Quarterback Cam Newton has a Super Bowl appearance and an MVP on his resume, but teams are no longer calling to make him a starter. Despite teams feeling like Newton no longer has starting potential, he believes he should be QB1 for an NFL franchise.
Newton made a bold statement on the The Pivot Podcast, saying, "There's not 32 guys better than me. On my soul. On my soul. On my soul."
The host of the podcast, former NFL linebacker Channing Crowder, disagreed and tried to make Newton reconsider what he had just said.
"You are 33 years old. You done got old. You're one of the best 32 quarterbacks in the world right now? Cam, I cannot accept that. I can't accept it," Crowder said. "I saw what you did in New England. When you went back to Carolina, I saw what happened. Like, the proof's in the pudding."
Newton was unable to find success during his time with the New England Patriots, as he was released during the 2021 preseason. He then returned to the Carolina Panthers, where he started his career, but went 0-5 in his starts while completing fewer than 55% of his passes.
But even after being reminded of these failed seasons, Newton still held firm on his stance. He said it was him going back to "f--d up situations" that are to blame for his lack of a starting job, and does not have anything to do with his on-field abilities. He took responsibility for putting himself in these situations and spoke about the regret of what he believes was setting himself up to fail.
"Carolina, I put myself in another f--- up situation. I was signed on Thursday, I played on Sunday. At what point did you think you was gonna be successful? That next week, I started. That's still up under 10 days of you being on the team, and you're still trying to learn an offense," he said. "So before I sit up here and allow the narrative to be made that Cam ain't got it no more, Cam is taking full responsibility and saying that Cam put himself in a f--- up situation."
The former first overall pick claims he is better than the worst starting quarterback in the league right now. NFL teams clearly do not agree, or he would be on a roster as we approach the 2022 season.
