A viral video of Cam Newton addressing a teenage heckler during a flag football tournament elicited a few different reactions Sunday.
Some said the kid had “triggered” the 31-year-old quarterback, who was coaching a team in the tournament. Many others pointed out that going after an NFL player in that type of setting is pretty disrespectful.
Ja’Whaun Bentley was in the second group.
As the Newton video swept through social media, the New England Patriots linebacker responded to a “SportsCenter” tweet touting the QB’s career accomplishments with a simple message: “nuff said.”
Bentley and Newton both were Patriots captains in 2020. Despite the team’s uncharacteristic on-field struggles — the Patriots went 7-9 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 — Newton was a popular figure in New England’s locker room, winning teammates over with his work ethic and enthusiasm.
Newton, who is set to hit free agency next month, posted a video on his Instagram showing a different angle of his altercation with the high school player.
“… I attend tournaments all across the country with my all-star team Cam Newton 7V7,” Newton wrote in the post. “I have given my time, my energy and my expertise to these kids coming into our program for over 11 years, and THAT IS NOT WHAT PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR OR EVEN WANT TO SEE. People want to see me arguing with another young man and to see me get in my FEELINGS … but the TRUTH is this, I IMPACT KIDS’ LIVES IN A POSITIVE WAY, make NO MISTAKE about it.”
Thumbnail photo via
Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY Sports Images
Travis Burnett
A pioneer in the flag football community, Travis helped co-found the Flag Football World Championship Tour, FlagSpin and USA Flag. Featuring 15+ years of content creation for the sport of flag football, creating and managing the largest flag football tournaments on the planet, coaching experience at the youth and adult level as well as an active player with National and World Championship level experience.
