Former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton made waves last week on Travis Hunter’s podcast, “The Travis Hunter Show”, after Newton made comments referring to the 2010 Panthers team as “a locker room full of losers.”
"You could potentially be the first pick, but bro, you have no way of impacting the game the way a quarterback does," Newton said on the podcast. "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."
Franchise icon Steve Smith, a member of that 2010 squad, took offense to those comments and unleashed a series of tweets attacking Newton for his self-righteous comments.
Newton and Smith played together from 2011-2013 and occasionally butted heads while sharing a locker room with the Panthers.
While a fan on X commented that Smith had been critical of the Panthers in past comments, Smith responded by saying, “I’ve never backed down from my words. 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.”
While Newton was correct in his assessment that the 2010 Panthers team did not live up to expectations for success in the NFL, the key factor for that lost season was horrendous quarterback play.
Newton’s take that the locker room was full of losers missed the mark considering the locker room was made up of successful players such as Jon Beason, Ryan Kalil, Jordan Gross, Jonathan Stewart, and Steve Smith.
It is worth noting that the relationship between the Panthers organization and Newton has been non-existent since his retirement that included an ownership change which impacted that relationship. Under the Tepper regime, Newton has not been invited with former players to attend games and across Bank of America Stadium there is no mention of Newton's achievements during his tenure with the Panthers.
While there is a point to be made that Newton has a right to feel cast aside considering his immense accomplishments helping to elevate the Panthers standing in the NFL, attacking legendary Panthers players as losers was the wrong message and Newton likely realizes this since he has not publicly responded to the outcry from Smith and others over his comments.
