Once upon a time, Cam Newton was the guy in the NFL—the 2015 MVP, the face of the Carolina Panthers, and the quarterback who brought Superman celly to the end zone. Newton couldn’t stay away from the spotlight. But after his stint in the Old North State ended, he came to the harsh realization that his time as a franchise QB was over, and he needed to find something else.
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The ex-Heisman winner, however, wasn’t ready to settle for just any path after hanging up the cleats. While most athletes these days turn to broadcasting to keep the checks coming, Newton wanted no part of it.
In fact, he specifically told his agent to make sure he never ended up behind the desk as an analyst.
“I would always say—and I had told my agent at the time, Carlos Fleming with WME—do whatever you got to do to make sure that I’m not a sports analyst,” Newton admitted on an episode of 4th & 1.
That was, of course, until he saw what Tom Brady was making.
The former No. 1 overall pick revealed how blown away he was after seeing the GOAT land a 10-year, $375 million broadcasting deal with FOX Sports, making Brady the highest-paid sports analyst in history. But the buck didn’t stop there.
Newton also saw CBS paying Tony Romo around $18 million a year, ESPN giving Troy Aikman $17.5 million, and Pat McAfee securing an $85 million deal over five years. So when the former Panthers star saw these numbers, let’s just say he had a change of heart.
“Tom Brady, motherf****r getting 37.5 million dollars a year,” Newton recounted thinking. “I commented under this social post and I said, GOALS! Shout out to every single athlete that’s on here. Tom Brady, getting the bag. Charles Barkley, getting that bag. Troy Aikman getting that bag. Pat McAfee, Shaq… that s**t is inspiring, bro!”
“Then I say, hold on, hold on, hold on, wait—what? How much that motherf***er make?”
“I told my agent—do whatever it takes to keep me from being a sports analyst… until I saw what they got paid”@CameronNewton said he’d do ANYTHING for $37M… even stop cursing pic.twitter.com/i7ggZQgSvk
— 4th&1 with Cam Newton (@4thand1show) March 17, 2025
Though Cam Newton didn’t bag a $375 million broadcasting deal like Tom Brady, he seems to have embraced his media career with all heart.
From launching his no-holds-barred sports show in 4th & 1, where he brings his signature swagger to the world of sports talk to the Funky Friday Podcast, which is much more human emotions oriented in nature, Newton is killing it on YouTube.
For context, Newton’s official YouTube channel has a whopping 1.6 million subscribers, while 4th & 1’s YouTube channel has 343k subscribers.
All that being said, it’s heartening to see the impact Brady’s historic deal had on his peers. Being an athlete means you have a short earning window. But the GOAT’s contract showed the world that if an athlete is open-minded and willing to upskill himself with time, the moolah will never stop!
