Former Auburn quarterback and NFL MVP Cam Newton came within arm’s length of a Super Bowl win in 2015, but his Carolina Panthers team failed to grasp it. Now, he’s using that message to motivate local kids in the Charlotte area.

During his annual 7-on-7 tournament in his new hometown, the Panthers’ signal caller said that he has felt success at every level, but only one thing is missing: a Super Bowl ring.

“I’m looking at my life right now and I’m saying, ‘I’m missing one thing: I want a Super Bowl,’” Newton said according to C Jackson Cowart of the Charlotte Observer. “Yeah, but it’s really certain things that you have to really fine-tune and say, ‘Am I deserving to be a Super Bowl-winning quarterback? How can I push myself to be a better me?’”

Newton told the attendees that he found success by eliminating his fallback plans, that way failure was not an option. He plans to continue that methodology as he chases his first NFL title.

“The only way I put myself in this situation to be successful was I didn’t have no plan B …” Newton said. “I told myself, at the end of the day, I’m gonna be a football player and a football player only.

“And a lot of guys get it misconstrued because you’re setting yourself up for failure; that’s what some people think. But in myself, I was thinking, ‘I ain’t got no other alternative. Either I’m gonna dominate this man in front of me or not.’”

In a battle of former SEC greats, Newton’s Panthers fell to Peyton Manning’s Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50 by a score of 24-10.

That Super Bowl appearance seemed to be a sign of great things to come, as he had earned his first playoff appearance in 2013, his first postseason victory in 2014, and his 15-1 Panthers romped through the NFC en route to a Super Bowl appearance in 2015.

Unfortunately for Cam, his team took a big step back last season, missing the playoffs for the first time in that span. The QB played banged up all season, however, and after its completion, it was revealed that he played the final four regular-season games with a torn rotator cuff.

Now Cam hopes to use that no excuses mentality during his recovery, and his desire for a Super Bowl ring as his fuel.

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