Cam Newton unexpectedly missed start of ‘First Take’

How can Drake Maye know when Cam Newton is on First Take, if Cam Newton doesn’t know when he’s supposed to be on First Take?

Maye made news last week when he responded to Newton dubbing the New England Patriots “fool’s gold” by saying he didn’t even know what show Newton was on. Stephen A. Smith found that so preposterous that he called Maye a liar, because Newton is on First Take every Monday and Friday. This Monday, however, Newton wasn’t there for the start of First Take.

Now that everyone knows what show Cam Newton is on…he showed up 10 minutes late to First Take Monday morning pic.twitter.com/J4OV71nLj8

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 24, 2025

“I think Cam Newton will be here eventually,” host Shae Cornette said with an empty chair sitting to her left at the start of the show. “I feel like Ernie Johnson when Shaq and Barkley come in late.”

About 10 minutes later, Newton strolled onto the First Take set with Cornette chiding him a bit, asking, “Does he know there is traffic in New York the week of Thanksgiving?” But that was the only mention of Newton being late. There was no apology from Newton, no jokes from Stephen A. Smith. The former NFL MVP walked in late and jumped right into the show as if nothing happened.

Cam Newton isn’t the first TV personality to be late for a show, and he won’t be the last. Even Smith was late to his own show a few years ago, similarly blaming traffic for the infraction. And sometimes, traffic can be a legitimate gripe if a 15-minute ride takes over an hour.

But the irony of Newton being late and missing the show open right after Smith made a big deal about Maye not knowing the former Carolina Panthers quarterback was on First Take, was too much to ignore. Kudos to Cornette for at least trying to have some fun with Newton being late, but a bad job by Smith and the rest of the show for not playing along.