game. When Newton headed his way after the touchdown, Toler didn’t know what to think.
“I was like oh gosh, oh gosh,” Toler said via WSET13. “Am I going to be on the big screen or am I going to be on TV? I was jumping up and down like yeah!”
He got more than just being on TV, walking away with a very memorable souvenir.
For his part, Newton did not know the story behind Colin attending the game. He just gave a fan a ball like he does all the time. He went out of his way to do it, too. Newton went searching for the ball after the score, but Julius Peppers had it and tossed it aside.
Newton was not deterred. He tracked it down to give away and made a young fan’s day by doing so.
“The back people were like, ‘can I take your picture?’ And I was like yeah,” Toler said. “And the side people gave me high fives and stuff, it was pretty fun.”
