Drake Maye has admitted numerous times that he looked up to Cam Newton as a kid. But the former Carolina Panthers quarterback hasn’t been returning the same energy toward the sophomore youngster. Despite saying he’s a big fan of Maye, Newton continues to criticize him after big performances.
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In fact, people are now starting to notice Newton’s reluctance to give Maye his props. In his latest take about the New England Patriots QB, he went scorched earth. It all started when Damien Woody said that Maye was the best deep passer in the NFL today.
And Newton said in response: “You even allowed this to come out of your mouth… he’s the best deep ball thrower in the NFL? Stephen A., you keep allowing people to come on this show and have diarrhea out the mouth by just saying certain things that are just not true.”
He continued and attempted to embarrass Woody for making such a claim.
“You’re a liar, and I’mma tell you why,” Newton said. “Am I a fan of Drake Maye? Absolutely. But one thing you have to understand, in order to be the best, you have to do what? Beat the best.”
It was a bit of a strange reasoning from Newton for not giving Maye his flowers. After all, the Patriots have already beaten Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills on the road this year on Sunday Night Football. But Newton later clarified himself, saying that in this specific case, Maye needs to beat the best twice because they’re in his division.
It’s a little weird to me that Cam Newton is going on ESPN week after week to dismiss the idea that Drake Maye is playing as a top QB after how much Maye has said he looked up to Cam.
(And, you know, because Maye is objectively playing well.) pic.twitter.com/yeDsop4uxk
— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) October 28, 2025
All in all, the comments from Newton didn’t make much sense. According to the numbers, Maye is far and away the best deep ball thrower in the league right now. That’s not an opinion; it’s backed up by statistics and facts. Maye is completing 67.5% of passes that have 15+ air yards. The league average is 45%.
That’s why Patriots fans took the time to obliterate critic-Newton in the comment section. “Cam sounds like a Walmart Stephen A Smith,” one fan penned.
“It seems like Cam decided early in his media career that he would be an entertainer — not an analyst. This seems like an extension of that persona he’s building,” another said.
Cam sounds like a Walmart Stephen A Smith
— doogs (@d00gs) October 28, 2025
And the hard-hitting roasts didn’t stop there.
“Well, Brady says he’s good, so in terms of former Pats QBs now in media, I’ll take Brady’s word for evaluating quarterbacks over 7-9 and couldn’t complete a forward pass beyond 5 yards Scam Newton,” commented a third.
“Cam says he’s a Maye fan, but it is weird he’s going out of his way like this. Maybe he’s mad Drake has thrown almost double the amount of TDs Cam did for the Patriots in half a season,” another fan piled on.
The fans had tons of fun getting their shots in on Newton. In his second-to-last season in the NFL, Cam played for the Patriots and struggled. He completed 65% of his passes and threw for over 2600 yards, but he also threw only 8 TDs to 10 INTs.
At the end of the day, Newton does sound a bit bitter that Maye is performing well. Even though he says that he likes the young QB, the continued arguments he makes against him and the hesitation to say that he’s elite at anything are a bit strange. Especially since Maye has been playing outstanding lately.
But maybe this is all just a part of the First Take act. Newton, a former Patriots quarterback, is paid to come on the show and play the contrarian to a current Patriots QB who’s playing well. We’ll never really know if that’s true, though it’s hard to believe any other explanation given how good Maye has been.
