Most professional athletes claim they would gladly trade individual accolades for team success, but Cam Newton does not share that view.
During Thursday morning’s edition of “First Take” on ESPN,” Newton was asked by Stephen A. Smith if the former Carolina Panthers quarterback would trade his 2015 NFL MVP award for a Super Bowl ring. Without hesitation, Newton said he would not.
Smith was as surprised as most viewers will be by Newton’s response.
“What’s more important — impact or championships?” Newton asked. “You look at a guy like Allen Iverson, well he stood up on a table and blah blah blah. Everybody’s not gonna be Michael Jordan. Everybody’s not gonna be Patrick Mahomes. Everybody’s not gonna be these individuals who have the luxury of saying, ‘Hey, I not only dominated this sport, but I also have championships to back it.’”
Newton then mentioned how quarterbacks like Brad Johnson, Trent Dilfer and Nick Foles all won Super Bowls. He essentially said championships are more important for those players’ legacies than for Newton’s. Newton added that he is sticking with individual success because it means “I did my job.”
“My take is I’m taking individual success, because I did my job,” Newton said. “Football is not about one guy trying to do 11 jobs. It’s 11 guys doing one job. And if everybody does their job best, then in the words of our coach (Bill) Belichick, just do your job.”
You can hear the full comments:
Stephen A. Smith: "Cam, if you could give back that league MVP for a Super Bowl championship, would you do it?"
Cam Newton: "No" pic.twitter.com/b1wVO2i7Nh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 30, 2025
The Panthers reached the Super Bowl the year Newton won MVP. They lost to the Peyton Manning-led Denver Broncos in that game. That was the closest Newton ever got to winning a championship.
Newton may have been trying to say he has no regrets over the way his career went. He also probably did not want to give the usual canned answer to Smith’s question. Newton has had a number of unpopular takes over the years, which helped him land a job with ESPN.
