Former Auburn and Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton has spent the majority of the week trying to defend his list of the NFL’s top 10 QBs and trying to explain why he left former Alabama quarterback and Super Bowl champion Jalen Hurts off the list.
Newton has said he left Hurts off the list because he didn’t think that Hurts had to play elite for the Philadelphia Eagles to win.
That took a lot of people a surprise, including NFL analysts and Newton’s ESPN colleagues Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky
Clark thought Newton was being disrespectful by leaving Hurts off the list, and so did Orlovsky, and Newton made it personal by reeling off both Clark and Orlovsky’s accolades compared to his, and then proceeded to continue to drag them.
“People keep attacking Cam the person or why he didn’t jump on the fumble or why he didn’t do this or comparing and contrasting,” Newton added. “So when I compare and contrast you guys’ statistics … as we keep going and keep unlocking and keep poking the bear and y’all want to play this game, I can play this game, too.”
Newton continued to defend his stance on Hurts.
“I really fool with Jalen Hurts the individual. He’s a stand-up guy,” Newton explained on his 4th and 1 podcast. “But when it comes to making this point of discussion about top-10 quarterbacks, unfortunately, throwing for only 2,900 yards are not elite numbers.”
“The point that Cam is trying to make here, ladies and gentlemen, is let’s make people debate about sports again,” Newton said. “Because there’s too many homeboys in the industry. There’s too many people, the insiders, that are moved by relationships and moved by, ‘Ah man, I can’t talk bad about this person or I can’t critique his game, because I know that coach or I know this particular person.’ Well, you’re not talking about the person. You’re not even talking about your guys’ relationship. You’re more or less talking about their performance. And that’s what I will talk about.”
Some feel that Hurts is being penalized for having elite talent around him like AJ Brown, Devonta Smith, and Saquon Barkley, so he doesn’t have to throw for 4,000 yards per season.
Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and Hall of Famer Troy Aikman was also criticized for the same thing because, like Hurts, he was surrounded by Hall of Fame talent.
But also like Hurts and unlike Newton, he has a Super Bowl ring.