There was a lot of truth to a lot of the things that Cam Newton – and his father, Cecil Newton Sr. – said Friday morning in a YouTube video entitled “Clearing The Air After My Release From The New England Patriots.”
Newton may very well have been, to use his word, “bamboozled” in the circumstances of his team-approved visit to Atlanta to get a second opinion checkup on his foot. The trip led to a five-day absence from the team thanks to what a Patriots statement described as a “misunderstanding” resulting in a NFL COVID protocol violation for an unvaccinated player. Felt that way at the time. Feels that way now.
As his dad described it – though Newton disagreed – the former MVP may have indeed been done in by a “dirty move, sucker move” by the Patriots.
Things probably should have started to indeed click in Newton’s mind when he realized he was getting “two reps to [Mac Jones] 10 reps.”
Maybe most importantly, Newton sounded well aware that the star power that earned him the starting job upon arrival late last summer also led to his being sent packing this time around. As so many analysts pondered and speculated about, Newton and the team seemed to realize that “indirectly” he would have been a “distraction” in any backup role that he “absolutely” would have accepted.
“Just my aura,” Newton said of the reason for him being released rather than left to back up up Jones. “My gift and my curse.”
Newton also nailed a prediction that the Patriots are “going to win football games with Mac Jones” because the rookie is “good enough. They indeed will because, in part, he indeed is.
He was equally accurate in his assessment that reporting on the supposed QB competition – from media and social media fan sources alike – was coming from “biased lips.” Over time it certainly seemed that horses were picked in the race and that those allegiances affected the way many saw things unfolding, maybe even yours truly included.
Auras, bamboozlings, biased lips and dirty moves … there really may have been a lot right in what Newton and his dad had to say in the 43 minutes they spent hashing out the end of his time in New England, at least from their points of view. It felt honest. Didn’t feel too defensive or like a man with an ax to grind. Even the elder Newton expressed gratitude and respect for Patriots owner Robert Kraft and “Dolla’ Bill” Belichick.
But there were also a few things, few very important things they were completely wrong about.
The biggest, and likely most relevant to the conversation regarding Newton’s short-lived Patriots career coming to an unceremonious, abrupt ending was the quarterback’s admirable but delusional belief in his own abilities.
“It’s not 32 guys out there that are better than me, bro,” Newton once again declared.
Sorry, Cam. But yes, yes there are. At best you’re a backup now for the right team in the right system. At best. Remember your “86 days” of unemployment a year ago? How long will it last this time? It’s not personal, it just is what it is as your now-former coach might say.
Secondly, and tangentially important, Newton feels strongly that, “Mac Jones didn’t beat me out.”
Actually, from where these eyes sat, he did. Whether it was a fair, equitable, viable competition can be debated. But from spring OTAs to minicamp action and all through August, Jones was as good or better than Newton at virtually every step of the offseason. Done dirty or not, Newton wasn’t as good as the newbie.
Finally was the assertion from Newton Sr. that after seeing his son handed the keys to an offense that he compared to a used 2002 Civic with a yellow door held on by a bungee cord that needed a tune-up due to just three of four cylinders running his son deserved a shot at the keys to the 2021 retooled offense that’s more of a “Porsche” with Jonnu Smith, Hunter Henry and Nelson Agholor now under the hood.
Nope. Whether the Newtons want to admit it or not, Jones is the driver better suited to steer a more high-powered offense, even given his inexperience at the NFL wheel.
Newton didn’t deserve a few games to open the new season to show what he could do in a new year with a new cast of teammates and a full, real offseason under his belt. Those rights go to those who earn such a shot on the field.
Whether Newton ever legitimately got that shot – as both he and his father alluded to – very much remains in question, even with the deposed Patriots starter doing his best to clear the air.
Right and wrong, at least Newton got to say his peace and speak his mind as he tries to move on in his fledgling NFL career that he adamantly declares has a lot of football left.
Only time will tell whether he’s right or wrong on that final point.