Cam Newton Sides with Deion Sanders Over Asante Samuel in Persona vs. Performance Debate: “He Didn’t Play Special Teams, Prime Did”

“You forever taking a shot at the sky.”

Deion Sanders knows where he ranks among the greatest cornerbacks in NFL history. He’s the top two, and he isn’t two. This is an almost-consensus view from those around the league, including Shannon Sharpe and Ryan Clark. However, Asante Samuel isn’t yielding in his belief that he’s a better cornerback than Sanders.

Samuel’s case has been falling on deaf ears for weeks. Cam Newton finally got around to commenting on the Sanders-Samuel discourse during the latest episode of his 4th&1 podcast.

There, Newton mentioned that the whole situation started when Samuel disagreed with Sanders’ assessment of the “T technique.” It quickly evolved into something more, and is now an all-encompassing conversation about how Samuel stacks up with Sanders. And in that respect, Newton doesn’t believe Samuel rises to the occasion.

“I love Asante [Samuel]. I think there are certain things that you have to really look at outside of statistics that Prime brought that he just didn’t… [Samuel] didn’t play special teams. Prime did… before there was a Darelle Revis… before Asante… it was one person by the name of Deion Sanders… he just spoke to the culture.” – Cam Newton

Newton admits that some of the aura around Sanders plays into his widespread appreciation. Samuel, as Newton puts it, never had the same level of “bravado” as Sanders. Whether that should factor into player comparisons is an individual belief. But to Newton, it’s something that can’t be ignored when discussing the greatest in league history.

“Your persona has to meet your performance. [Asante Samuel’s] performance was there, but he didn’t necessarily have a persona… when you think about the great players in any sport, the great athletes in any type of dynamic… persona met performance… when you think about Asante Samuel, some people would say, ‘who? Who is that?’… that’s not the case with Deion Sanders.” 

Nobody will deny that Asante Samuel was a great football player. It’s also not disrespectful to say he slots beneath Sanders in the all-time great rankings. Part of the reason is that he hasn’t garnered true legend status yet. He’s not only not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but has never earned HOF finalist or semifinalist recognition.

Should Asante Samuel be a Hall of Famer?

Samuel also is not even in the Patriots’ team Hall of Fame. While that may stem from some personal beef with Bill Belichick, it’s still a fact that works against his argument. Regardless, former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden, who was a special guest for this episode of 4th&1, thinks Samuel is worthy of a spot in Canton.

“There are a lot of great corners that won’t be mentioned in the [GOAT conversation]… [but] Asante Samuel should get into the Hall of Fame, in my opinion. When you look at his overall body of work… individually, he was a guy who was a baller.” – Bryant McFadden

Cornerback statistics are notoriously tricky to navigate. The best ones often don’t have the ball thrown their way on a regular basis, so they can’t rack up interceptions at a high clip. Samuel, as Newton mentioned in the podcast, was susceptible to double moves because of his aggressiveness. He dominated in zone coverage, but wasn’t as highly regarded in man coverage.

Samuel also hasn’t been able to live down his role in the Pats’ Super Bowl XLII loss. With 1:30 remaining in the game, Samuel let a game-clinching interception bounce off his hands. Had he secured the pass, New England would have been immortalized as an unbeaten champion. One play later, Eli Manning and David Tyree connected on “The Helmet Catch.”

For those reasons, McFadden’s stance isn’t common in the NFL’s fan communities. It’s hard to imagine he’ll ever have enough support to reach the Hall of Fame from those who decide such things if the majority of fans aren’t on his side. So, for now, Samuel will have to keep pleading to the masses and hope the narrative shifts down the line.