While former Auburn quarterback Cam Newton’s antics might be inspiring angry letters and sports talk debate, his on-the-field production this season is still getting plenty of positive recognition.

On Thursday, the Maxwell Football Club named Newton its Bert Bell Professional Player of the Year. The club previously recognized Newton in 2010 at Auburn as its Maxwell Award winner (collegiate player of the year) when he led the Tigers to a 14-0 season and a BCS Championship.

As a winner of both the Maxwell Award and Bert Bell Award, Newton joins the elite company of Peyton Manning, Barry Sanders, Drew Brees, Earl Campbell, O.J. Simpson and Roger Staubach.

With an NFL-leading 45 touchdowns in the regular season (35 passing, 10 rushing), along with 3,837 passing yards, Newton can expect the accolades to keep on coming. For now, Newton’s concern is on leading the No. 1 seed Carolina Panthers past the Arizona Cardinals in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game for a spot in Super Bowl 50.