"Long before the general public knew who Cam Newton was, two Green Bay Packers defensive backs were exposed to glimpses of greatness.

While growing up in Georgia, safety Morgan Burnett played with Newton in Pop Warner and then against him in high school. Newton, the No.?1 overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in April, was a fullback and a linebacker when he was 8 years old.

And cornerback Pat Lee remembers a word of warning from his defensive coordinator at Auburn, Will Muschamp.

Back then, Newton was an anonymous backup at the University of Florida.

"He'd say, ' Tim Tebow is good but this guy, this backup, we gotta watch him,'?" Lee said. "So then I saw him at Auburn and said, 'Oh, that's what he was talking about.' You can't sleep on him.""