A video of a kid mouthing off to Cam Newton at his own football camp has gone viral, with many saying the former MVP was disrespected.
In the video, Newton has several young players in a huddle when one youngster launches into a heckling tirade against the quarterback.
“You a free agent,” the young player says repeatedly. After Newton responds by saying, “I’m rich,” the teen says, “You about to be poor.”
The two continue chirping back and forth, with Newton asking to speak with his father, but the heckler continues yelling “You a free agent” over him.
Several other NFL players have defended Newton on social media as the video went viral. Ravens wide receiver Dez Bryant wrote, “Cam you should have sent his ass home” on Twitter, while C.J. Gardner-Johnson called him “ungrateful.”
Newton then posted a video of a later conversation he had with the heckler, one that took a calmer tone. Newton starts by saying, “If you wanted some attention, I’m gonna give you attention, in the right way, bro.” The quarterback asks how the heckler’s team did that day, and asked what he did specifically.
“Don’t be shy,” Newton says, but the heckler doesn’t go into specifics, instead telling him to watch his highlights on YouTube.
“People want to see me arguing with another young man and to see me get in my feelings … but the truth is this, I impact kids’ lives in a positive way, make no mistake,” Newton wrote in the caption, with his traditional font.
The teen, Jseth Owens, responded on Twitter with an apology.
“First I would like to start off by saying my parents never taught me to be disrespectful,” he writes. “As a football player I let my competitive side get the best of me and it was a huge miscommunication. It was in the midst of the moment and I realize how a lot of you took it as disrespect. I never meant to humiliate and let anyone down.”
Newton is coming off a disappointing season with the Patriots where he threw for 2,657 yards, 8 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is a free agent and likely won’t be back in New England in 2021.
