In the wake of what was one of the most lopsided contests in Super Bowl history, Jalen Hurts’ status as a top-tier quarterback has become one of the most polarizing topics in all of sports. So much so, in fact, that it’s beginning to generate real problems within the realms of sports broadcasting and public discourse.
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The former Pittsburgh Steeler turned analyst, Ryan Clark, recently suggested that Cam Newton “forgot to bring his cape” to Super Bowl 50 while claiming that Hurts has already managed to accomplish more than the Carolina Panthers legend ever did. Newton promptly fired back during a recent segment on his 4th & 1 podcast that has since gone viral, but Clark claims that he isn’t taking things personally while reflecting on his Pivot Podcast.
“I’m not going to act wounded when I’m not,” he explained, before sharing the backstory to the entire issue. “Two weeks ago, Cam took shots at me, said I ‘played it safe’ as an analyst because I thought he could be an advocate for Jayden [Daniels.] I didn’t take a shot at Cam… I shot him a text, after he went at me. I said, ‘Bro, we don’t go no beef.'”
Clark also noted that he informed Newton’s “people” that he had no quarrels with the former QB later that same night. Nevertheless, he still attempted to take a bit of Newton’s advice, and that’s when things began to take a turn for the worse.
“Then the Jalen thing comes up and my analysis was, ‘let me use Cam as a player to draw reference to…’ And just to not play it safe, instead of just saying that Cam didn’t win a Super Bowl and Jalen did… I said, ‘I’mma say “cape” and bring up rings,’ and so then he goes into this whole thing that’s really personal, comparing our careers, our resumes, but that didn’t hurt me either.”
Following Clark’s initial “cape” comments, Newton took to the stat sheets to begin drawing comparisons. However, the former Pittsburgh DB wasn’t the only one whom Newton had aimed his crosshairs at.
Seemingly fed up with the amount of perceived disrespect that he had been and continues to receive from analysts and former players, Newton sounded off on multiple personalities, including Clark, before ultimately concluding that he “cannot relate” to any of them.
“Terrell Owens, we all know that you do not have the best relationships with your quarterbacks. Me being a quarterback, I’m just going to leave it at that. Gillie, you posted me on your social story… I got a question to ask, can you name me one GillieDaKid album? …Ryan Clark, let’s pull up your stats… Undrafted in 2002, we can not relate. One Pro Bowl in 2011, we can not relate.”
Newton asserts that he is perfectly fine with analysts criticizing someone’s performance, but attacking the person themselves is going too far. Whenever he feels as if the media is beginning to cross that line, he’ll promptly speak in the same manner in which he did here.
Suffice it to say, this wasn’t a smear campaign against Clark, but rather a warning shot from the former Panther towards the rest of his contemporaries.
