Club Shay Shay - Cam Newton Part 1

Episode Date: April 10, 2024

Cam Newton joins Shannon Sharpe at Club Shay Shay, delving into a wide array of topics from football to fashion. He sheds light on his cigar lounge Fellowship and clarifies his controversial "game changer vs game manager" quarterback comments, providing insights into the NFL criticism landscape and its parallels to the rap game's beef between Drake, J. Cole, and Kendrick Lamar. Cam candidly discusses his experiences with various NFL teams, including the New England Patriots and the Carolina Panthers, reflecting on toxicity in relationships and corporate politics in football. From dissecting quarterback strategies to analyzing player legacies and team dynamics, Cam offers his unique perspective with honesty and depth. Cam offers insights into what is holding Lamar Jackson’s Baltimore Ravens and Dak Prescott’s Dallas Cowboys back from making a deep Super Bowl run. Cam claims that the Atlanta Falcons could’ve afforded Lamar Jackson, Justin Fields, Mike Vick and himself for the price they paid for Kirk Cousins. He reminisces about his rookie days in Carolina, shares stories about former teammates like Steve Smith Sr., Luke Kuechly, and Christian McCaffrey, and reflects on his relationship with Panthers' former owner Jerry Richardson. Throughout the conversation, Cam's authenticity and passion shine through, making this first part of Cam's episode a captivating journey through the highs and lows of his football career and personal life. #VolumeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news and the best analysis delivered by the time you get your coffee. The show hits every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in all the big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Did you ever get tired of hearing people say, man, you're dressing like an auntie.

You're dressing all them women clothes, them tight clothes. Bring your girl around, man. If you know a female is toxic, and still you know she toxic, she ain't going to be toxic be toxic with no Cam, though. Shit. That's just a photo. Shit. You know what I'm saying?

Come on, Cam. We still waiting for red flags, though, Cam. That's cool, but some red flags equate to six flags. Boy, oh boy, is it a fun ride. Hello, welcome to another episode of Club Che Che. I am your host. I'm also the proprietor of Club Che Che. And today is a special edition because we're on the road. And the man we're on the road with today, he's the only player to win the Heisman, the BCS National Championship, NFL Rookie of the Year, and be

selected number one in the NFL Draft the same season. He's an NFL MVP. He's an SEC and NFL Offensive Player of the Year. He's a first-team All-Pro, earned three Pro Bowls, AP College Player of the Year, Consensus All-American, first-team All-SEC quarterback. He won back-to-back national championships, one in junior college, the other in the NCAA. He also has the most rushing touchdown by NFL quarterback. Carolina Panther, Auburn, Atlanta great. Some call him Superman. I call

him my nephew, Cam Newton. How was that intro? It was alright. What did I leave out? Tell me what I leave out. It was alright. Entrepreneur, father. It's alright. Dad. Yeah. Great father. Greatur. Father. It's all right. All right. Dad. Yeah. Great father.

Great father. Great father. Great business here. Thanks for having us. Yes, sir. Letting Club Shea Shea come into fellowship. You did. Anytime.

You're welcome anytime. Welcome. Look here. I know you on an espresso. That's bad luck. What's bad? Mixing spirits with an unspirited drink. That's bad luck.

That's bad luck? Okay, we're here. You got water i think yep boom there you go yeah um now let's go viral yeah but it's a good look you dig it i'm saying so let's rock and roll how you doing oh i'm magnificent any better i'll be a twin you know what i'm saying you listen i'm we're here at your at your place fellowship and i think it's one of the uh i haven't been to a whole lot of cigar spots but the ones i have you're a second to none yes sir when you came up with the idea for fellowship, what were you thinking and what were you hoping to accomplish?

Well, I travel a lot and smoking cigars is a part of my daily routine. And for me, I just wanted to create something that embodies everything that I like socializing, networking, being comfortable, as well as eating great food and easy and, you know, smoking. Right. Cigars. So, you know, you combine all those things together and that's what you get out of fellowship. Was this your first entry into being an entrepreneur? Indirectly or directly? Yes. Indirectly. No. I think the first one was realizing at the age of 20, I'm the man of my bloodline. And that's and I say that humbly being that I got so much high regard to my father. And I say that humbly being that I got so much high regard to my father.

But making those type of decisions really put a lot of things into perspective. OK, let's get right into it. You caused we you were earlier when you said game managers versus game changers. Can you clarify what did you mean? Because I think I know what you mean, but I want to hear it from you. What did you mean when you said there are certain guys, and you can list the guys if you like,

that are game managers, and there are certain guys that are game changers because they're asked to do different things? Correct. Well, in the game of football today, there's only really five game changers at the quarterback position okay Lamar Jackson Josh Allen Aaron Rodgers Patrick Mahomes Joe Burrow okay and that's not a title that's just handed out to anybody now this is the biggest misconception being a game manager is not a backhanded compliment it's something that

your team does not require you to win the game all the time those game changers they're asked to win the game every single day right right and that's just what i meant. And when I went more into detail about it, I think it really became apparent that I'm like, yo, hold on. And I know we're talking about Brock Parody here and I have no quarrels or no issue with him. he is is the perfect definition of the american dream right hard working get it out the mud you know earn every single thing that you that you get that you get and he's done right by the opportunity that he was presented with and for me i never wanted to kind of come off because i know what it's like to prepare as an nfl player i think too many times it was assumed or painted as if I was bitter, as if I was a hater. I was just calling it how I see it. When I think about game changers, there's top two on their team,

top three, top five. And when I explain it even more, I was looking at the roster of the San Francisco 49ers, and I'm saying to myself, well, they loaded. But he didn't ask for that situation. You know what I'm saying? You know, I've played with Christian McCaffrey. I know how dynamic he is.

You know, I've always been a fan of Deebo Samuels. I've played against Fred Warner. I know the amount of preparation it is. George Kittle, those guys. And, you know, that team is stacked. Trent Williams. Those guys, you know, have the ingredients to be or to become a dynasty. Right.

And I never wanted to kind of jade that from, you know, his hard work and preparation. I think sometimes, Cam, people, I remember when I first got into the league, people would critique us, and they was like, well, you never played the game. And if you did play the game, were you any good? Now you have players that played the game, played the game at a high level, that were very good,

and they're not allowed to critique. So are you beyond reproach? Are you not allowed to be critiqued regardless whether you're a game changer or game manager so where are we going with this camp i think we're living in a day and age where people aren't critiquing the take they're critiquing the person who gave the tape oh okay so i said they mad at Yeah. Yeah, I said game manager and People were saying you didn't jump on the fumble you didn't you didn't perform or he's better than you or you're a bust or you're Doing that and I'm saying to myself is like that's not

Talking about what I said, right? I think it's a lot of times we get distracted by Who's delivering the message, not the message itself. Right. Wow. It's funny that you say that. You list Mahomes, Lamar, Josh Allen, Aaron Rodgers, and Joe Burrow. Those are your game changers.

Yes, sir. Those are the guys that you go into the game and there's a level of expectation week in and week out. Yes, sir. We're going to win this game. Correct. Game managers, you're like, okay, if this goes well, if this guy plays well, this guy plays well,

if the defense does, we have a chance to win. No, it's simple. With those five guys that I listed, you're telling them, or the unspoken word is, go win us the game. Okay. Game managers, in some regard, is you're basically telling them don't lose the game. Right.

See what I'm saying? Right. Those, like, don't put the ball in harm's way. Protect the football. Just give guys chances to make plays on your behalf or our behalf. Right. And we'll win the game. Right.

You do realize, like, when you say certain things like this and this is uh i remember when you had to comment and uh your dad called me when i when you said i think what was the term you use what was the term that you use random random and i'm thinking to myself does he understand like if he goes into one of these locker rooms and these guys that he call random, how uncomfortable that's going to be? Did you think about it in that terms? Shannon, I'll tell you this, or Uncle Shay. My sole purpose while using my platform is to expose the truth. OK.

However it comes out, it may be aggressive. It may be, you know, a little slain sometimes, but it's the truth. Right. And I don't bite my vernacular just because of the setting that I'm in. Right. You could put me in a locker room. You could put me in a barbershop. You could put me in a podium. You could put me in front of ESPN, Fox, CNN.

It doesn't matter. Right. My vernacular would not change. Right. And randoms were guys who I felt still do feel that they've been given opportunities that guys of my stature never got. of my stature never gotten and that's just the truth I think that's gonna make for some very uncomfortable tough conversations can't so be it this is when I realized that I'm not for everybody right that's when I started living in my true self but as a quarterback you have to be for everybody you know you to face it because you got to be good with D-line, the O-line, the wide receivers, the running backs, the DB.

You actually are the CEO of the company. Yes, sir. And you understand a lot of people are going to take their cue from you. Of course. And I'm good with all of them. Anybody, you do the research. You probably already have. People who are watching watching this let them do their research

Find a teammate that said Cam Newton was an amazing teammate. You call me random you come in there cam Oh, you're gonna have to have a conversation. Well, you just that's just competition It's just competition anytime that I ever wanted to Insert myself let's compete right? That's the cultural thing. Mm- cultural thing i'm competing with you right now right club shea shea verse funky friday nightcap verse fourth and one it don't necessarily matter it's a healthy competition right you see what i'm saying and we have to normalize that we're seeing it in music right now j cole kendrick Drake. Healthy competition. Now, don't get distracted by the words.

Understand the message and where it's coming from. The purpose of the words. So, I see guys have opportunities to be backups. That didn't come by way of me. I understand who I am. And you want me to minimize myself? You want me to dim my light so somebody else can well you have to deal with your light to be a backup i told you who i would would back up but that still wasn't good enough so now it's this whole emancipation of of who the black person's supposed to be, especially a black quarterback.

You want me to shrink or minimize myself? No, Cam. You have a wife and kids. You have a wife and you got three kids. You're without a job. You say, well, I'm only going to work, do this, this, and this. I don't know if you're in the position to say that if you're trying to feed said family and keep a roof over their head.

Eli did it. Eli Manning. That's in the beginning. You could have probably pulled that card in the beginning when you had the power. That's cool. You can't say different rules to different people. I don't think it's a different set of rules because we're going to talk about this later. With time says, look, I want your door to go here, here, there. Okay,

fine. I have no problem with that. Although, uh, I didn't really particularly like when, when Eli did it, but I'm saying when you have the power, Superman, Clark King can't get no power. Yes, sir. Superman, Superman had the power. The guy that did this, the guy that was 15 and one could have called that shot. But this is what I The guy that did this, the guy that was 15 and one could have called that shot. But this is what I'm telling you is this. That person who you're talking about. I'm a very confident person that oftentimes get misinterpreted as cocky. Who does Cam think he is to sit up there?

You told him. This is me telling you I've admitted to putting myself in some fucked up situations. Okay. And I don't want to put myself in no more bad situations. So if you give me an off season to learn a playbook properly. Right. If you give me a time to really understand the play caller's purpose, now

I can interpret what he's trying to do and also give my insight too. Those are situations that I didn't necessarily have. I was learning in New England. I was learning and I said this time and time again. I was learning a 20-year system and trying to cram that throughout the year,

as well as I was signed a month before we played football. I go to Carolina. I was trying to learn on the go. And on top of that, you fire the OC two weeks into an already bad situation. Right. Now I had to learn something again. Right. Now in the offseason, I'm telling you, like, yo, these are what I would want to do.

This is me representing myself. Right. And if I can't represent myself and speak as honest as I know how, I don't want to put myself in no bad situations because my production was being impacted by bad situations but when i say that it's me saying who does he think no it's not that it's just the truth and i'm speaking my truth but the thing is cam the people that you mentioned the likelihood you weren't gonna get a chance to play hello i knew i knew they wasn't gonna come and get me i knew my phone wasn't gonna ring but I still had to tell the people what I wanted. And that's the power of media right now.

Right. We don't have to wait for a publishing in a newspaper or a magazine. I can go direct to the source. Right. Either with X, Twitter, TikTok, Instagram. Your own platform. I got my own platform. I'll tell you what I want.

Right. And it's for you to sift through and say, OK, that juice is worth the squeeze. And if not, then it is what it is. And I'm fine with that. That's the thing that people don't understand. I was ready to walk away from the NFL when Carolina released me the first time. So me being in this position right now, it don't make me uncomfortable. Look where we're at. This place ain't make me uncomfortable. Look where we at. This place ain't cheap.

This place paid me very well. Why didn't you, you said you was ready to walk away and you was dealing with some injuries in Carolina. Why didn't you take that off season to get fully healthy and then come back? That's the gift and the curse

because the opportunity presented itself as a competitor as a lion when the opportunity presents itself you say to yourself i could do it i could do it i don't need that much time i'm me and it ended up i bet it on myself and it didn't work out right and i don't have nobody else to blame but me even though i'm saying to myself those are bad situations i knew those situations as it was arising still having full confidence in myself to say i can do this yeah it but ck i'm and the words of the great clint eastwood he said every man got to know his limitations It's like if you know a female is toxic and still you know, she toxic

She ain't gonna be toxic with old Cam though Shit That's a fado Shit I tell you toxicity in any No Cam no, no. Come on, we going to keep it a buck now. You know what I'm saying?

Come on, Cam. You tell me. We still waiting for red flags, though, Cam. That's cool, but some red flags equate to six flags. Boy, oh boy. Is it a fun ride? It's a ride that makes you sick. At the end of the day, you still got to taste the, you know what I'm saying, the appetizer or the sample just to see if that's something that you want to partake in.

Oh, man. Damn. Damn. Come on. I may be too real. Come to step now. You know what I mean? Can't believe my sister Bob.

You know what I mean? Your folks didn't even know how real, you know, I'm saying that you get. But at the end of the day, I know who I am. Right. And I know that that may turn a lot of people off. But that ain't my kind. Right. And I'm extremely respectful to everybody. I respect everybody. Right. And when that time comes for me to express myself, I don't want to be minimized. I have children. I have sons. I have daughters. And I raised them to be able to look every man and every woman in their eye and speak your mind.

And there's a right and wrong way to articulate yourself. And I've never crossed that boundary by disrespecting somebody by expressing myself. Are you done with football? I think the question is, is football done with me? Because if you give me ample time or you give me a situation

that makes sense to me, I have to take it. Are you training to go back to play football? Man, I'm ready right now. Are you training to go back to play football? Man, I'm ready right now. That's what people don't understand. I still work out. I mean, it's like riding a bike.

I've been playing this game since I was seven years old. Housewives work out. Have at least trained. Yes, sir. Are you training? Mm-hmm. Don't let this cigar fool you. I was smoking cigars, like,

after a two-a-day, three-a-day. It don't matter. Don't let this fool you i was smoking cigars like after a two a day three a day it don't matter don't don't don't let this fool you now how about this getting in is the easy part it's knowing when to get out that's hard i'm i'm listen put it like this i'm not begging nobody to go back. Right. If the opportunity presents itself where somebody feels the need that Cam Newton can help our franchise, I'll be ready. Have you or any of your representatives, representation, reached out to any of the 32 teams? Yes. And what's the feedback?

What's been said? Oh, man, you know well we're exploring options right now and you know that professional talk right all all to say we're not interested yes sir and that's fine that's cool they have to do what's right for them and i have to do what's right for me and a part of that is telling the people what's right for me right so you can't sit up here and say cam ain't willing to be a backup i told y'all i'll be a backup these are the people what's right for me right so you can't sit up here and say cam ain't willing to be a backup i told y'all i'll be a backup these are the people who i would back up and that still wasn't good enough so what is it now and i already knew that going into it because

it's not necessarily what's being said it's the source of who's saying it right oh man you know bringing the cam newton into the franchise what does that say to the starter am i supposed to apologize for the aura that i bring that's that's me that's what made my roar loud i put a lot on my plate. That's how my father raised me. Man, look, my father is obviously the most influential male in my life. And he is as holy as holy. But when my dad know when I talk to him like this, like, Pop, you ain't raised no bitch now.

This is not him as my pastor. This is me talking to him as a man. You ain't raised no bitch so i gotta do what's right for me and my family and us right and i'm not gonna let nobody play with me so that could be intimidating to a franchise because they think that oh we can't control this mother no you've never had no problems from cam newton you've never seen cam newton on a dui you've never seen cam newton or have conduct detrimental to the team you've never seen cam

newton oust his the organization knowing that this wasn't my fault i still take the blame that's what quarterbacks are supposed to do right i've been a upright honorable citizen in the eyes of of the media and now when i have my way of expressing myself oh who do you think you are okay i'm new then simple and plain if i gave you a choice the last, you got two minutes on the clock and you got to go 80 yards to get a touchdown. I'm going to give you Tom Brady. I'm going to give you Patrick Mahomes. Both in their prime.

Who you taking? Brady. Why? It's Brady. I mean, not to minimize Patrick. I remember playing, I never played Patrick Mahomes. The time I was supposed to play Patrick. I remember playing. I never played Patrick Mahomes. The time I was supposed to play him, I had COVID.

Okay. I remember playing Tom Brady in New England. I think it was 2017, 2018. And the impact that he had, it was like the game is never over. As a quarterback, you never want to get distracted by the opposing offense. You know what I'm saying? I think – well, that's not a thing. I know Patrick Mahomes has that.

It's like when you score, it's like, damn, we left too much time. Right. Well, with Brady, the whole crowd, they were down. Think about the two scores. The whole crowd, Brady, Brady, Brady. That type of impact, I don't think the game will ever see that in respect to who he was and he's proven time and time again with elite support cat a supporting cast and questionable supporting cast Brady has always got it done

and I wouldn't say it just was Brady it was coach Belichick it was Josh McDaniels it was that whole organization. Brady was just the person that got a lot of credit. But if I were to that situation, I'm going with Tom Brady every single day. Do you feel like when you was playing against a Brady or you playing against a Mahomes now that you're actually competing against them? And I know, well, I'm not on the field against Tom Brady. I'm not on the field against Patrick Mahomes.

But you know what they're going to do. And you've got to match it. Yes, sir. I mean, as an athlete in that game or a player in that game, those are all things that you think in the back of your head. You know, four-minute offense is paramount. It's of great desire that we've got to get first downs. We've got to keep them off the field.

You know, and as we're playing, these are the things that, completions, keeping the clock rolling, you know, protecting the football, whether in the pocket, outside the pocket, guys, you know. Staying bound. It's a lot. It's almost like the Jordan effect, the LeBron effect, the Steph effect. These are great players now.

And when you're playing against them, you'll be lying if you didn't feel that impact to say, you already know who you're looking across from. I think you're 2-0 against Brady. Does it feel... What'd you say now?

I didn't hear you. It was a... I think you're 2-0 against Brady. I think you beat him in Carolina and you beat him in New England. Yes, sir. Do you feel different, like, beating a Brady or beating one of these top... or Rodgers or beating one of these top-tier quarterbacks?

Do you feel different when you beat one of those guys? Only person I wish I would have beat was Peyton. You would have beat... I'm 0-2 was Peyton. You would have beat? I'm 0-2 versus Peyton. Obviously, one in the regular season when he had that crazy year with 55 touchdowns. And then, obviously, in the Super Bowl. But other than that, I had my own.

Right. If I give you a choice, you got to start a friend. Cam Newton is the general manager. And you get Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurst, or Brock Purdy to start your franchise with. Who you picking? Joe Shiesty. Smoking Joe. Motherfucker cool.

I seen him at a Super Bowl party, I was like, yo, like this dude, I could see what, like, guy, man, listen, he got that it factor.

And a lot of times, especially as you cover sports or you, you talk about it or critique sports, you don't really know these people. You don't have real interactions with them.

I met Joee cool guy and his aura was just like just a cool ass dude you know i'm saying not taking anything away from jaylen not taking anything from brock not taking anything from you know any other person uh justin herbert that you that you spoke of but i need guys that's going to lead our franchise. It's easy to say when things are going good, but are you going to give the confidence in that locker room when things are going bad? Right. And that's what I look at from my seat.

Who do you think wins the Super Bowl first? Jordan Love, Brock Purdy, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Justin Herbert, Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurst. Lamar. What happened? What happened this year? Because it seemed like everything was perfect. They had home field throughout. They were clearly, from about week nine on,

the best team in the NFL. And it wasn't close. You look at the team that they beat. They beat Miami by God knows how much. They did a demolition job on the 49ers. They blew the doors off Seattle. All the teams that made the playoffs or that was playoff potentials, they just didn't skate by them.

They ramshackled them. And then this moment, AFC Championship game on your home field, and everybody knows Lamar Jackson is going to be the MVP. The only question is, is it going to be unanimous again? Yeah. I think one thing that Lamar and the Ravens organization just has to figure out is how to win the ugly games. It's one of them situations like sometimes when I look at Lamar,

it's like, bro, stop thinking. And it's easy for a guy with that much talent to think, oh, it's so many, like, as a chef, you can prepare this meal in so many different ways, but everybody know

your signature is smoked. Man, smoke this motherfucker and get on about your day. You got to win. Find a way to win the ugly games. And we can talk about the other stuff later. Patrick Mahomes has found a way to do that.

I don't care what we need to do. We can talk about all this other. Them drop balls, we can worry about all that shit after the end of the game. Let's find a way to win. Travis Kelsey. Man, we're going to find a way to fucking win. And I think for Lamar, once he figures figures that out not to say that he hasn't but everybody around because it's just not lamar right it's everybody finding a way to win that's what made tom brady and the

new england patriots so dynamic because it could be we're going to find a way to win. Remember that Super Bowl in Atlanta? That was the ugliest Super Bowl ever. The Patriots versus the Rams. Low score. We thought it was going to be a fire up and down. 35-31. Man, it was a low scoring game. We got to find

a way to win. And once he figures that out, the organization figures that out it's funny that you say that because brady mastered that and you mentioned patrick holmes because you look at the super bowl against philly he threw for 180 yards but every yard mattered correct every dish he didn't have what he ended up going overtime. And I think he might have had close to 300. But you say that is like finding ways to win that people don't think you can because everybody thinks that he's supposed to throw for three, 400 yards.

And that's the only way they can win. Right. But sometimes he turned into a game manager because he Tom Brady was the greatest game manager and the greatest because he understood, man, there's going to be a low scoring game, man. I can't put this ball in harm's way. I can't fumble. I can't make mistakes.

Or knowing how to compartmentalize the different versions of yourself. And that's what makes you a game changer. Because it may say, hey, hey, hey, easy, easy, easy. Hey, check, check, check. Hey, Bronco. Hey, Bronco. Hey, 52 is the mic. That's checking into a run play. It's too high. I know what it is. I want to take this shot. We're calling two plays.

This second and short or third and one, we're going to be aggressive. Okay. Hey, hey, hey, hey, easy. Hey, I got to get us out this play. First down, one yard game. Cool. That's fine. I need to understand what version of myself that i need to go into my deck of cards and say okay boom i'm gonna throw that little that little tin of spade out it's gonna walk though you dig what i'm saying right so each so each game a quarterback cam newton has to go in there i have to be the best version today of what is needed of me today. I might not need to be Superman today. Put a microscope to it and even this play.

Okay. Not today. Because in a given game, you may have anywhere from 45 plays to 62 plays. That's just been documented. What a regular game for an offense may look like. plays. That's just been documented. What a regular game for an offense may look like. Those plays,

each play will never look the same. So you have to sit up there and say, oh, I got one right here. Hey, hey, easy. We good. Set wide 80, easy. No, no, no, no, no, we good. And you're taking your shot. That same thing may come out the next play. You want to take another shot.

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hey, kill that. Kill that. These are what the outside pundits don't realize. It's a chess match. And too many times people forget that in football. You just think it's 11 on 11. It's about splitting that number down the middle and finding your one-on-one. Right. And the great ones do it, and you see what makes them great. The Cowboys are in a very precarious situation because they find themselves in a very similar situation to where they were four years ago. Dak Prescott going into the final year of his contract.

Yeah. That time they franchised and made him play on a franchise tag, thought about franchising him again to give him a long-term deal. So here we are again. What is it that Dak needs to do what is it that Dak hasn't done to convince the Cowboys because clearly they're not convinced because Jerry said it after we're only going to go as far as Dak carry us and this was as far as he could carry us what do you wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast NFL daily with Greg Rosenthal five days a week of get all the latest news previews recaps and it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook,

Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl. I don't know why, Colleen.

Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Seeing from Dak, what's going on with Dak? What's going on with the Cowboys offense that in big games, he doesn't play his best? This message is to Dak Prescott. We looking for that motherfucking dog.

And I don't think Jerry Jones will allow him to become that. Because you got to be politically correct. You got to be almost the president of football, almost, to be the signal caller for the Dallas Cowboys. What Dallas Cowboys need at that quarterback position is somebody to say, now, fuck that. It's my shit.

This is what we going to do. I hear all that, but we're trying to win. We're trying to win. Yes or no. Okay, cool. Now unleash me and let me win this football game. That type of aura, I don't think Dak can be that. No. Because Jerry wants to win his way.

You see what I'm saying? So those are going to be very combative forces that I don't know if they can get to that next level. I know a guy that played quarterback that didn't win nearly as much. Dak probably won more playoff games than him, and he never had to worry about a contract. The guy that Dak came after. What's I'm going to say? I mean, am I missing?

For the people, we're keeping it a buck now. Who are you talking about? So the people would know. All I know is Tony Romo was made the highest-play quarterback in football with no Super Bowls, no NFC Championship games, no first-team All-Pro, no second-team All-Pro. He ain't never had to worry about a contract. And when he's done playing, he gets a deal that nobody else gets.

So what are we really talking about? So you want Cam Newton to shut up and sit back? When I'm telling y'all that there's different rules for different people. Yes. When I can sit up here and say, hold on, easy, there's a slant coming. Hey, watch the pressure. Hey, watch this and watch that. As an athletic quarterback, you don't get enough

credit. You think Lamar Jackson has been as successful as he is by him not understanding the football game and how people are going to try to play him. Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, these athletic quarterbacks. Come on now.

You said like, okay, Romo got what he got when he played, and then he goes out and he becomes color of CBS, gets this long-term deal. The prime time game. Oh, yeah, he's number one. I take another guy who I have a whole bunch of respect for and call me biased. Greg Olsen. Yeah. Greg Olsen didn't get that deal.

So it can't be no black and white thing. It's just like, yo, how? Why? How did he get that? Right. You want to call games? Man, I want the money. I'll figure everything else out. Shit, I asked you a question about that. What made you get into Le Portier?

Yeah. It's because, shit, you realize that you could become a billionaire. Shit, we'll figure all the other rest of the stuff out later. I ain't no different. Cam, do you want to call a game? Nope. Shit, we're going to give you $30 million a year. Shit.

No, but you can't go. Cam, you can't go in there and say no you got yes i would love to call games well yeah i love to call what that contract look like we're gonna give you 750 000 yeah all right i'm good where i'm at i mean they're probably i mean it all depends on where you call them you call them the you know you're the number one slot or the number two slot number one slot you know. Man, you gotta know who you are. You see what I'm saying? You take certain people

from certain situations and that situation ain't the same. My point, period. Undisputed ain't been the same since Shannon Sharp moonwalked up out of there. Shannon Sharp gonna be straight. Now, Skip, why them ratings ain't what they are now?

Oh, it's because of you. No. You got to figure out. You got to know who you are, bro. You do, Cam. But I think the thing is, is that we are not going to get allowed to start at the top. You start in the mail room. And then you're going to start carrying the mail. And then you're going to start carrying the mail and then you're going to work your way up to before you get to the penthouse. You're not going to the penthouse.

You have to understand that and see I once see you can be good at any game if you understand the rules and how to play the game. I understand that and I'm exposing that so so you do me a favor. Okay. You go back to the introduction. Yeah you give that resume yeah and you put that on dan or losky and see if he don't become getting the number one slot hello you see what i'm saying yeah i understand what the rules are. I'm just here to expose it. Like your constituent Cat Williams said, I'm just here to collect information and I'm just here to report it. Don't get mad that I'm reporting what I've obviously seen was to be true. And what everybody else knows, they just don't say it. Correct. So you're going to make me the bad guy because I'm reporting the truth.

No, no, I'm not going to do that. I guy because I'm reporting the truth? No. No, I'm not going to do that. I'm not in the position. I don't need you. You don't need me. But people need the truth. You had a very interesting take on Kirk Cousins. You're like, I want to know who his agent is.

For sure. Because I want to know how a man that's won one playoff game, been a game manager his entire career and get guaranteed 331 331 million dollars 35 he's coming off season-ending achilles surgery at his age the falcons just gave him 180 million 100 million, 50 million at the time of signing. It ain't even, I mean, that's egregious. And I love the fact that he's able to get that money. But what the Falcons paid Kirk Cousins, they could have got Cam Newton,

Justin Fields, and Michael Vick for that price. You do realize they could have gave up two first rounders and got Lamar Jackson for it. But we're not talking about that. See, this is the thing about sports, that we don't do a better job with

holding people to the fire okay you're a judge you're you're you're critique Dak Prescott you'll critique Cam Newton you'll critique Lamar Jackson you'll critique Patrick Mahomes but who's to say for the ownership the management and all these decision makers by tricking off these key decisions. But they want you to just shut up and play. Right. I'm sitting up at the, like, when are we going to admit that these coaches really don't know what they're doing?

These managers don't know what they're doing. These owners really don't know what they're doing. Or they're making bad situations. And the franchise is suffering from that. It's not just that y'all don't have good players well and see here's the thing if you and i make a bad decision let's just say we make a bad investment we can't recoup that they make a bad investment the tv contract gonna pay them 300 400 million dollars so what have they actually lost you see how you overcome a bad investment if you

make a bad let's just say you go out there and buy a pizza property for $50 million. You're like, damn, I'm out of this $50 million. But you say, you know what? I got $100 million coming in. Ain't no skin off my back. See, that's how they look at it. And see, I look at Atlanta. I think they were looking for the next Matt Ryan.

Because the most successful quarterback in their history, I guess as far as wins and getting to the Super Bowl, you look at Matt Ryan. Because it's basically a carbon copy of him. Matt Ryan had Tony Gonzalez arguably, or he's top three. You know. Yeah. He had Roddy White. He had Julio.

He had some weapons. But they say, look here, we got B. John. You had a defense. Yeah. I mean, you had Julio. That's all you need. Yeah. But they, we got B. John. You had a defense. Yeah. I mean, you had Julio. That's all you need. Yeah. Shit. But they say, we got B. John Robinson. We got Drake London.

We got Kyle Pitts. I think they signed Mooney from Chicago. So it is like, we just need somebody to get him the ball. That's cool. But I'm telling you, with that 180 that you gave that guy, you could have had, if not more, talent at that position. And you was going to sell out. Right.

I'm here, man. We are across the street from Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Yes. People after games for the four years that fellowship has been open, has been in saying the same argument. When you go in that stadium, sometimes it's not maxed to capacity. I was a teenager when Michael Vick was here. Come on, huh? Man, that moment, bruh.

And they wasn't elite. No. But Michael Vick to Atlanta was something that the city needed. Right. And that's where you got to talk to management to say, hey, listen, I understand it's twofold. We got to win football games

and we got to sell tickets. Right. I don't know. And I'm not saying that to shame Kirk Cousins. Right. What I is let's let's give a little bit more perspective to because the perspective about it is my take personally was cam's getting old he ain't getting no younger he's 32 at the time he's coming off a shoulder injury, Linz, Frank cool

all things that are not quote on quote serious injuries they're not career ending if you tore your Achilles back when you was playing you're done so now he's coming back.

I had this take on fourth and one. You're giving this person the money coming off an injury. So how am I supposed to feel? Because the same questions and the same concerns that you have with me, obviously you don done overlooked that.

You don't have those concerns with him. And if you give Kirk Cousins my resume, he probably would have got more. But I'm tripping. But I'm bitter. But I'm mad. I'm not. I'm just exposing the truth. And it's for you to digest it however you feel.

There are a lot of running back that traded that changed teams Derrick Henry went to the Ravens Saquon Barkley went to the Eagles and Joe Mixon went to the Texans They also got Stephon Diggs which running back do you feel would have the biggest impact? Hmm the biggest impact I don't think he has as many yards but I think he has a bigger impact Derek Henry

I think so too he made a great year for Derek Henry would be 750 yards. Not 1,000 that he used to because, obviously, you got to share that workload with Lamar. But if he can get 750 and take that, put these games away, like we've all known the Baltimore Ravens just to bring their teams into submission, I think Derrick Henry.

I think Derrick Henry needs to have about 1,100 because I don't want Lamar to run. Because now when you play action that thing with Big D Henry coming down the hill and he roll over and Lamar pulls that ball up out of there, Zay Flowers and those guys are going to be running Scott. Oh, for sure. But I don't think 1,100 yards is going to make or break that impact. That ain't nothing.

17 games, which is true. But you got to understand I don't see Derrick Henry averaging 120, 140 yards per game. No, can he give a 70? Yes. Yes. So 70

times 17, if that's the average, that's all we need. That's it. And then when you get into the red zone, we got to shrink this field. Now they really going to be on the attack and dictate into the defense. Now we're playing

chess. Christian McCaffrey, you played a couple of years with him. I believe he's the best running back in football because of what he can do. He's not 225 pounds, but he can run inside, he can run outside, you can put him in the slot, he can catch it, you can put him out wide,

you can swing, dump it to him, he can make people miss, and he's better than you think at pass protect, even though of his size what did you notice about c mac when he was there with you in in carolina christian mccaffrey was polished to be a a professional football player when he was in rec ball like well i mean we i think the viral clip went around when you know his Ed, was giving him IVs in high school. That's a little different.

His preparation before the game, the people don't see how he take care of his body. A big Bruce Lee fan, you know, BS Walter. This guy takes care of his body better than I've ever seen anybody, from his dieting to his his trainers, physios, just preparation before, you know, practice. Right. He has a real routine. And I think for him, it's not about size because he understands that the Christian McCaffrey that we see today was not the Christian McCaffrey we saw as a rookie he realized I have to put on weight to endure this type of beating right but I think Christian McCaffrey is capped by the by the position that he plays because he's so much more than just a running back right if you really want to put Christian McCaffrey, he could be a top-ten

receiver. And that's not fabrication. If you say, all right, C-Mac, this year we're going to move you from running back, and we're going to put you as a receiver. And I guarantee you, he does numbers. That's just his position

gives him that, what I think he's making 17 a year around that. Where he should be making 25 at like a top-tier receiver. Right. That's just the impact that Christian McCaffrey has. There was a lot of speculation, and I don't know how true it is because I haven't really talked to anybody about Lamar in that like free agent wide receivers, top free agent wide receivers

didn't want to go there. Yeah. Because it's not that they don't believe Lamar can throw. It's just the type of offense that they believe they run. They're going to be doing more blocking than catching. Was that something that you experienced that it wasn't that Cam couldn't throw because you threw for 4,000 yards as a rookie. Yeah. So clearly you can throw the football.

Right. for 4,000 yards as a rookie. So clearly you can throw the football. But because of the type of offense that you guys ran, receivers, free agent receivers, felt that, man, I'm not going to get an opportunity to showcase and they're going to say I'm a bust because I'm not catching 100 balls. It's the situation as a receiver that you got to say,

hold on, that's not a good situation for me. I'm a fan of Lamar. I'm speaking as a receiver. I'm a fan of Lamar, but that may not be the right situation. I don't think Stephon Diggs was sitting up there saying I want to go to Baltimore I think we found that out with

Odell Odell wasn't featured like he would have thought to be featured but that doesn't say he still doesn't have it but I've definitely dealt with that as well and I think the Ravens organization is not in the position of trying to promote Pro Bowl players.

We're trying to create Super Bowl players. Right. And our system is what it is. And it goes through and it stops with Lamar Jackson. Right. Two-part question. Russell Wilson comes to Denver. We know what he did in seattle goes without saying he went to the soup bowl one one lost another was a bad play call away from possibly winning

two soup bowls within his first two to three years first two to three years of his nfl career what 40 50 000 yards passing over 300 touchdowns. He's going to have 400 touchdown passing, touchdown before. Why didn't it work in Denver? And I'm sure you've heard the stories about how some of the things transpired that wasn't football related. Yeah, but I don't think

when you change ownership or when you change coaching, they got to go with their guys. I don't think when Sean Payton got into that locker room, I don't think Russell was his guy. And it impacted his play, whether the pressure of everything. And your psyche or while you're playing, good or bad, you know, you got that in the back of your mind. They tried to make it work, but it just wasn't that. That's one.

Number two is he didn't have the support that he had in Seattle now. You would have thought how many times the Carolina Panthers played Seattle Seahawks. They was a divisional game. And it was some battles. Right. So I knew the impact of the legion of doom or the legion of boom however you want to look at it the 12th man with uh earl thomas uh cam chan sure richard sherman and and b wagner like k Wright, you know, Bruce Irvin. Like, these guys, like, they were intimidating, bro. And they wasn't trying to be them homeboys and dap you up.

We'll do that shit after the season. Even at the end of the game, we ain't with no friendly shit with you, bro. Fuck you. When you have that to look across, I don't think he had that type of same support in in Denver right not to say that that defense wasn't a stand-up defense it was just a lot of combinations of things where it was just a style of play uh Pete Carroll had that organization like they they was bound to have something happen. It was like, oh, bro, it don't happen to nobody but Seattle.

They're always a play away. When you see that comeback from the Green Bay that year, it was just like, bro, it would not happen to no other team. Even when we played them during our year going to the Super Bowl, we were up by like 28 points. They came back. And if it wasn't for an onside kick that we recovered, that was just that type of team.

Right. And, you know, I don't think that was the same rollout in Denver that he had. And then you get Justin Fields. His situation goes to the, I think, 15th pick overall. I think he's top 20 pick. Had some good moments. Tremendous legs. Tremendous legs.

Studied. Got better at studying. Understand the plays. Understand what was expected of him. Why didn't they work in Chicago? But that's where we got to also not just critique Justin Fields. We got to critique management. Man, they done put him in the best positions to be successful. got to also not just critique just the fields we got to critique management man they didn't put

him in the best positions to be successful he's running uh the unbelievable is he's running for his life right shit you put somebody else in there that can't run he would have doubled the sacks and also preparing him or having him evolve as a player that he needs to become, that's coaching, that's general management, that's ownership. This is our franchise guy. We got to develop him in a way for longevity. We're seeing the same thing kind of happen with Bryce Young. If y'all don't develop this player in the right way, then we're going to say after a year or two, he was a bust. Right. But that's not the player. That's the management

going into a situation. Because if you were to ask, if you were to put the power back into the players during the draft, and if it wasn't up to management to say who they wanted to go to, a lot of these teams, nobody wanted to go there because they know the insufficiencies of management. But the players don't have that Eli power to say, no, I don't want to go over here. But if they did, it would be more teams saying, I don't want to go to this team.

Why would I want to do that? I've seen what y'all did to him. I ain't about to do that with me. So now both of these guys end up in Pittsburgh. Mike Tomlin. And he says right now, Russell Wilson is in the pole position. And there will be

a time that Justin Fields will be able to compete for the starting job. So what do you think the Steelers' thought process was? Because I have my opinion on what I think it is. Tell me what you think it is. I think Mike Tomlin is doing what I just said.

He's developing Justin Fields. Hey, we're going to bring in a veteran that you can see not only his preparation on the field, but how does he take care of his body? I want you to study that. And then he's on a one-year contract if he does not produce then you will be inserted to take on that right and you're still young enough yes to be labeled a franchise guy right so it's it's chess here and if anybody can coach justin fields it's mike tomlin because he knows the struggles he

knows how to the the vernacular or choice of words to get through to his quarterback in that type of in that type of manner what does Lamar have to do to get to that Super Bowl because he's he's been an MVP twice yeah one vote away from being a two-time unanimous MVP. Two-time first-team All-Pro. Pro Bowls. We know he's going to the Hall of Fame. But I believe he needs that one Super Bowl. Now we start talking about Lamar as one of those pantheon,

one of those top six, seven quarterbacks with multiple Super Bowls. Because there are many that have multiple MVPs and Super Bowl. But this is the thing that I think we get so jaded and distracted by, things that have so many different determinant factors, right? Does Brady have as many Super Bowl rings without certain rules being in place? Does Patrick Mahomes have, you know, the same amount of, if this play goes one way, that play goes another? I don't think Lamar Jackson's greatness is dictated or predicated off of him winning the Super Bowl.

No, he's great. For sure. But that EST is what we're trying to add. For sure. But the EST is what we're trying to add. For sure. But I think, like I said earlier, the Baltimore Ravens have to find a way to win the ugly game. Yeah. And if we can find a way to win those type of games, that's all three levels and three phases of football. That's offensively, defensively, and special teams.

If we can find a way to win those type of games, then we'll be good. There's no denying that they have enough talent to win. But I don't want the pressure to be on any player to think that you got to win a Super Bowl to be labeled a great player or a generational player. We've seen it time and time again. I always ask this question because it's so paramount to putting perspective into sports. What's more important, impact or championships? You look at a guy like Allen Iverson. Is he not great?

Yes. Does he not get the EST? No, I think the way I look at it, Cam, and you correct me if I'm wrong, I believe you can be great without winning a championship. But in order for us to add the EST, you have to have won a championship. Karl Malone is a great player. Is he better than Tim Duncan? Because he didn't have time.

He can't be. Charles Barkley is a great player. I believe you can be great without winning a championship in any sport. Barry Barnes. But you have to win championships. But you're thinking about a lot of determining factors. The same determining factors that went into him winning the MVP. Which is true.

But hear me out. factors that went into him winning the MVP. Which is true, but hear me out. Karl Malone was a great player and was a shot away from obtaining an NBA championship if it wasn't for the

Russell push-off, well, push-off crossover, and then boom, we seen Michael Jordan's last shot as a bull. If he misses that shot, then Karl Malone. Do we know him to still have that same thing? So his greatness will still, it is what it is. It's so many different things in sports that we look at and say to ourselves,

I mean, let's look at Kaitlyn in college right now. Yes. All right. During this time, you know, we don't know if she's going to win the national championship. Correct. But her not winning the national championship, does that suppress her greatness? No. She's still great.

You see what I'm saying? But I can't put her in front of Taurasi. I can't put her in front of Stewie. I can't put her in the others that have multiple championships and have the same credentials. They won Final Fours and won finals MVP. They won Naismith Awards. So I just like I said, is she great? Yes, I believe you can be great without winning a championship.

But in order for us to add the EST, you have to have a championship. Say less. That's that's opinionated but if you that's just a discussion that barbershops all across america and and and cigar conversations let me ask you a question yes sir without those championships would you still look at colby the same way without those championships would you still look at jordan the same way without those championships uh yes no way yes no because i'm gonna tell you this i don't you this. No. No, you're right. You're right. But I don't respect the championship that Kobe won with Shaq more than I appreciate the championship that he won with Lamar Odom.

the championship that he won with Lamar Odom. Okay. Or Powell. Okay. Or Derek Fisher. That one was a grinder. That's a person, going back to what I was saying, man, there was some ugly wins.

Yes. It required him to exert just as much energy on the offensive side as the defensive side. He's guarding the best player. And I'm still giving everything that I got. But that still doesn't negate that he was on a great team right you know what i'm saying like those teammates have to also understand the amount of uh uh the amount of focus that it requires like when you got a great player we can't just say oh lamar got it got it. Everybody got to, this emergency has to rise. And the great players

brings that out from the whole organization. Patrick Mahomes does it. Tom Brady has done it. And I see what you're saying, so I would agree with what you're saying. The Panther, the team that you spent the lion's share of your career with, how do they put

Bryce Young in a situation where they can get the maximum value for what they gave to get him well I remember having a conversation with a brief conversation with him and during Super Bowl. I saw him at a party. And I think he needs to understand that voicing his opinion is important. Yes. Some quarterbacks have that freedom too

and some don't. You ain't at the age where you can tell us who and what you are. Yeah, you're a rookie. Yeah, but you have to. Because every offensive coordinator asks their quarterback this question. Game on the line, third and four, third and eight. Got to have a situation. Who would you prefer to throw the football to?

See what I'm saying? So, game on the line or going into the season. What do you need to be successful? And he needs to have those answers for that. So, talk to Bryce. Bryce has to obviously be open to And he needs to have those answers for that. So talk to Bryce. Bryce has to obviously be open to doing it, not doing it publicly, but doing it behind the scenes to say, listen, if we got this person in the draft, this is who I want.

I need to be protected. And not to just think selflessly on the offensive side. Man, we need defense. We need to control understanding what our division is. Because first, in any type of, uh, team atmosphere, you have to dominate your division first.

That only guarantees you that you will go to the play. Well, I'm not so sure they know what the hell they're doing because they had an opportunity to get two first round of Brian Burns and they trade them to the giants for less than that. We have to start holding these people in management accountable you see what i'm saying yes and when a guy like me says that like what the fuck would do what'd you do i'll tell you what i'll do right you know i'm saying it's a lot of things that even going back to the franchise

it's like bro you should not have cleaned house like you clean your house getting rid of a ryan khalil impacted that offensive line getting rid of a thomas davis impacted that defense not just the linebackers losing luke how you lost luke luke retired right but i do think luke would not have retired if he knew that locker room was still going to be intact he probably would have took some time off right and his health isn't important you know taking concussions extremely serious but that would have been something that you would have had to consider being a luke keighley knowing that i still got kk short i still got charles johnson i still got thomas davis i still got guys that that's going to battle with me. You dig what I'm saying? Julius Peppers.

They all left. And these are the things that he had to think about and say, hold on. I got to start over? Nah, I'm good with that. And I can't speak for Luke, but these are the things that on hindsight, you got to think about. Shador.

All Intents and Prayers is going to come out this year. And his father, Coach Prime, said, on hindsight, you got to think about. Shador. All-intensive player. He's going to come out this year. And his father, Coach Prime, said, look, I don't want my son to play in the cold weather. And I'm going to have a say in where he plays. He said, Eli did it. Even I told teams, I ain't going there. The thing that he has, that Eli had, is that his dad had money.

He got clout. And so, you know, he didn't come from no situation where, you know, we eating ketchup with a knit needle. Yeah. You know, we robbing Peter to pay Paul. What do you think? What's an ideal situation? First of all, what do you think about Coach Prime saying that

he wants your door to be X, Y, Z? And what do you think an ideal landing spot for your door would be? Atlanta. They just gave first cousins all that money. We'll figure all that other shit out. You ever heard of dead cap oh the broncos got 85 million we'll figure all that other shit out if prime can get your door in atlanta but let me tell you something all businesses including including Magic City, will be appreciative of that damn pick right there.

Real talk. So these are the things that, but I don't think he'll be a top four pick as he was on record to say it. And that's fine. I remember having a conversation with Deshaun Watson when he got drafted, because Deshaun, just like with Justin Fields, they came.

Wake up with football every morning and listen to my new podcast, NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal. Five days a week, you'll get all the latest news, previews, recaps, and analysis delivered straight to your podcast feed by the time you get your coffee. No dumb hot takes here, just smart hot takes. We'll talk every single game every single week, but I can't do it alone. So I'm bringing in the big guns from NFL media. That's Patrick Claiborne, Steve Weiss, Nick Shook, Jordan Rodrigue from The Athletic, and of course, Colleen Wolfe. This is their window right now. This is their Super Bowl window. Why would they trade him away? Because he would be a pivotal part of them winning that Super Bowl.

I don't know why, Colleen. Catch the podcast, the NFL Daily with Greg Rosenthal every day. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. And who doesn't want that? Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. you're in the best situation than any other of the quarterbacks. I think Deshaun went 12th to Houston. You got a quality receiver in D-Hop. You know what I'm saying? And that level of expectation is – like you can –

They're going to let you grow a little bit. You know what I'm saying? I think really, too, and I say this humbly, my success in the league was not good for the upcoming rookie quarterbacks. When you see guys like Peyton, Peyton Manning didn't become good until after the second and third year. They threw him out there in the fire. But if Peyton Manning was drafted in this day and age of expectations. And throw 26 interceptions.

No, no, hell no. expectations and throw 26 interceptions no no hell no but when they when you see a guy like a joe burrow when you see guys that have early success cj stroud cj stroud oh my goodness you want to go somewhere where you can really take your time and becoming the guy your way you see i'm saying and that's just some of the things that you got to think about so from prime's perspective it's not just whether that that i think he's trying to run away from it's the situation right and who's best equipped to give my son the tools come on now when you think about it and you say do we go to a giants and he don't got the talent that he he he's capable of having or a a las vegas see i'm saying like oh okay i see what y'all trying to do over here. We're going to take our talents over there. I don't think weather has anything to do with it.

I think certain situations has everything to do with Caleb Williams. RG3 said that he believed Caleb Williams should pull a D-line man. He don't got the juice. You know, when you think about you ain even got to say the first name When you mention the word or utter the word Manning That come with a little tremble When you think about Sanders They don't even know

Half the people don't even know His last name they say Prime Dion That come with a little rattling of the Williams Nah And that shit you say Newton Deion, that come with a little rattling of the, ooh. Williams, nah. And that shit, you say Newton. That ain't got no juice either.

You know what I'm saying? Shit, we already seen what that tried to get you. We sitting across from Shea Shea. You know what I'm saying? You ain't nobody trying to count you, dude. OTAs, but that's just the facts. Right. training camp you did OTAs but that's just the facts right so I think now when you looking at these situations and who got the the ability to say what they not gonna do it comes with a pre-existing resume because obviously I got sons when my son get to that point hopefully if he ever is in a

draft my daughters is ever in a draft oh you best believe i did not we straight we good what y'all want no i'm representing them you know i'm saying i know i'm gonna put my son and my daughter in the best situation to succeed right and that's not a succeeding-esque situation right you want to do you believe the bears made the right decision moving on from justin fields because i said this cam i said i do not believe the bears are going to pass up two number one overall quarterbacks in back-to-back years. I said no way they'll do it. No way. I would have loved to see what Jester Fields could do

with Eddie Keenan. Keenan Allen. They got DJ still there. They got DJ Moore. Cole Kmetz still there. You see what I'm saying? What would he have done with that? You know what I'm saying? Like, what would he have done with that? You know what I'm saying? But, I mean, I guess we'll never know.

Are you surprised that they made this move? No. No, I'm not. Because I don't know what was happening inside that locker room or inside that organization. And we've talked, you know, a couple times. And I think with Justin, he's one of those. He's not he's not a vocal person.

He's not vocal like you, Cam. Yeah, he's not. He's not. Nobody else, though, Cam. Yeah, which is true. But I'm saying, like, I don't think he could express himself. Or nor did I think he knew how to express himself in a way that it wouldn't come off in a conflicted way. Right. But in that position, you got to have.

You got to have some shit to you. I give you another person who may not be vocal, but he got some shit to him. Aaron Rodgers. Mm hmm. You don't see Aaron Rodgers. Hey, bring it up. Oh, me. When he do that, shit, that's a swaggy motherfucker, boy. Bad, cold, cold. But he just does it in his

subtle way. So all these different players is, you gotta have some stuff to you Let's talk about his up his fashion. He's received a lot of criticism Painting his nails Doing certain things you were a guy They caught a lot of criticism from the way you dread man count them tight clothes

Oh, he think I need this and that they look good. They'll look good. He got them hats. He may need to do... How... The hate that he received and you received, how would you tell him to handle that situation? And how did you handle it? Just be you. We don't need no more

Cam Newtons. We don't need no more Peyton Mannings or Patrick Mahomes or Tom. We need unique players being themselves. And I got news for you. Gen Z is here. And Gen Z is here to stay. So whatever you may think that, oh, that ain't football.

Man, that dude got pink nails. But I guarantee if he paint his nails pink, hell, even dye his hair pink, if they win the football games, ain't nobody gonna worry about that shit. Thank you. Let's keep the main thing the main thing. Oh, you're worried about fashion? Like, bro, I have a life outside of football. These are things that I like. I love art. I love

fashion. I love my family. I love doing things that will take my mind off of the daily rigors of the pressures of performing. And you can't judge me. I don't go to your cubicle. I don't go to your job saying what you can and can't do. Why are you drinking a caramel macchiato? Ain't you counting your calories? Well, you know, it just is what it is. I think, you know, what Caleb Williams represents is something that is unique to who he is. And we can't be hypocrites to allowing.

Why we like that, Caleb? I ain't like that. No, but. People. I remember I was having this conversation with Coach Shula, Mike Shula, one of my favorite coaches of all time that have coached me because he knew how to speak camp. We had a head-butting one time with the things that he was trying to make me

understand the level of expectations for what being a franchise quarterback was. And he says something. He said, would you see Peyton Manning doing this? Would you see Tom Brady doing this? And I had to stop him. I said, hey, listen, I'm not trying to be no Tom Brady. I'm not trying to be Peyton Manning because guess what? I can do some shit that they can't do and they can do some shit that I can't do but it's a thousand ways to skin a cat and we all trying to win football games right so I hear what you're trying to say but you have to

also understand that that ain't me right I'm not trying to be there diggin say I could go into Peyton Manning's neighborhood where he from. Peyton can't come to where I'm from. You know what I'm saying? He ain't going to do no camps at no college park. College park. No. I could go to Louisiana.

Right. You dig what I'm saying? I could go to California and do whatever. The moral of the story is you should not have to try to mimic what somebody else did to appease to somebody else. Be you. That's not why they're winning games. You think they're winning games because they stand up there and they're all buttoned up and they speak eloquently at the end of the game. They're winning games because they're winning games because of what they do during the course of the week.

Correct. And if I'm doing that during the course of the week, why you care if I got on Versace or Bliss? Whatever I got on. It don't matter. It could be. I come out there with a towel sheet on. Naked. Da, da, da, da, da, da. Shit.

Listen here. Man, I'm winning football games, man. Right. Shit. Did you ever get tired of hearing people say, man, Cam, stop dressing. Man, you dressing like an auntie. You dressing all them women clothes, them tight clothes. Did you ever get tired?

Do you get tired of hearing that? Because you still here to this day. Bring your girl around me. And we'll figure all that out. We'll figure out what I'm on to. Hey, man, listen. Don't think I got the juice. She get to smelling these dreads and smelling that aura and, you know, smelling that ghost.

Get to seeing like, oh, man, I like what you did with that. You could tie your bow tie. Is that a clip on oh baby i really tie bow tie like oh pocket square how did you do that with a jean jacket what you doing with that how you got a dog on wallet chain a pocket watch like all these different details it's like man i really study fashion right i grew up in the church so even though the bible say come as you are hattie lou newton wouldn't let me come in there with no jordan shorts and some flip-flops i had to press my j you coming

as you are come on that's how you are and i'm stepping right and you can't name anything that i got on because a lot of it is from a thrift store i thrift these are things things that I genuinely enjoy to do outside of. Right. I love textures. I love textiles. I love art. Basquiat, Jean-Michel Basquiat. I love these people. Jay-Z. I love Pharrell.

I love Kanye. I love the artistry of music, paintings. Like these are self-expression in many different facets. And I tried to bring that to the game of football by saying, oh, this is what type of time I'm on today. I'm feeling sporty. Let me go on a step and let everybody know how I'm coming today. I want to feel like James Bond today. I'm going to put on a tuxedo. Right. Oh, I want to, you know, get my urban on. I want to, you know, dress with a shirt or whatever I want to do. I can do it. And that should not have any type of issue with how I play because it really doesn't.

Right. What is Cam's fashions say about him? So what what we what we have on today? What is Cam trying to relay today? What you say today? what you saying today what you on today i'm a big stepper you know saying like i i've been um quoted in in the media recently saying you know just because you got a lot of money don't mean that you got style okay you feel i'm saying and i remember you got a problem with everybody stripping the mannequin yeah that's a mannequin that ain't you like man you got that the the Versace glasses with the Versace shirt with the Versace belt and the Versace purse and the Versace like cool that's fine I don't knock that but when I see fashion for what it's right I said damn, damn, like, I like how you put that on.

Or I like the ribbon that you, you know, tied around your neck. Like, I'm the Canelo, the Ralph Lauren's, the Kith's, the, you know, Canelo Bruchinelli. Bruno Cucinelli. Brunello Cucinelli. Yes. You see what I'm saying? I don't. You know what I'm saying? I know what you're saying. No, don't worry. You know what I'm saying?

You dig what I'm saying? Like, these are all fashion-inspired things that I like, and you don't have to have that per diem to look good. You see what I'm saying? Like, you can go wherever you want to go and to mimic that a little, but doing it with your own flair. with your own flair. With your own flair. So you get up every morning, Cam,

and put this on? Am I lying? Huh. Cam, every day, seven days a week, you get up and dress like, not one time do you want to put on some athleisure, not one time do you say, man, you know what, I ain't feeling like getting all spotted today so you know what i do you want better you

ask any one of my teammates any one of my teammates how to cam dress it was every day it was a lifestyle bro every single day man i got so many clothes got so many clothes that I'm not about to waste my money. And I don't find myself spending $4,000 on a jacket or a pair of shoes that I only wear once. And I don't spend $14 on a pair of jeans that I wear every day.

And it's going to look completely different. So people who really know me know, bro, every day, Kim's going to dress up. It's's gonna be a different side different style you know i don't consider myself with the neapolitan you know with the strawberry vanilla or the chocolate i'm basking robbins i got so much flavor you got 30 you got 31 and mo i'm a stepper i'm a big stepper. Never pledge. I pledge me, five me. But, bro, I'm trying to tell you, if an opportunity presents, like, those are the things that I genuinely care about.

Like, I love dressing up my kids. I love, you know, doing that because that was a passion that I didn't come from money. Right. So we had to make do with what we had. You know, we wasn't poor. But, you know, I remember watching MTV Cribs and i was saying i said god eat man look at that closet yeah dang if i ever had that i was gonna do this and then i invested in so many different pieces of clothing and that energy wasn't reciprocated you know i'm saying like man i done spent ten thousand dollars with y'all and you ain't go don't worry about it or i'll go and

support a black business and shoot that reciprocation is still there you see what i'm saying so i love putting people on and say bro what you got on oh man this ain't thrift store bro this you know yeah that mtv crib had me fooled too because a lot of times they rented them crib for a day no they, they didn't. What? See, that's the way, that's why we here. We trying to expose all that written-ass shit. You know, what's the real? You feel me?

So, let me ask you this. It was reported and you can confirm or you can deny this, that Jerry Richardson, when you sat down him, he was owner of the Carolina Panthers when you was going to be selected number one overall. And he asked you, he said, you have any tattoos? You said no.

Do you have any appearances? You said no. He said, keep it that way. Was that true? Yes. But it wasn't. It wasn't what it was. See, that was what he said.

But he also said other things after that. He said, we want to keep it that way because we don't want you to go out and do anything that's not a good representation of this franchise. I'm going to give you the keys to this Ferrari now. I don't want you to scratch it up. Me and Mr. Richardson's relationship was something that I had one regret in my life. I never had a relationship with my grandfathers because by the time I came of age, they were they were deceased. And the man who I am now, I go to my father to have these uncomfortable, uncomfortable conversations. And with Mr. Richardson, what people didn't know, man, we had some real conversations and 70 percent of them wasn't had anything to do with football.

He had a very good perspective of who I was and what I was becoming. What I would say, Cam, save your money. Because I would tell him, I was like, yo, I want to become the second football player to own a franchise. He says, Cam, you got to save your money. I said, Mr. Richardson, how do you save your money? He said, well, I had to make a business decision. I left the NFL.

I played with Johnny Unitas, one of the greatest quarterbacks. He still believed or believed at the time that Johnny Unitas was the best quarterback to ever play. And rightfully so. But I had to make a business decision because the Baltimore Colts wasn't going to pay me enough for me to provide for my family. So I had to go into the workforce. He started, you know, in that way to I believe it was Hardee's. All right. Then it went into Bojangles. Yep. So these things is something as a businessman where I am now me having different businesses and trying to have it be producing assets, not liabilities.

Just because fellowship is of existence doesn't mean that fellowship making money it's my job to make sure that everything that i put my name on and that i'm a part of iconic saga everything that you see me produce whether either social media or on youtube long format is produced and created by my staff at iconic saga no backing no help no nothing and it comes with the key thing that he taught me was he had these core values or these core words for the franchise to abide by and one of those things was harmony what the hell harmony got to do with it so cam you have to understand harmony is the the the key ingredient for any two people or more to coexist. You got to be on the same page. I can't want something from you

that you don't want from yourself or you're not in alignment with that. Hard work. You know what I'm saying? Like these things are something that I still hold dear to my everyday life today. So no matter if it's a homeboy,

my partner, whether we intimate or not, it's whether working relationships or not, harmony is key. And honesty to the degree where transparency, like I got to know how you think. I know how you feel.

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First rookie to have back-to-back 400-yard passing days. Fastest player to throw 4,000 yards. Still a record. Set a single-seater rushing record for quarterback rushing touchdowns. First quarterback, I think you're the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards, rookie to throw for 4,000 yards also. Oh, yeah.

First player in NFL history to have at least five rushing touchdowns and five passing touchdowns in the first five games. Name rookie of the year. And you were number two in college. Somehow you end up with number one.

You're the first pick in the draft. They held number one. When you came out came right there got that Jersey you had number one Mm-hmm. What happened to the number one Jersey? I really didn't want to be number. I mean number two Yeah, what happened to the number one Jersey? Why'd you didn't get that Jimmy Klaus? Hey, you got a big big bang take little bang hostile takeover. Yeah, he tried to Try to hustle you try to finesse you did he tried to try to hustle you he tried to finesse you didn't he tried to jiggle jiggle i'm from atlanta bro i'm a good friend i'm a finesse and when i felt like he was finessing see that goes back to the thing that made me great my mentality when jimmy

clausen charged me a million dollars for my number i said that would be the last why don't you just go to the equipment manager nice it's proper protocol even equipment manager said hey the person who has number two you got to work out a deal with him so i went direct to the source that's how my dad raised me i ain't have no problem with uncomfortable conversations hell it was comfortable for me. And when I felt that he was trying to play me, that took over to say we would never hear Jimmy Clawson again in Carolina. So you made sure he got the gun. That was the chip on my shoulder. And that's that's how that's what made me who I was.

How much would you have been willing to partake to get that number? I would have donated a hundred thousand to his foundation or get that number. I would have donated $100,000 to his foundation or whatever to him. I don't care. When he hit me with a million, I thought it was joking. And I said, I've been publicly saying that.

I'm like, a million? I was waiting on the light. Nah, man, I'm just playing. I said, all right, cool. We hung up the phone. He called me back like an hour later and was like,

man, I was just talking to some representatives of mine and we'll do $750,000. I said, oh, you for real? I said, bro, motherfuckers don't even make a million dollars in their lifetime where I'm from. You think I'm about to give you a million dollars for a fucking number? But I say less. I mean I'm about to give you a million dollars for a fucking number? But, I say less. I mean, I bought a bass boat. I got a pretty good deal.

I traded with Frank Wainwright. Freaky Frank. I asked him, I said, you got into hobbies? Because I wanted 84. Jermaine Lewis had 84. I offered him, he and his wife Rolexes. He said, nah, I kind of want to keep the okay fine went to Frank uh Frank Wainwright because he was with me the year before in Denver and I was like man he's like nah Sharper you can take it I said nah bro I don't want to just take

the number I get he's like I said what's your hobby he said man I fish bought him a bass boat I got 82 he got a bass boat hopefully he still got it but I don't and I get what you're saying you know it's your number you had it I don't, and I get what you're saying. You know, it's your number. You had it. I don't want to just big up you and just take the number. How we make it work? But, bro, you ain't finna hustle me now.

It went, my energy changed. I was trying to be a good teammate. Yeah. And that's all I needed. You know, as a competitor, you don't need too much to get going. Hell nah. It's one of them. You can say something wrong to me, and I'll be like, is that really how you feel?

Because when I look out of you, and I'm going to have my discern and things, oh, he for real. Yeah. I said, don't worry about it. And at that particular point in time, it went from becoming the best player to ever play for Carolina. Then it was like, you will never hear Jimmy Carlson's name as long as I'm here.

And that was my first duty to kind of conquer. You wanted to race Jimmy Carlson from the lexicon. Don't even... Yes, because I felt played. And you're not going to finesse me. What you think

this is? And that's all I needed. He turned me, as the kids say, they teed me up. Right. You dig what I'm saying? And that's just what it was. And I can see how he felt. It was like, yo, they took me with the pick, the first pick. They didn't have no first round picks the year before.

He was the first pick of the draft in the second round, supposedly to be the franchise quarterback it didn't go so well but i'm telling you is if the carolina panthers have the first pick chances are they to have a good season so he was in that realm of trying to be insubordinate or trying to make it hard or whatever and that's fine. That's cool. Don't try to do that with me. And the crazy thing about that the following year

after I chose number one he went to number seven. So now number two is available. Why did he go to number seven? That was his college number. His high school number. I don't know. That man really tried to finesse you, Ken.

He's going to get all bad. You get what I'm saying? See, that's where it was like, these are the things behind the scenes that people don't really know what gets you going. You see what I'm saying? So I was like, man, bro, who the fuck do you think you is? Oh, you're going to fuck around to find out. Oh, you think this? You're going to find out today.

When you got there, you had a guy that was a star in his own right, Steve Smith Sr. Yes, sir. One of the best receivers. He was a triple crown winner. One of the best receivers. For his size, pound for pound, I don't believe there's a better receiver to ever play the game than Smitty.

Yes, sir. What did you take from Smitty? Because I know him off the field. So what was he like as a teammate great teammate but just like luke keekly when smitty was on the field get the fuck out his way he was a pit bull and that's what i took from him now you have to understand who Smitty was, and if I could go back and change things, Smitty wanted to win yesterday, and he knew as a business what taking a young quarterback,

that means we are rebuilding. He didn't want to rebuild. He wanted to win. And I can't take that away from Smitty. And we bumped heads, you know, because he felt the transition of the team to kind of go to the quarterback. And I can't fault him for that. If I had to change things, I would wish to have had Smitty my fifth year. Because now we can talk we can have

grown man conversations and i don't think a lot of people understand what that's like going into an nfl locker room at the age of 21 22 because we got all these veterans bro i had and you got to lead them i had john beason I had Jordan Gross, Ryan Khalil, these older guys was leaning in for a rookie at the age, I didn't know. I went from a locker room where all my

players that shared the field with me were my peers. We're talking about, man, what we gonna play? At that time, they had NCAA. We're gonna go play Madden. We going to go get 25-cent wings at the spot. We going to go bowling. Man, when you go into the NFL locker room, hey, we going to try to go bowling.

Oh, man, it's date night for me and my wife. Now I got to go pick up my kids from the daycare. It's Friday. I ain't got time. These are family men. These ain't no, you talking to a guy that's 38, approaching 40, 35, 32. What the hell they got in common with a 21-year-old? Gen Z ain't mixing with no millennials.

You dig what I'm saying? Like all these baby boomers in that locker room, they ain't trying to. You feel me? So that's what the disconnect was. And I learned so much from Smitty because even though he was aggressive on the field, great teammate. Well, during the time, he never wanted to have his own room on the road. He would always room with a younger player so that he could teach them the preparation, what it was like. And I always respected that about him.

Gave the best gifts, heart of gold. But on that field, bro, a shark, if he sensed any blood, oh, boy. In practice, walkthroughs, or anything. Man, Smitty coming after you, bro. Five, nine with a soul of a six phoning. I said it, but it was Smitty that he was describing. Yes, sir. This concludes the first half of my conversation.

Part two is also posted and you can access it to whichever podcast platform you just listened to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Che Che profile and I'll see you there. listen to part one on. Just simply go back to Club Che big guns from NFL media like Colleen Wolf. Subscribe today and you'll immediately be smarter and funnier than your friends. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.