The former NFL quarterback throwing passes at Auburn’s pro day on Tuesday was “the forgotten Cam.” That’s according to the quarterback – Cam Newton.

“It’s over with for him. He ain’t the same player,” Newton said, quoting his detractors, in a video released on his YouTube channel on Saturday detailing his trip back to Auburn. “I love it. I adore it. I admire it.”

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Newton won the Heisman Trophy as Auburn’s quarterback in 2010, when the Tigers captured the BCS national championship to cap an unbeaten season.

The first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Newton helped the Carolina Panthers win six NFC South titles over the next nine seasons while becoming the franchise’s all-time passing leader, setting the league record for touchdowns scored by a quarterback and winning the 2015 NFL Most Valuable Player Award.

But Newton hasn’t thrown a pass in an NFL game since Dec. 26, 2021, wasn’t on a team during the 2022 season and remains out of the NFL.

Tuesday’s appearance at Woltosz Football Performance Center had a dual purpose.

Newton came out to throw to his brother, Auburn wide receiver Caylin Newton, with talent evaluators and decision-makers from across the NFL watching.

“I’m just really trying to give him a platform just like everybody else at Auburn a platform,” Cam Newton said. “Auburn was the place that was so dear to me, still dear to me. And this is kind of me in some way, shape, form paying it back.”

RELATED: CAM NEWTON THROWING AT AUBURN PRO DAY WAS AS MUCH ABOUT HIS BROTHER AS HIS NFL COMEBACK

But it also gave Newton the quarterback the opportunity to show off his arm with the entire league watching. Newton said he wants to return to the NFL, but only in the right opportunity.

“They say, ‘Are you done?’” Newton said. “Hell no, I’m not done. I’m just waiting on my opportunity – a right opportunity, not a bailout opportunity. I don’t want to come in midseason. Allow me to understand something in the offseason, understand the coaches, understand the players, understand the personnel – not midyear, not a relief fund, panic mode, after the draft. Do this, do that, do that, do this. Oh (expletive), let’s go – uh-uh.

“Let me dissect something, let me have something and let me play. If you can do that, that’s all I ask.”

Newton maintains he’s better than some of the quarterbacks currently on NFL rosters.

“Different rules for different people,” Newton said. “Yeah, but he ain’t accurate. But it’s dudes that got jobs that are more inaccurate than me. Yeah, but he ain’t fast. But it’s dudes that got jobs that I’m faster than. Yeah, but he can’t throw, he ain’t strong enough. Yeah, but it’s dudes that got jobs that I can throw farther than.”

Newton also asserts that he could be a starting quarterback in the NFL again.

“It ain’t 32 guys that are better than me,” Newton said.

After a foot injury limited Newton to two games in the 2019 season, Carolina cut the quarterback the following offseason even though he had a year remaining on his contract.

Newton still made it to training camp in 2020 after signing with the New England Patriots in July. He started 15 games for the Patriots in 2020. But in 2021, New England released Newton after he started every preseason game when the Patriots chose to go with first-round draft choice Mac Jones as their No. 1 quarterback.

Newton was out of football when Carolina brought him back with Sam Darnold sidelined by an injury during the 2021 season. Three days after signing with the Panthers, Newton played nine snaps and produced two touchdowns in a 34-10 upset of the Arizona Cardinals on Nov. 14.

But that was the last victory of the season for Carolina. Newton started the next five games before Darnold returned for final two.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.