Coming into the 2025 regular season, the Baltimore Ravens were being booked as the odds-on favorites to take home the Lombardi trophy. The same was true for their star quarterback, Lamar Jackson, and the regular-season MVP award.
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Unfortunately, Jackson’s first half of their regular season was derailed by a misdiagnosed hamstring injury. They’ve since gotten back on track, having won all four of their last four games. But regardless of whether they make the playoffs or not, it’s safe to say that this has been a disappointing season for both Jackson and the Ravens.
Quite naturally, that resulted in Jackson receiving a fair bit of criticism. By virtue of listing the 28-year-old as their “Most Overrated Quarterback” in the NFL, Bleacher Report has started to become one of his most vocal critics.
According to Cam Newton, the sports news outlet went too far, and it’s time to address that. Rather than attack the brand as a whole, the 2015 regular season MVP decided to target the individual behind the claim. “Let’s look at who published the article. Bring him up, put his picture up,” Newton shouted during the latest episode of his 4th & 1 podcast.
The former face of the Carolina Panthers then proceeded to label the writer, a former ESPN employee by the name of Alex Kay, as a “bologna factory” for having made a career out of continuously producing substandard content. “Lamar Jackson is overrated when he’s got better numbers than your favorite quarterback?” Newton questioned.
“What you’re not going to do, Mr. Alex Kay, is get away with posting rubbish.” It was then revealed that Kay received his education at Arizona State University, which immediately caused Newton to jokingly speculate that “One thing I do know about Arizona State, the Sun Devils, they do some good partying out there. Maybe, he just partied too much.”
Newton made sure to insist that he was simply attempting to hold media members to a higher standard and that his jokes and banter involving Kay were not malicious or personal in any way. Of course, the writer may think differently upon seeing the segment himself, but then again, this will likely be both the start and the end of his presence on Newton’s show.
Regardless as to whether or not this is the proper way in which to address opinion pieces in the press, Newton’s decision to call out a comparatively insignificant member of the media should serve as a reminder that, at the end of the day, there’s a reason as to why you must you always put your name on your work, as you may just have to stand behind it at the end of the day.
