CHARLOTTE -- Thursday is Thanksgiving, a time when families gather, meals are shared, and we give thanks for all that life has given us. Tuesday, however, was a much different kind of day for Panthers' quarterback Cam Newton, with a social media post peeling back the curtain on his past. 

"I always have it marked on my calendar every year. I call it my resurrection day, because a lot of me changed that day, for obvious reasons.  My biggest scar, in essence being embarrassed, turned into my biggest star."

Newton displayed his past for all to see on social media on Tuesday. The Instagram post with of his mugshot from 2008. Then, a quarterback at the University of Florida, his life would change forever after being arrested for stealing a student's laptop. 

Newton was charged with felony counts of burglary, larceny and obstruction of justice. Now, 11 years later, the image of Newton being photographed for the record still packs a punch.

"When I added the mugshot, that made it real. I wasn't in a holding cell. If you really look into that picture, you see green and white. That wasn't a Polo sweater," said Newton.

Newton's professional career has seen its highs and lows as well, both on and off the field.  Newton knows he is not without flaws, and as the now father of two continues to grow as both a football player and a man, the pursuit of perfection is one that he really isn't interested in.

"I don't want to be the poster child of perfection. If you put yourself on that pinnacle, when you finally mess up, that's when it comes tumbling down," said Newton. "I want people to look at me and say, 'Look, Cam is still going strong, but look at the mistakes that he's made.' I just want to be an example of things that, I'm still a work in progress myself. For me to say I am perfected? I'd be lying to you," said Newton.