Cam Newton On Car Crash: "Someone Is Supposed To Be Dead"

Cam Newton left the hospital with his parents yesterday, nearly 24 hours after a scary two-car crash that flipped his truck. Newton was stiff and sore with two small fractures in his back, a Panthers spokesperson said, but "his spirits were high."

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police released their report of the wreck, and it doesn't assign blame to either driver, though the two witnesses cited both say the car pulled out in front of Newton's truck at an intersection:

Newton was in workout gear and on his way to Bank of America Stadium, about two blocks from the site of the crash, when he collided with a car at the intersection ranked the city's fourth most dangerous. Newton, going 35 mph in a 35-mph zone, said the other driver pulled out in front of him—something backed up by two other motorists at the scene. The second driver, who was doing 20 mph, told police he never saw Newton's truck approaching.

After Newton's car flipped, the quarterback climbed out the shattered rear cab window and sat on the side of the road until help arrived. He was loaded onto a stretcher as a precautionary measure, and taken to Carolinas Medical Center, where he was diagnosed with two fractures to his transverse processes.

Last night, Newton wrote a lengthy message on his Instagram. Accompanied by a photo of his totaled truck, it read in part:

[B]y the look of that picture soMEone is supposed to be dead or severely injured worse than what I am right now! While I am resting up the thought that keeps flashing in my mind is that GOD IS GOOD and someone has there protective hands on my life shielding me from any danger that may come my way!

[...]

SHAMEonYOU if YOU go another second in life with holding a grudge or HATING on someone, taking life for granted, or just not appreciating the breath you just breathed; trust and believe there are plenty people with illnesses, people in the hospital, or even people that are 6ft under the earth that W1SH they had "another"opportunity to do so!

Newton's injury isn't expected to leave any lasting damage, and can't be exacerbated by activity, but he won't play until it's not excruciatingly painful to do so. (Tony Romo missed one game earlier this year with a similar fracture.) Newton, who was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week yesterday, has already been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Buccaneers, with Derek Anderson to start in his place. At 4-8-1, the Panthers are just a half-game behind the Falcons and Saints in the NFC South.