Cam Newton grabbed some headlines recently after describing several of the top NFL quarterbacks in the MVP race as “game managers” on a recent episode of his weekly “4th&1” podcast.
Newton downplayed a few QBs’ impact on their teams’ success, including Dak Prescott and Brock Purdy.
Cam Newton Calls Several QBs ‘Game Managers’
Newton’s discussion of so-called “game managers” came up late in the Dec. 6 edition of his podcast as part of a segment discussing his top picks for the Super Bowl along with his frontrunners for the league’s Most Valuable Player award.
Newton called Christian McCaffery the frontrunner for the award, given his vast impact on the San Francisco 49ers, which led him to discuss why he would not have Purdy higher on the list.
“Brock, they’re not winning because of him,” Newton said on the podcast. “He’s managing the game. If we were to put that in its own right as game managers. This may ruffle a lot of feathers, but it’s honest. Brock Purdy, Tua Tagovailoa, Jared Goffm and, really, Dak Prescott. These are game managers; they’re not difference-makers.”
Newton went on to describe McCaffery, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Tyreek Hill as, in his eyes, true “difference-makers.”
He went on to elaborate that the players he described as game managers could still win the award but that they do not consistently impact the game in the same way that those difference-makers have throughout the season.
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“If we’re going to call a spade a spade, there’s a difference between managers of the game and difference-makers of a game,” Newton said. “That’s not to say that they can’t win the MVP, but it just is what it is. If I were to say a game manager to win the MVP, it has to be Jared Goff because he means a lot to the Detroit Lions.”
Newton’s comments drew ire among fans of the 49ers and Cowboys, among others, given his critiques of the teams’ quarterbacks. One San Francisco fan poked holes in Newton’s argument of them not needing to consistently lead scoring drives in pointing out that the Purdy-led 49ers’ offense “is one of the most efficient and highest scoring offenses” in the NFL.
“I’m not asking u to score everytime”
The niners offense is one of the most efficient and highest scoring offenses lmao dudes talking out his ass
— 🐺 (@rangebrothas) December 13, 2023
Newton’s comments on Prescott, in particular, also drew ire from some folks, including FoxSports’ Jason McIntyre, who had a segment on Tuesday’s episode of Colin Cowherd’s “The Herd” discussing why he disagreed with those sentiments about Prescott.
McIntyre also took a jab at Newton’s NFL career in the process.
“Cam Newton, you had a worse career than Dak Prescott,” McIntyre said. “Cam won an MVP obviously, went to a Super Bowl, but Dak Prescott — the numbers don’t lie. … [Newton’s] peak was outstanding, his peak was tremendous. But if you look at Dak Prescott’s career, he’s had a better career, more consistent [career] than Cam Newton. You’re not really great until you’re consistent.”
Prescott is currently fourth on the NFL’s passing yards leaderboard for the season at 3,505 yards, while Purdy is one spot above him in third (3,553 yards), and Tagovailoa leads the way with 3,697 yards. Goff ranks sixth at 3,449 yards, while Mahomes (3,398) is eighth.
Ultimately, Tagovailoa, Prescott, and Purdy each seem to be among the likely frontrunners for the MVP award regardless of Newton’s feelings on the matter.
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