FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS - OCTOBER 25: Cam Newton #1 of the New England Patriots walks on the sidelines during their NFL game against the San Francisco 49ers at Gillette Stadium on October 25, 2020 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Cam Newton was back in the news over the weekend, after a pretty bizarre moment from a camp that he held in Charlotte went viral. The former Carolina Panthers star got heckled by a young football player, Jseth Owens, who mocked his for being a “free agent” and “poor,” a bizarre thing for someone to say about the former No. 1 pick and MVP, who has eclipsed $100 million in career earnings on the field.
The situation rubbed plenty the wrong way. Numerous NFL players responded to the video, including Dez Bryant, who said that Newton “should have sent his ass home.” He wasn’t alone there.
The video has kicked off a discussion about a general lack of respect for older people by current teenagers. Plenty have pontificated about the impact of social media, and others aspects of modern life has led to things like this happening.
“What happened to respecting your elders,” Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith wrote on Twitter, in response to Bryant’s tweet. “I give Cam credit for keeping his cool with young fella. However, the amount of disrespect is at a all-time high and yes it does start at home.”
What happened to respecting your elders. I give Cam credit for keeping his cool with young fella. However, the amount of disrespect is at a all-time high and yes it does start at home.
— Emmitt Smith (@EmmittSmith22) February 23, 2021
Cam hit on this issue in his own response to the situation. In response to the player, he asked where his father was. He explained that he wanted to have a conversation with his father, rather than trying to go back-and-forth with a kid.
“What you didn’t see,” Cam wrote on Instagram. “I see there a lot of things festering out there that I see have took place over the weekend… To the natural eye you see me asking the young man ‘Where is your dad at?’ But 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!”
On Monday, the player did apologize to Cam Newton, which was good to see.
@CameronNewton @barstoolsports @overtime @espn pic.twitter.com/eBTg1tnnzI
— jseth owens (@jsethowens_5) February 22, 2021
Hopefully everyone involved can put this behind them, and some bigger lessons can be taken away here.
