Jonathan Stewart Discusses Super Bowl 50

Jonathan Stewart on Super Bowl 50, Cam Newton, and the Denver Broncos

As Opening Night kicked off for the NFL’s Super Bowl 50 week, Carolina running back Jonathan Stewart discussed many aspects of the big game on Sunday, and PPI was there to bring you the best of the best.

Jonathan Stewart finished the regular season with 989 yards in 2015, which was good enough eighth best in the NFL. Stewart now leads all running backs in the post season having rushed for 189 yards through two games. He should be a major factor this Sunday as the Panthers will try to find ways to alleviate the Denver Bronco pass rush.

(Stewart on the Denver Broncos defense) “I think it’s a great match up, two good defenses, two stellar offenses. Just comes down to who executes on Sunday and a part of that is making sure that the preparation this week is, as it’s been all year. Try to avoid all the distractions as much as possible, but at the end of the day enjoy this experience too. So, we just have to find that balance. Denver’s defense is pretty good, especially that front seven, but I believe in our offensive line and the different things that we can do on offense. We’ll be a great challenge for them.”

Stewart also commented on his and other’s rolls in the big game, “I think we just do what we’ve been doing all year and Cam (Newton) does a good job making sure whatever (Mike) Shula calls up for the offensive play going into the series and what not, he does a good job putting us in situations to win when it comes to the running game, dissecting defenses and seeing the rotations, or whatever it is. I think the key to our running game is that and of course our offensive line. All year our offensive line has been doing a great job of getting us over a hundred yards every game, whether it’s Cam running, whether it’s me running, it’s Tol (Mike Tolbert) contributing to the running game. It’s a total team effort when it comes to being a physical game.”

When asked about the criticism regarding Cam Newton’s dancing, Stewart held no punches, “I think it’s because they don’t understand the type of player he is. When you have something fresh, when you have something new, people are afraid of change and I don’t think they understand it.”

Jonathan Stewart on Cam Newton’s leadership – “He’s been a leader his whole life. His first four years, through this he’s found his edge. He has matured a large bit. He’s been a hard worker, his work ethic has been tremendous over that amount of time and it’s finally paying off and now he’s able to kind of sit back and understand that he doesn’t have to have everything on his shoulders, he has guys around him who are professionals too and we want to win too. I think that’s been a large part of it, is that he doesn’t have to feel like everything is on his shoulders. When you take his personality and mix it in with a bunch of grown men playing a game, at the end of the day it’s something that you’re always going to be passionate about, something that you’ve always loved, going out there and getting paid for it, so why not enjoy it? So, his personality is, ‘I’m here, I’m going to do it my way because it’s the right way,” and we like that. I think as a team we gravitate towards that because it’s the right thing. I wouldn’t have any other QB over Cam and it’s been fun this year.”

Stewart stated that he feels “pretty good” as far as his health goes. The super star running back also made sure to credit his offensive line when he was asked about having consistent success throughout the year -“It’s a testament to our offensive line; those are some tough guys up front. Week in and week out we go over game plans. We make sure our preparations, Wednesdays, Thursdays are pretty big – those are our pretty big run game days. They come out there and that’s what they pride themselves in, is that 100-yard mark.”

Stewart said that he draws his inspiration from God first and foremost, but also gave praise to his mother, “Other than that, my Mom, just her hard work and dedication that she’s put into raising me and my brother, getting me to the position where I am now that’s pretty much my inspiration.”