One of the coolest moments in Carolina Panthers history happened on Dec. 17, 2017—when Cam Newton called Clay Matthews’ bluff on a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey. It was so cool, in fact, that we’re still talking (and tweeting) about it now—1,660 days later.
The former Green Bay Packers linebacker just got the Usher “Watch This” meme treatment— and from an old teammate, no less—stemming way back to that aforementioned moment. And although Matthews clearly needed to be corrected about the route McCaffrey took to the paint that afternoon, he probably didn’t have to be reminded about it.
Alas . . .
Damn atleast tag me Will 🥲 https://t.co/NCKYuEDSKu
— Clay Matthews III (@ClayMatthews52) July 4, 2022
In case you’re still not familiar with the play, Matthews audibly called out what he thought was an incoming wheel route in that year’s Week 15 matchup between the Panthers and Packers. But that “wheel route,” of course, was no wheel route.
Newton, who heard Matthews’ chirping, chirped back with a little foreshadowing of his own—only his would prove to be correct. McCaffrey then cut the cheesy Green Bay defense on a Texas route for an easy 7-yard reception straight into the end zone.
2 years ago today: Clay Matthews thought he knew what the #Panthers were calling. Cam Newton had other ideas.
Clay: It's that wheel route, it's that wheel route
Cam: You been watching film, huh? That's cool, watch this.
Cam: Texas route to CMC for a TDpic.twitter.com/PZcfiayC7T
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) December 17, 2019
As a side note—Will Blackmon wasn’t in a Packers uniform at Bank of America Stadium that day, as he wrapped up his career with Green Bay eight seasons prior. So, by official Twitter law, he was completely in his rights to burn Matthews being that he wasn’t one of the 11 men fooled by the Newton-to-McCaffrey connection.
