Cam Newton has never shied away from speaking his mind, not when he was on the field, not now that he’s a self-appointed analyst. On his podcast ‘4th and 1,’ the former QB gave his take on ‘game-changers’ and ‘game-mangers’ QBs in the league right now. Newton listed down 5 elite names, which according to his opinion, are the only true ‘game changers’ left in the NFL.
Advertisement
In his initial take, Newton explained why he thought multiple NFL quarterbacks are not game-changers and what separates a difference-maker from a game manager. He bunched the likes of Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goff, and Dak Prescott as managers and not “game changers.” Newton ruffled some feathers with his take and had to clarify his stance once more.
In a video defending his list, he explicitly said that being a game manager doesn’t mean they have lesser physical prowess. They just don’t need to take on games like the game-changers do. The former Panther QB further clarified that being a game manager does not carry a negative connotation nor is it a backhanded compliment.
He said, “Game manager is not a negative connotation. ‘Cam, what do you mean by game manager?’ My definition of that managing player is a player who has the ability to make the right play at the right time, protecting the football at all costs.” Rather, he said, some of the truly greats have been excellent game managers. Newton went on to name Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, and Drew Brees as some of the best game managers ever.
The five names that belong in the ‘game changer’ category now, according to Newton, are Aaron Rodgers, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, and Patrick Mahomes. Which looks like a fair list of the top rung of the QB ladder, where Newton himself rested safely once.
Cam Newton Steps on Some Toes With Divisive List
NFL pundits didn’t hold back when it came to trashing Newton’s list. And in some cases, it does look like a personal attack. For instance, Kimberley Martin of the show ‘Get Up’ started off by commenting on Newton’s outfit before commenting on his absence from the league saying, “In the year of 2023 where it’s all about NFL backups, where is Cam? Not on an NFL roster, right?”
Skip Bayless gave Newton props for his on-field prowess and carrying the team to a Super Bowl in 2015, before stating that GMs watching his analysis will say Newton’s opinion is “whacky stuff”. Bayless further pushed back on Newton’s take on Brock Purdy being a “game manager,” defending the 49ers’ golden boy as being the “opposite of a game manager.”
While he clarified his list, the former Heisman winner said that the backlash was laced with an undertone of discrediting his opinions, based on his own lived experiences. He remarked that the term game managers and the debate around it have been going on for years and everyone can have their own opinions.
The game manager debate has been a longtime issue in the NFL. It isn’t a new argument that the former Panthers QB has sparked. And it seems that it’s not a debate that will go away anytime soon.
