Who would have thought we’d see a war of words between Cam Newton and Jason McIntyre? Yet, here we are, with the Cowboys once again at the center of attention, dividing opinions. During a recent episode of his ‘4th & 1’ show, Cam argued that the Cowboys are no longer America’s Team, claiming that the title now belongs to the Chiefs, sparking various reactions and even drawing jabs from McIntyre.
Advertisement
The Fox Sports analyst cheekily threw shade at Newton during his recent appearance on ‘The Herd,’ even dubbing the former QB as someone new to the media game. He also accused Newton of trying to elicit reactions from Swifties, particularly the younger audience who have recently started following the Chiefs after Taylor Swift’s introduction.
McIntyre then pointed out that a moniker such as America’s Team isn’t earned easily and cannot be transferred to a team simply due to their recent success. If that were always the case, the Patriots would have earned that name a long time ago. The analyst then emphasized that the Cowboys, despite their recent struggles, have been at the top since the ’70s and will likely remain there for a long time.
However, the 2015 MVP is standing firm on his convictions. Whether new to the media world or not, everyone knew Cam wasn’t going to back down. During a recent episode of his podcast, without taking shots at Jason, he pointed out that it was the media that popularized the epithet ‘America’s Team’.
He stated that while the Cowboys were one of the most popular teams in the NFL back in the day, things have changed since then. Now, when it comes to popularity, the Chiefs are the face of the league, and according to Newton, this cannot be refuted.
“That was the media ploy to label a team, ‘America’s Team’. If we are talking about a lot of people’s faces that we see on a regular basis, if we judge on that, who would that be? That would be the Chiefs.”
He also noted that growing up, the media presented limited options to choose from, which made franchises like the Cowboys well-known and highly watched. However, this is no longer the case. Thus, Newton wholeheartedly believes that Jerry Jones’s franchise is no longer America’s Team, and it’s time to accept that fact.
“I’m just going on stats. We ain’t beefing Jason, we are truthing. Before 1995, the teams that we saw were the Cowboys, Steelers, and the Redskins. That’s what we had to choose from. That was the media branding ploy.”
https://t.co/2lOTe2WS5B pic.twitter.com/3Qfc5QwVsC
— 4thand1show (@4thand1show) July 12, 2024
It’s worth mentioning that it was the Steelers who were initially offered the title of America’s team. However, Art Rooney declined the offer, preferring to maintain their Steeler identity.
It was then that the Dallas GM, Tex Schramm embraced the idea and crafted the identity for the Dallas-based franchise, an identity that continues to this day. It wasn’t arguably a media ploy but a strategic move by the NFL to market its brand.
That being said, Newton won’t be making any new friends anytime soon, as during the same episode of his podcast, he delivered another controversial take by categorizing QBs into different lists based on what their goals should be for the upcoming season.
Newton Ranks NFL QBs
While evaluating each NFL team’s QB situation, Newton divided their playmakers into three groups. The first group features only franchise quarterbacks whose only goal is to deliver during the postseason. It doesn’t matter how they finish the regular season; if they deliver a Super Bowl or go deep in the playoffs, all is forgiven, and nothing else matters.
This list includes usual suspects like Allen, Lamar, Rodgers, Mahomes, Burrow, Goff, Dak, Stafford, and Cousins. The second group is QBs who are starters for the coming season but need to win games consistently in their current situation.
Cousins finds himself on this list too, alongside Love, Lawrence, Stroud, Murray, Watson, Dan Jones, Geno Smith, Carr, Wilson/ Fields, and Levis. Cam didn’t question the talent of these QBs but believes that the time is ticking for some of these shot-callers to deliver.
That said, Newton might not receive the warmest of welcomes in the Bay Area after unhesitatingly placing Brock Purdy in Group 3. These are the guys who have to prove if they are the difference makers or just a part of a well-oiled system.
Niners fans still remember when the former MVP called Purdy a game manager, and it looks like he is not budging from that stance. Cam feels Purdy needs to do more to convince everyone he is indispensable and one of the reasons for the 49er’s success. Jalen Hurts, Tua, Mayfield, Young, Herbert, and Richardson also find themselves on this list.
Like most of Cam’s opinions, not everyone is going to agree with these lists. What do you think about it? Drop a comment below to let us know your opinions.
