Free-agent quarterback Cam Newton has seen his career nosedive into what appears a forced retirement. The former NFL MVP was not at his best over the last three seasons and, in turn, his prospects on the field to make a comeback look grim — not to mention Newton making controversial and sexist remarks during recent media appearances.
And his latest media appearance isn’t helping his case to get back in the NFL. On Tuesday’s episode of The Pivot Podcast, Newton said he was displeased, in hindsight, with the two organizations where he had landed in the last two years: the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.
“This ain’t no remorse. This ain’t no ‘I want somebody to feel sorry for me.’ This is me acknowledging that I understand I’ll own up jumping up in some [expletive] up situations,” Newton said about his last two seasons of football, as transcribed by Panthers Wire.
In 2020, the Patriots may have signed him somewhat late in the offseason, but they handed over the offense to him fairly quickly after he made it instantly clear he was a better quarterback than Brian Hoyer and Jarrett Stidham. Newton did join the team during the pandemic, however, which made for fewer opportunities of hands-on learning.
“I was still learning the offense seven to eight weeks into the season,” Newton said, who signed with the Patriots on July 8 of that year. “I’m learning systems mentally. As a quarterback—it’s not just, ‘Can you catch?’ It’s not just . . . you can disguise that. As a quarterback—you have to look the part, act the part and be the part.
“So there was countless hours with [quarterbacks coach] Jedd Fisch. There was was countless hours with [offensive coordinator] Josh McDaniels. There was countless hours with so many different people trying to teach me certain things, and it was just brain overload. So there was times I was going to the line and I’m still thinking. I’m thinking about the annunciation of the play. I’m thinking about forgettin’ my motions. I’m thinking about my sight adjust. I’m thinking about certain things. So that’s the [expletive] up situation.
“Did I know it? Yes. To the degree I needed to know it to show the world that I’m still Cam Newton? No, I didn’t. But I put myself in that situation.”
New England kept Newton around in 2021 but he lost a quarterback competition outright to Mac Jones and the team parted ways with Newton soon after.
In his first season, Newton worked tirelessly in New England, barely sleeping during the regular season when he was spending almost all of his free time at the Patriots’ facility. And still, the Patriots finished 7-9 and missed the playoffs on a team that didn’t have much in the way of a supporting cast.
