The Carolina Panthers finish a nearly flawless season with a run through the playoffs, winning the franchise its first Lombardi Trophy.

Cam Newton joins an elite list of players, including Joe Montana and Steve Young, to win NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same season.

What comes next? How will the Panthers' success alter the NFL's path into the future?

Black quarterback narrative disappears forever

Newton was famously criticized for his "fake smile" before he entered the NFL, something Hall of Famer Warren Moon suggested was "blatant racism." Since then, all Newton has done is prove his detractors wrong and teach the football world that it's possible to play the game at a high level and not take yourself too seriously, either.

Newton has become the prophesied player: the mobile quarterback who is just as deadly from inside the pocket as he is on the run. He's everything Michael Vick and Vince Young were supposed to be.

With the Panthers' Super Bowl win, the absurd (but sadly enduring) belief that black quarterbacks are somehow inferior breathes its last breath. The NFL enters an era of true racial equality.

Newton's endorsement deals trail only LeBron James

Newton's magical on-field run and irresistible personality makes him the NFL's biggest star.

After proving his advertising chops by making Greek yogurt look cool in a 2015 campaign, Newton is recruited for dozens of commercials for a wide array of products.

When the final numbers are tallied, Newton ranks second only to LeBron James in endorsement earnings among athletes in North American team sports.

Shula, McDermott get head coaching jobs in 2017

No NFL team had the foresight to hire one of the Panthers' coordinators to a head coaching job after the 2015 season, but multiple teams line up to steal Ron Rivera's top lieutenants in early 2017.

Both offensive coordinator Mike Shula and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott leave the Panthers for head coaching jobs, taking some of the position coaches with them.

Like the Seahawks in recent years, Rivera promotes from within and the Panthers plow ahead.

Teams try to copy Panthers' linebacking model

The NFL is a copycat league and the Panthers' elite linebacking duo of Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis alters the way coaches approach the position.

Rangey inside linebackers become a hot commodity in free agency and the draft, reversing a recent trend that have seen the position become devalued. Talent evaluators prioritize sideline-to-sideline speed, an attribute both Kuechly and Davis have in spades.

Mimicking the Panthers' model proves to be a tough task, as the team's enviable success on defense owes largely to Kuechly and Davis' truly rare combination of skills - and the even rarer combination of those skills within the same linebacking corps.

Obama dabs at the White House

It had to happen.

When the Panthers visit the White House for the Super Bowl champions' customary visit, Obama takes part in the team's trademark celebration pose.