Everyone gets a nickname when Cam Newton is at quarterback.
That includes recently acquired New England Patriots wide receiver Isaiah "30 For 30" Ford. And no, Ford is not a documentarian filmmaker.
"Probably asking yourself why 30 For 30?" Newton asked Thursday.
Uh huh.
"I asked him, 'Yo, Isaiah. Do you have any nicknames?'" Newton continued. "And he said, 'Yeah, just call me Zay.' I said, 'Cool, cool. Well, if you don't know, like, my name's Cam, and I'm the nicknamer around here, pretty much for what it's worth. So, tell me a little bit about you. Do you have a hidden talent? Do you play a musical instrument? Do you know how to sing? Do you draw, whatever?'
"He was like, 'No, I know how to hoop.' So, I looked at him like, 'You know how to hoop?' He was like, 'Yeah, I know how to hoop.' He was like, 'In high school, shoot, I averaged 30 points.' I said, 'Welp, there you go. 30 For 30. That's your nickname. Boom.'
"Unfortunately, or should I say fortunately for him, I tried to google him, and I didn't see that statistic. But the nickname is pretty much catchy. I like it. I don't know if it's going to stick. See, it's too early to tell if it's going to stick now. But as of right now, the pending nickname for new guy Isaiah is 30 For 30."
Newton has been a hit with his Patriots teammates. And his leadership style shines through with the personal connections he makes across the roster.
"Honestly, I just want to make myself accessible," Newton said. "And not only being a captain on this team but as a person who has been in their shoes as the new guy and knowing like, ‘I don’t know who to talk to.’ I just want to make sure they get comfortable sooner rather than later because it’s an awkward feeling walking into a brand new locker room, not knowing nobody’s name and everybody’s like ‘What’s up bruh? How you doing?’
"It can become kind of weird to a degree, so to speak. So, I think my role is to go about in a way that allows them to open up and trust. And if they have questions for me, they can ask me or anybody else. That’s pretty much what it’s been."
Newton only gets so much time around his teammates -- socially distanced, of course -- in the Patriots' facility. So, he makes the time count.
"This has been, as Bostonians would say, a wicked year for what it’s been worth," Newton said. "Obviously, COVID has kind of limited any type of team interactions outside of the stadium. And normally we would have probably had gatherings but that has been halted all year. So, anytime you have the opportunity to talk to a teammate, be around a teammate, whether in the training room or walking out to the practice facility, working out, obviously practicing social distancing, you will always want to chat and talk and make the day go by faster, so to speak.
"And that’s what it all comes down to. I’ve been a part of teams where, at times you feel like, even though you’re sharing or you’re locker room-mates or you’re locker mates, that’s just your co-worker. And I’ve also been around teams that have been extremely close and guys have this family-oriented bond and those teams usually last and that’s what we’re trying to get to."
The Patriots are 3-5 on the season and facing one of their toughest tests Sunday night against the Baltimore Ravens.
