Cam Newton threw hands with Alabama A&M Bulldog on ‘First Take’

It’s all fun and games on First Take until the Alabama A&M mascot tries to knock Cam Newton’s hat off his head.

Stephen A. Smith brought Cam Newton and Ryan Clark to Birmingham Friday morning to highlight the Amazon Magic City Classic between Alabama A&M and Alabama State as part of First Take’s HBCU tour. And to have some fun on the show, they had the mascots from both schools compete in a 40-yard dash.

Newton was hyped after the race and took a lap around the field with the two mascots. But then the Alabama A&M mascot, Butch Henry, appeared to knock the hat off Newton’s head. And Newton took that personally.

Cam Newton vs the Alabama A&M Bulldog pic.twitter.com/80BuUTB6hM

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The former NFL MVP turned around, reared back his wide-open hand and promptly slapped the Bulldog in retaliation as if the mascot just insulted one of his family members. But Butch wouldn’t go down easy, putting up his paws and charging right back at Newton. After exchanging a few jabs, Newton gave one last shove and nearly dropped an F-bomb as he retreated from Butch.

“Stop playing with me!” Newton said before Butch approached to seemingly end the confrontation by giving him a few pats on the back.

This isn’t the first time someone got mad at a dog on First Take. During Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo’s early days on the show, Ryan Clark, JJ Redick and others seemed similarly willing to throw hands as Newton just did with Butch.

And maybe it started out as a joke, but the back-and-forth between Newton and Butch Friday morning on ESPN looked like it was getting a little serious. Those were some legitimate slaps and shoves coming from the former NFL MVP who means business when it comes to caring about his fashion and hats.