After he was caught in a brawl during a youth football event in Atlanta that resulted in a viral video, NFL free agent Cam Newton is finally addressing what went down. On the latest episode of his podcast 4th & 1, the former Carolina Panthers quarterback said he’s “disappointed” in his behavior that day.
“I let my emotions get the best of me, and it should not have been called for," Newton said of the incident.
While at first it was unclear who was trying to fight the former quarterback in the video and why, youth coaches and brothers TJ and Steph Brown spoke out in an interview with an Atlanta radio station afterwards and stated that Newton had been “talking junk,” to them after their team won over Newton’s.
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“Nobody seen how he was talking crazy to us the past two days,” TJ said in the radio interview. The coaches also claimed that Newton grabbed Steph, which incited the brawl. Newton clarified on the podcast that he wasn’t fighting kids in the video, as some first assumed. “These were grown men. Former coaches," for Newton’s youth football organization C1N.
Newton expressed further regret for his actions, saying on Friday, “I apologize to anybody affected,” before calling the coaches out by name. “That's Steph, that's TJ.” He also acknowledged the work the brothers do for the community. “I know what they do for the kids, I know their level of commitment to impacting or using their platform in a positive way in the community."
The NFL star said that he hopes to set a better example for the youth in his program. “I could play the victim and I’m not going to do that. I’m going to hold myself to that same standard,” he continued. “I’m used to playing in front of 100,000 people, and millions watching. And I let one person dictate how I feel? No, I can’t do that. But I did that day.”
“That just goes to show you,” he added, “you gotta always stay in control of your emotions.”
