Former Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made a stir with comments about the state of the franchise when he arrived in 2011. Although his underlying point (the first pick usually gets drafted by a bad team) makes sense, Newton went too far in referring to the Panthers as a “locker room full of losers.”
Former Panthers receiver Steve Smith Sr. let Newton know about it. Other former Carolina teammates have, too.
“For him to say that we was losers was a slap in the face,” former Panthers cornerback Captain Munnerlyn told Joseph Person of TheAthletic.com. “This was a team who was two years removed from playing in the NFC divisional round against the Arizona Cardinals. We lost a couple pieces. We had Checkdown Jimmy Clausen at quarterback and we had a bad year. . . . For him to say losers was crazy.”
Former Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson reacted to Newton’s remarks on social media.
“A professional calling his teammates losers will never sit well with me,” Johnson said. “Don’t care what no one says. We all battle together. Not just one person. It’s never one person who will win a game. That’s ego talking! Team game, respect the guys.”
Johnson also said this: “Damn smh losers is a crazy word!!!! I had my best season [in 2010]. I have multiple cam [stories] if we trying to take it there.”
Tackle Jordan Gross, a Pro Bowler during the 2-14 season that gave the Panthers the top pick in the 2011 draft, chimed in as well.
“There were iconic Panthers players when Cam got there,” Gross told Person. “And you’d be foolish to say that he wasn’t a gigantic addition to the success of the organization when he arrived — also when [head coach] Ron Rivera arrived. So there’s a pretty damn good argument that [Rivera] had a lot to do with it as well.”
Munnerlyn realizes that Cam is simply trying to boost his post-football career.
“He wants to be relevant still,” Munnerlyn told Person. “He’s in this media world where he does his podcasts and First Take stuff, which is good. I’m happy for him. I’m proud of him. But I think he still says some stuff just to be relevant still. And if you know Cam, you’ve been around him for years, that’s Cam Newton. . . .
“So the stuff he’s saying, he just wants to still be relevant. He don’t have to do all that to be relevant. You’re freaking Cam Newton, bro. You changed a franchise. You’re probably one of the biggest players that’s played here — at the quarterback position, for sure. So you don’t have to do all this other stuff, man. You’re already 6-6, 200-whatever pounds. You don’t have to do that to be relevant, bro. You’re freaking Cam Newton.”
Newton hasn’t addressed the situation on social media. He presumably will have something to say, either on his podcast or on First Take.
And it’s OK for him to say he overdid it a little bit. When constantly speaking extemporaneously, there will inevitably be times when it happens. (Been there, done that. Still doing it, from time to time.)
The best thing Cam can do at this point is to acknowledge that he made a bad choice of words. Because he did. Digging in and doubling down will only make it worse.
