CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Cam Newton had a storybook beginning to his second stint with the Carolina Panthers in Week 10, scoring touchdowns on his first two plays in a backup role at the Arizona Cardinals in the stadium where he made his first NFL start.

He’s not headed for a storybook ending.

The 2015 NFL MVP is 0-4 as the starter and has lost his past 12 starts for Carolina dating back to 2018. He has committed five turnovers in his past three games.

In all likelihood, Sunday’s home finale against the defending Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the 32-year-old’s last game at Bank of America Stadium in a Carolina uniform.

He came back.

And now he’s almost gone – again.

This is not the way Newton envisioned it when he agreed to finish out the season after Sam Darnold went on injured reserve. This is not the way coach Matt Rhule or the Panthers (5-9) envisioned it when they gave Newton a one-year, $6 million deal that could go up to $10 million.

Both sides hoped the second go-around could wind up like Tom Brady’s reset with the Buccaneers. That was as storybook as they come with Brady winning a seventh Super Bowl and fifth Super Bowl MVP award.

But Newton wasn’t good enough to replace the departed Brady with the New England Patriots last season, and he’s probably not good enough to lead the Panthers to a win against Brady on Sunday. That’s why Rhule said Darnold “will play’’ Sunday, even though Newton will start.

That’s not how Newton should be remembered. What the most iconic player in Carolina history did before shoulder and foot injuries took their toll on him by far outweighs what he’s done the past four games.

He should be remembered as “Superman,’’ because for 7 1/2 years after Carolina made Newton the top pick of the 2011 draft, he made superhuman plays. He did things with his legs that made him arguably the best dual-threat quarterback in NFL history.

He is, as Rhule said, “the ultimate competitor.’’

Off the field, Newton was just as amazing, from his annual “Thanksgiving Cam Jam’’ that fed thousands of underprivileged children to his “Sunday Giveaway” that made game day seem like Christmas Day for kids fortunate enough to get one of Newton’s touchdown balls.

He also brought style to Carolina, from the Versace pants that GQ Magazine’s Mark Anthony Green described as “insane’’ to his fitted tuxedo jackets and sequined-studded loafers.

Newton put the Panthers on the map in more ways than any player in team history. He shouldn’t be remembered for not being able to put them in the playoffs this season.

And he loved Christmas, with his “Santa Cam’’ jaunts around Charlotte where he spread joy and gifts to those less fortunate.

So in the spirit of Christmas, here are five of the countless things for which Newton should be remembered:

Touchdown flip

There is no better example of Newton’s athleticism than the 2-yard flip he made into the end zone in a win in 2015 against the Houston Texans.

Aimee Boorman, the coach of Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, gave the 6-foot-5, 245-pound quarterback a score of 8.5 because Newton “landed a little under-rotated,’’ but overall she loved his form. She reminded Newton would have “stuck’’ the landing had he not been hit by Texans end Jared Crick on the way down.

72-yard run and flip

Most quarterbacks would be out of breath if they had to run 72 yards. In a 2012 home win against Atlanta, Newton still had energy to flip into the end zone after avoiding a final tackler near the goal line.

That play made him the first Carolina quarterback to rush for more than 100 yards in a game. Newton also showed the speed that had Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young saying, “I wish I was 6-5 and could fly.’’

'Watch this'

Newton gets labeled as an athletic quarterback, but as Rhule noted, his quarterback “prepares at a high level every week.’’

That never was more apparent than a 2017 game against the Green Bay Packers in which Packers linebacker Clay Matthews thought he’d outsmarted Newton.

“Watch that wheel route; it’s that wheel route,’’ shouted Matthews, thinking he recognized what play was coming off the formation.

Newton smiled and could be heard on audio saying, “You’ve been watching film, huh? That’s cool. Watch this.’’

Instead of a wheel route, running back Christian McCaffrey went over the middle on a break-in route. Newton hit him in stride for a 7-yard touchdown.

A little dab’ll do ya

Newton’s celebrations were as entertaining as his playmaking. Never was that more apparent than in 2015, when his “Dab’’ celebration -- an Atlanta-based dance -- came to light after a touchdown at the Tennessee Titans

The Titans didn’t particularly like it, and a scuffle ensued. Rosemary Plorin, a Nashville mother attending the game, didn’t think it set a good example for her 9-year-old daughter. She wrote this in a letter to the Charlotte Observer: “Because of where we sat, we had a close up view of your conduct in the fourth quarter. The chest puffs. The pelvic thrusts. The arrogant struts and the 'in your face' taunting of both the Titans' players and fans. We saw it all.’’

Newton responded that he meant no disrespect and reminded to everyone that he’s “a kid at heart.’’ He dabbed all the way to the Super Bowl.

Sunday Giveaway

God winked. Colin Toler smiled.

That was the lead of a 2015 story after Newton gave 6-year-old Toler a football after a second-quarter touchdown against Green Bay.

Newton normally would have given the ball to a kid in a section in the end zone, but then-Packers defensive end Julius Peppers snatched the ball away and tossed it toward the sideline.

Newton chased it down. That led him to Toler, who was there because his grandfather was fulfilling a promise made by Toler’s father to take him to a game. Toler’s father died six weeks earlier of a heart condition. \

Newton had no idea. But it’s these stories, more than the amazing plays, that made Newton larger than life. He began doing this on Oct. 23, 2011 in a game against Washington as part of a challenge from then-quarterbacks coach Mike Shula to go beyond his trademark “Superman’’ celebration.

Newton went way beyond.