Newton takes high road on heckling video, but other NFL players rip `disrespectful' teen

Video of Cam Newton at a youth football tournament went viral Sunday, and understandably so, given that it showed the former NFL MVP getting ruthlessly heckled by a teenage participant.

While Newton took the high road with a social media post that emphasized his commitment to helping young athletes, current and former NFL players expressed outrage at the clip.

“Any young athlete watching this video please don't be this kid,” tweeted Leonard Fournette, fresh off helping the Tampa Bay Buccaneers win the Super Bowl. “Don't miss your chance to learn something from someone who has been (there) at the highest level in this sport . ... STAY HUMBLE.”

The incident occurred Saturday at the NFA7V7 East Regional, staged in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Newton was there with three teams named for his signature line of Under Armour apparel: C1N Gold and C1N Silver, a pair of 18-andunder teams, and C1N Red, a 15-and-under squad.

Newton was on a sideline with some of his players — whose shirts bore the phrase, “Bless the babies” — as a player for another team yelled at him that the New England Patriots quarterback was “a free agent.” When Newton, who has earned more than US$120 million just in NFL salaries, retorted, “I'm rich,” the youngster shot back, “You're about to be poor!”

Newton, 31, then began to ask if he could speak to the boy's father.

In an Instagram post Sunday, in which he shared more video of the back-and-forth, Newton wrote: “To me, talking to a `child' with everyone looking does me NO good!! So instead of speaking or going back and forth with a CHILD, I wanted to have a man to man conversation with his father!!”

He added, “As athletes that are often seen on TV, loved by most, hated by some, people often forget we are real DADs, real FRIENDS, real BROTHERS, real SONS, REAL HUMAN BEINGS.”

Many NFL players who discussed the video online claimed the former NFL MVP reacted much more calmly and maturely than they would have.

“Cam handled that situation better than me,” former wide receiver Torrey Smith said on Twitter. “I'm pretty level headed, but when it's time to get petty, I can take it to the floor.”

“This is crazy,” tweeted Tennessee Titans linebacker Will Compton. “A Heisman winner, an NFL MVP, & a 10 year pro hosting a football camp, and instead of really trying to get something out of it — you clout chase for some weird attention. Kid should be kicked out and grounded indefinitely.”

“Man I wish I had NFL players at my 7 on 7. Let alone a player as elite as Cam Newton,” Green Bay Packers wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling said on Twitter. “You supposed to be picking his brain, being a sponge.”

Newton joined the Patriots last year after nine years with the Carolina Panthers, who made Newton the No. 1 pick in the 2011 draft and were rewarded with a Super Bowl appearance and three Pro Bowl seasons, as well as the 2015 MVP campaign. In addition to winning the 2010 Heisman Trophy while at Auburn, Newton led the Tigers to a national championship that year. Newton contracted the coronavirus with New England, who struggled to a 7-9 record.

“I was one of the first football players to catch (COVID) and it happened so fast,” Newton said recently (via the Boston Herald). “When I came back, that's where the lack of an off-season and the lack of time in the system really showed itself. I was behind and I was thinking too much.”

The teenager involved in the viral video appeared far from intimidated, but also far from deferential. That had some NFL players wondering about “kids these days,” as Panthers linebacker Jermaine Carter put it.

Others pointed to the effects of being raised in the age of social media, which Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Eric Ebron declared allows young people “to say whatever with no respect.”

Cam Newton