Cam Newton appears to have finally crossed the wrong line with NFL fans in his puzzling analysis of young quarterback Drake Maye and the upstart New England Patriots.
And while there is no shortage of Boston disciples in national sports media, the most pronounced push-back against Newton this week is coming from an unlikely source.
During a segment with Kirk Herbstreit discussing the AFC East ahead of a must-win Thursday night game for Buffalo, none other than Pat McAfee Show producer Boston Connor ripped into Newton and First Take. Over several minutes, Boston Connor (real name Connor Campbell) called Newton’s arguments “weird” and “asinine” despite the protestations of McAfee and Herbstreit.
The whole snafu began when the former Heisman and NFL MVP-winning quarterback called the Patriots’ 9-2 start to the season “fool’s gold.” When Maye was asked to respond, the second-year star brought in some snark of his own, dismissing Newton’s comments by saying he didn’t even know where Newton had made his criticism.
That seemed to really enflame the supposed beef, with Newton coming back by attempting to put Maye in his place. In a follow-up segment on First Take, Newton served a reminder that Maye has not yet surpassed the trio of recent NFL MVPs in his conference — despite the fact that Maye is currently second in MVP odds himself.
When the Patriots came up early in the McAfee Show on Thursday, Boston Connor predictably took Maye’s side, proceeding to light into Newton with some good, old-fashioned ESPN-on-ESPN crime.
“I don’t put too much stake in those shows, just because we all kind of know how they work behind the scenes,” Connor said. “The person wants to say one thing and not everyone can say one thing even though one thing would be right, so the other person’s gotta go the other way for the debate itself. But I don’t put too much stake in it.”
While Stephen A. Smith, Skip Bayless and others insist there is nothing manufactured about their takes, most fans assume these hosts choose sides in pre-show meetings. The whole purpose of the show, after all, is to disagree.
But McAfee interjected, clarifying that Connor was merely stating an opinion.
Connor was not deterred.
“This is not factual, this is just based on how the show has gone for the last ten years, all those types of shows,” Connor said. “Typically it’s one side versus the other. I don’t know if Cam Newton truly feels that way, I do know Drake Maye grew up a massive Cam Newton, Carolina Panthers fan, so it would be weird for him to take that stance with a young quarterback who loves him.”
Maye did in fact grow up near Charlotte. Earlier this season, he even paid homage to Newton by doing his own version of Newton’s famous Superman touchdown celebration — a fact that Newton acknowledged during his response on First Take.
Going further, Connor defended Maye by saying it would be “kind of weird” for a star QB to watch ESPN’s daytime shows enough to keep track of Newton’s role.
Connor also outlined why New England’s resume may seem thin, reminding Newton through their shared ESPN airwaves that a third-place finisher like the Pats were in 2024 will always get a weak schedule the following season. And in spite of that, Connor argued, New England has two of the better wins of the season: at Buffalo and at Tampa Bay.
“I’m not even sick of it, it’s just one of those things where like so many people don’t know ball or understand how it works, where you can’t answer them all,” Connor added. “And it makes sense why football coaches, football players, people who are actually in the game can’t even go on the internet because of how stupid people are on it.”
The tensions between McAfee and its lead-in, First Take, had cooled for awhile following McAfee’s unceremonious departure from a weekly appearance on the Stephen A. Smith-hosted debate show. But as Newton refuses to back down, Connor may reignite them.