Cam Newton may have been willing to do a lot for a Super Bowl championship, but he isn’t willing to trade his NFL MVP award for that ring.
ESPN’s First Take was debating Lamar Jackson’s MVP-caliber season vs Jalen Hurts’ Super Bowl appearance Thursday morning, prompting Stephen A. Smith to ask Cam Newton a question.
“We’ve got a former league MVP right now on the set in Cam,” Smith said. “I ask you right now, Cam. If you could give back that league MVP for a Super Bowl championship, would you do it?”
“No,” Newton said very bluntly. “That was a very journalistic viewpoint, vantage-point or response, Stephen A. I’ll ask you this question, what’s more important, impact or championships?”
Stephen A. Smith: “Cam, if you could give back that league MVP for a Super Bowl championship, would you do it?”
Cam Newton: “No” pic.twitter.com/b1wVO2i7Nh
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 30, 2025
“Let me remind you, Brad Johnson won a Super Bowl. Trent Dilfer won a Super Bowl. Respectfully, Nick Foles won a Super Bowl. So, yes, when you look at those guys and you say, ‘Would you have preferred to win a Super Bowl?’ I think that’s the humble approach. But if we’re being honest, the impact of you holding yourself accountable to say everybody has a responsibility to do…as an MVP award winner or an All-American, you’ve held your end of the bargain down. I know that’s not the popular pick, I’m not trying to be popularized! My take is, I’m taking individual success because I did my job. Football is not about one guy trying to do 11 jobs, it’s 11 guys doing one job.”
Maybe touting “I did my job” is a way of coping with losing Super Bowl 50. But it also throws his teammates under the bus in an unfavorable way.
Judging by Smith’s reaction, he expected Newton to give a more team-first answer to the question. Credit Newton for his honesty, because the former NFL MVP is right in noting this isn’t the popular answer. But Newton saying he’s not trying to be popularized while prioritizing individual awards over team success seems a little hypocritical. If you care that much about individual success and awards, you probably care about fame and recognition.
It’s one thing for Newton to say he wouldn’t trade his career for Trent Dilfer’s. Similarly, Dan Marino shouldn’t want to trade his career for Brad Johnson’s. But keep the careers and stats the same, just swap the hardware by trading an MVP award for a ring. It’s surprising to hear Newton say no.
