You may know Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton sent owner Jerry Richardson a handwritten note before the 2011 NFL Draft. But neither have revealed the contents of that letter until Wednesday.
In a video for The Players' Tribune, Newton shared a portion of what he wrote before he became the No. 1 pick:
"I stated that there's no doubt in my mind that I will and want to be the greatest football player to ever play this game. And I am willing and able to give you every single thing that you want. I also mentioned that those were big words to say, but in the famous words of Muhammad Ali, ‘I was the greatest way before I even knew I was.'"
And that wasn't the only Ali reference Newton made in the 5-minute video:
"I'm so involved with trying to have this killer-instinct mentality. When you look at the greats that have played or done something great. From Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, LeBron James, Stephen Curry — this list of certain people you can see it, you can sense it, you can feel it. When watching them play, there was something that was different that they had that another player didn't.
"Is it talk? No. Can you work on it? Probably. But it's that burning desire when you're fed up with just accepting something and you know that you're worth more."