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Former Panthers star Cam Newton refuses to back down from 'locker room of losers' comments

Cam Newton, who spent the majority of his 11-year NFL career with the Carolina Panthers, is not backing down from his recent criticism of his former teammates.

Newton was the first overall selection in the 2011 NFL Draft and said when he arrived in Carolina he entered a locker room of "losers." 

The 2015 NFL MVP acknowledged his remarks were "aggressive," but he remained steadfast in his position that they were "true."

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"When did we become so sensitive," the former NFL star said this week during the "4th&1 with Cam Newton" podcast. "When did we become so sensitive to really speaking what the reality is? A locker room full of losers? Aggressive, but it’s true."

STEVE SMITH SR. FIRES BACK AT CAM NEWTON FOR CALLING PANTHERS 'LOSERS'

The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback made the initial comments during an interview with Colorado football star Travis Hunter.

Newton told Hunter he has "no way of impacting the game the way a quarterback does." 

"I went into a locker room of losers," Newton said. "Just honest. Guys didn’t know how to win, guys didn’t know how to prepare. They didn’t take themselves serious to realize we was 2-14. There was a lot of 2-14 in the mentality of those guys."

Hunter, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, is projected to be one of the first players selected in April's draft. Newton was offering Hunter some insight into the pressure the two-way player could face if he becomes this year's No. 1 pick.

One of Newton's former teammates, Steve Smith, took exception to the quarterback's comments.  

"53 man locker room - 1 = 52 losers. Wow… breaking news to 89," Smith wrote on X with an angry emoji.

A few hours later, Smith posted, "I've watched & listened from a far as U @CameronNewton talk about @Panthers! None of us are perfect. Yes We were 2-14 before you blessed us w ur presence. The way you have talked about @panthers lately I'm very disappointed. I wish u nothing but the very best. I'm done!!!"

Smith played for the Panthers from 2001-13 and is the most productive receiver to wear a Panthers uniform. He is also a finalist for the 2025 Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Newton said he has "no quarrel" with Smith and understands why he had an issue with the remarks. Newton did clarify that he was referencing the Panthers' performance as a whole and not individual players when he made the original comments. 

"I'm not specifically talking about those guys," Newton said. "I’m talking about the culture that was there prior to me coming into the locker room. And it was a losers’ mentality."

Newton said the Panthers still had it his first two seasons when they went 6-10 and 7-9.

Things started to come together in 2013, when Carolina went 12-4 before losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the playoffs. The 2015 team went 15-1 and earned a spot in the Super Bowl. Carolina came up short in that game, losing 24-10 to the Denver Broncos.

"Is it me saying that, ‘Oh when I came, I made everything (better)?’" he said. "No. I never said that. What I said was, ‘If you’re getting drafted No. 1, you’re going to a bad football team.’ That’s facts. And that’s the point that I was trying to tell Travis Hunter. 

"You see what I’m saying? For me, everybody is so taken aback, like, ‘Oh, Cam said this.’ Bro, it’s the truth. It’s the truth."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ex-Panthers star Steve Smith Sr fires back at Cam Newton over 'locker room of losers' remark

Former Carolina Panthers star Steve Smith Sr. came to the defense of his former teammates on Tuesday after Cam Newton described the players as "losers" before the quarterback got there.

The Panthers selected Smith in the third round of the 2001 draft. Ten years later, the Panthers found their franchise quarterback in Newton with the No. 1 overall pick. Carolina had been to the playoffs three times, including making a Super Bowl appearance, before Newton was selected.

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Carolina was 2-14 in 2010, which landed the team the No. 1 overall pick. Newton came in and eventually helped improve the team to division winners. They made Super Bowl 50 – only to lose to the Denver Broncos. Smith left the team after the 2013 season.

Newton’s "losers" remark came during an "Overtime" podcast interview when asked what type of pressures Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter may face upon entering the league.

"You could potentially be the first pick, but, bro, you have no way of impacting the game the way a quarterback does," Newton said. "You can lock down the No. 1 receiver. You can make impact plays on offense all you want but it’s still not like a quarterback. My issue is that, when I was the first pick, I went into a locker room of losers. Just honest.

"Guys didn’t know how to win; guys didn’t know how to prepare. They didn’t take themselves serious to realize we was 2-14. There was a lot of 2-14 in the mentality of those guys."

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The remark did not sit well with Smith.

"53 man locker room - 1 = 52 losers. Wow… breaking news to 89," he wrote in an initial post on X.

"I’ve watched & listened from a far as U @CameronNewton talk about @Panthers! None of us are perfect. Yes We were 2-14 before you blessed us w ur presence. The way you have talked about @panthers lately I’m very disappointed. I wish u nothing but the very best. I’m done!!!"

One fan pointed out Smith had been critical of the Panthers in the past.

"I’ve never backed down from my words," he said in response. "However calling the men in the locker room losers isn’t slander it’s disrespectful! I disliked a lot of things that happened w/ my time there. But calling men losers naw."

Squabbling over the past is far from what the Panthers organization needs to hear from its most famous alumni.

Carolina has not had a winning season since 2017. It was also the last time they made the playoffs. Since then, the team has had five head coaches with three interim head coaches.

The Panthers were 5-12 in 2024, an improvement from their 2-15 season in 2023.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Former NFL star Cam Newton says he wouldn't trade MVP award for Super Bowl win

Former NFL star quarterback Cam Newton knows his take isn’t popular, but said it anyway. 

Stephen A. Smith asked Newton if he would trade his 2015 NFL MVP award for a Super Bowl win during ESPN’s "First Take" on Thursday.

"No," Newton promptly responded.

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"Really? Wow," Smith said, surprised by Newton’s response. 

Newton posed a question to help explain his unexpected answer.

"Because you have to ask it through this lens. That was a very journalistic viewpoint/vantage point, response Stephen A. I’ll ask you this question, and just to pose this thought: what’s more important, impact or championships?" Newton said. 

"You look at a guy like Allen Iverson, ‘You stood up on the table and rararara,’ everybody is not going to be Michael Jordan, everybody is not going to be Patrick Mahomes, everybody is not going to be those individuals who have the luxury of saying, ‘Hey, I not only dominated this sport, but I also have championships to back it.’"

Newton won the MVP award in 2015 when he led the Carolina Panthers to a 15-1 regular season record and went all the way to the Super Bowl before losing to the Denver Broncos 24-10.

To further support his argument, Newton then began to cite quarterbacks who weren’t MVP-caliber players but won the Super Bowl.

"Like, let me remind you, Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl, Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl, respectfully, Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. So, yes, when you look at those guys, and you say what’s more important, would you have preferred to win a Super Bowl?" Newton said. 

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"I think that that’s the humble approach, but if we’re being honest, the impact of you holding yourself accountable is to say everybody has a responsibility to do. And you can say as an MVP award winner or an All-American, you’ve held yourself or you’ve held your end of the bargain down."

For Newton, he said he would prefer the MVP award to the Super Bowl because it told him that he did his job. 

"And that’s what it really comes down to for me, I know that’s not the popular pick, I’m not trying to be popularized. But my take is, I’m taking individual success because I did my job. Football is not about one guy trying to do 11 jobs, it’s 11 guys doing one job and if everybody does their job best, famous words of our coach Belichick: ‘Just do your job.’"

If the Panthers had won Super Bowl L against the Broncos, Newton would have joined an exclusive list of quarterbacks to win both the MVP and the Super Bowl in the same season. 

For Newton, he would prefer to keep the MVP instead of winning the Super Bowl.

Mahomes and Jalen Hurts are playing in Super Bowl LIX, but neither of them is up for the MVP award this season. 

In 2022, however, Mahomes won the MVP and the Super Bowl, while Hurts was the runner-up in the MVP race and lost the Super Bowl to the Chiefs. 

The Chiefs will take on the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX at 6:30 p.m. ET on Feb. 9 on FOX.

FOX’s coverage of Super Bowl LIX will begin at 1 p.m. ET. Coverage can also be streamed live on Tubi for the first time ever.

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Ex-NFL star Cam Newton explains why he 'always went to strip clubs for guys'

One-time NFL MVP Cam Newton admitted having taken part in a night or two at a strip club in the past like thousands of other men across the United States.

No problem.

However, he raised eyebrows about the reason behind going to the clubs. He said in a recent interview he was going there to compete with some of the other men there and not so much the female dancers.

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"I never went to a strip club for women," he said in the latest episode of the "Funky Friday" podcast. "I always went to strip clubs for guys.

"I'm a competitor. I wasn't gonna spend no money if I didn't see nobody else spending no money. As soon as I see somebody thinking that they've got money... ‘OK you spending five? I’mma spend six. If you gonna spend 10, I’mma spend 15.’ We're gonna have a rain off.

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"So that's my whole thing, I don't go to strip clubs for chicks even though I want decoration. I was a competitor and still am a competitor to think like, ‘N---- you think you've got it, but you don't got it. That 15 you making, I’mma spend my 15 and I’mma make it back easy.’ It ain’t nothing."

Newton played 11 years in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers and New England Patriots.

He won the NFL MVP award in 2015 as he led Carolina to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance. The Panthers fell to the Denver Broncos that season.

He has not played in the NFL since the 2021 season. He has 32,382 passing yards, 194 passing touchdowns, 5,628 rushing yards and 75 rushing touchdowns.

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