A former Patriots quarterback appears to be in his feelings, folks.
Last week, former NFL MVP Cam Newton took to ESPN’s First Take with his now infamous “fool’s gold” comments as it relates to the success the 2025 Patriots (9-2) are having. These comments came after New England had just taken care of business against the Buccaneers (6-4) down in Tampa 28-23 to push their win streak to seven in a row.
Four days later, the Patriots got that win streak up to eight in a row with a Thursday Night Football win over the Jets (2-8), their first time achieving eight straight wins since 2019 - one season before Newton's lone year as the starting QB at 1 Patriot Place.
When current MVP candidate Drake Maye was asked on Monday’s WEEI Afternoons about his childhood idol’s skepticism about his team’s success, the 23-year-old brushed it off.
"I don’t even know what show he’s on," said Maye. "I think they get paid to make remarks and make certain comments. So, I just worry about what people in our organization think, and worry about we think and what my teammates think. People are going to have different opinions. I’m just going out there on Sunday and worrying about ourselves."
On Thursday, Newton was back on First Take. The audio from WEEI was played for him, Andy Hart’s question and all, and the Panthers legend gave his response.
“See, I gotta stand on business right here, you know what I’m saying?” Newton began while standing on stage at a remote broadcast at Bethune-Cookman University. “I need him, as in Drake Maye, to understand this. Now, being in this position as a member of the media, there's a lot of things that are not always done, and it's always this.
“Things can be taken out of perspective. Things can be taken out of context. Now I did say the Patriots are fool's gold, and I'm gonna stand on that. I was referring to the fact that it was a question that was asked, ‘Does the AFC now go through the Patriots, or New England?’ I said, ‘fool’s gold.’ Why did I say fool’s gold? Because there's not a soul in this beautiful gymnasium that will say they will take Drake Maye over a wild card winner in Patrick Mahomes, in Lamar Jackson.
“Drake Maye - respectfully, you're having a great season. But I also put Drake Maye in a position where it's like - yo, we don't really know, similar to [Daniel] Jones. So to the reporter that asked the question - that was a great job, because columnists typically do these type of things just to poke the bear. But this is merely a warning - don’t keep poking this bear.”
Later in the segment, Newton talked about his relationship with Maye, making it clear that his beef is not with the QB, but rather the way the question was phrased by Hart on our airwaves.
“At the end of the day, my quarrel of the misunderstanding about where I stand - because this topic is, in essence, about me - it's not with Drake Maye,” said Newton. “What people should know is the night he got drafted, him and all of his brothers gave me that decency and respect to say, ‘Hey bro, we’re from Charlotte, North Carolina, we really rock with you.’ One of his touchdowns this year, he did do the Superman [celebration].
“When I say ‘poking the bear,’ that's my challenge to all members of the media to say, ‘Y'all been doing this strategy for so long.’ And now - yes, does he respond to those things? I've been in that building that he is, and he may not know to what extreme of the accuracy that Cam was, in essence, talking about.
Quick Author Note - Yes, Newton is using the third person there.
“I mean, for Christ's sake, I am on a lot of shows: BET’s 106 & Sports, the great Stephen A. Smith brought me on First Take along with others, then you got Funky Friday, then you got 4th & 1. So he may have said, ‘Which one are we talking about?’
“So at the end of the day for me, it's this understanding of - I'm a Drake Maye fan. But Drake Maye, you still have to prove yourself in a situation where I do not think that the AFC goes through New England, when you have a potential Lamar Jackson that's out there, and, obviously, a Patrick Mahomes.”
If you’re into this type of thing, tune in at 2:00 p.m. ET for Hart’s official rebuttal to Newton.
In the meantime, the Patriots remain a 6.5-point favorite over the Bengals (3-7) for Week 12, sitting on the moneyline at -300.
While Newton continues trying to carve out a career as a talking head in his post-playing career, the Patriots will look to extend their winning streak to nine games.
Tune in each and every Monday throughout the football season to Patriots Monday on WEEI. Head coach Mike Vrabel joins The Greg Hill Show at 6:30 a.m. ET, and quarterback Drake Maye joins WEEI Afternoons.