Cam Newton is embarking on a new job in a new city – with a notorious taskmaster as his boss — and has been preparing for it under media scrutiny the likes of which he’s never experienced. The last thing he needs with the New England Patriots’ 2020 NFL opener against the Miami Dolphins dead ahead is a controversy that distracts him from his preparation.

So, naturally, he heads into the last weekend of the preseason facing a distraction.

Cam Newton has started a new phase of his NFL career

Cam Newton is a respected pro quarterback with 124 starts in nine NFL seasons, all with the Carolina Panthers. He lists a league MVP award, three selections to the Pro Bowl, and 182 touchdown passes on his resume. He has also rushed for 4,806 yards and 58 touchdowns. That has established him as one of the most hard-nosed signal-callers in the league.

New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick sees Newton as at least a short-term replacement for Tom Brady, who left as a free agent to sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Newton was durable throughout his career until 2019, when he played in just two games. He will work 2020 under a one-year contract heavy on incentives. How he fares this fall will go a long way toward determining his future with the Patriots and in the NFL.

Off the field, Newton is a father of seven children. Four of them are from a relationship with former girlfriend Kia Proctor that apparently ended some time around the birth of Cashmere Saint last September. There has been squabbling between Newton and Proctor since, carrying over from the time the Panthers let the quarterback go this spring to his arrival in Patriots training camp.

The transition has gone well thus far

The COVID-19 pandemic substantially limited teams’ preparations during the spring and early summer, making it particularly tough on players needing to learn new systems after changing teams in the offseason. However, quarterback Cam Newton has drawn praise for making the adjustment with the New England Patriots since agreeing to his deal on June 28. His new teammates selected Newton as a captain for 2020.

“I can see why he had the kind of success that he had at Auburn and at Carolina,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said in a radio interview Sept. 1. “In talking to people that were with him there, the things they said about him at Auburn and at Carolina — from a decade ago or two, three years ago, or even last year — it was all the same and it showed up here.”

If there is going to be a problem for Newton, it potentially will be personal issues following him from his Carolina days after the breakup with the mother of four of his children.

Cam Newton has more to worry about that the Patriots’ Week 1 game

Ex-girlfriend Kia Proctor has filed court papers seeking child support from New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton. According to the pop culture site Bossip.com, Proctor says she makes $1,276 a month from her minimum-wage job, which isn’t enough to support herself and four children.

The website said it obtained court papers in which Proctor’s itemized $15,678 in monthly expenses include:

• $3,000 for groceries and household goods.
• $2,966 on child care.
• $2,640 for her car payment.
• $666 in clothing.
• $416 in entertainment.
• $300 in grooming costs.

Newton sued Proctor over the question of paternity last year, at which time he told a judge that he was paying child support and wanted joint custody.

Proctor’s lawyers said at the time that she intended to counter sue, and what we appear to be seeing now is a shot across the bow timed to get a reaction shortly before the start of a crucial season in the quarterback’s career.