Cam Newton is no longer his 2015 MVP, but the three-time Pro Bowler says there’s another reason he’s still a free agent.
Over the years, Newton has grown his hair to make dreadlocks, and he suggests that’s one reason he remained unsigned through the 2022 season and is still looking for work.
«It’s been stymied. And I’m not going to change,» she said on Josina Anderson’s «Undefined» podcast.
«People have hinted at saying, ‘Cam, we want you to go back to the clean cut Cam of 2015. But that was a different me. Right now, where I am, it’s about accepting who I am.»
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Former NFL and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton walks into the weight room during Auburn Pro Day on March 21, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
The New England Patriots signed him during their dreadlocks phase and he started 15 games for them in 2020. He returned to the Carolina Panthers in 2021 and played in eight games.
But before rejoining the team that drafted him with the No. 1 pick in 2011, he said teams were hinting that he should have cut his hair.
Cam Newton of the Carolina Panthers against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the first quarter of a game at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, NC (Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
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«There were hints of that,» he said, via Bleacher Report. “And I got a lot of good advice from a lot of people. And what’s always mentioned is, ‘Yo, Cam, you’re scaring people because of your appearance.’
«And I was like, ‘Hey, I’m not going to name names, but there are other quarterbacks that are in the league that don’t look like me, but they have long hair. They don’t scare them, do they? ‘ So, we can go Tit-for-tat, tit-for-tat with that. But I’d just turn and nod and say, ‘That’s not the reason I’m not in the NFL.'»
newton supposedly rejected an offer from at least one team last season.
He has previously said that he does not plan to cut his hair until one of his daughters gets married.
Former NFL and Auburn quarterback Cam Newton throws a pass during Auburn Pro Day on March 21, 2023, in Auburn, Alabama. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)
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Since helping the Panthers 15-1 to a Super Bowl during his MVP season, Newton has gone 30-36 as a starter with an 81.4 quarterback rating. His last nod to the Pro Bowl was in 2015.