Former NFL superstar Cam Newton took a pause from the spotlight after being involved in the infamous brawl at a 7v7 football tournament in suburban Atlanta on Feb. 25.
On March 1, the former college Heisman Trophy winner, national champion and NFL Most Valuable Player took to his “4th and 1” podcast to finally address being jumped by his former friends in the brawl that went viral nationally.
Newton apologized for his role in escalating the verbal altercation into the brawl where he admitted very serious injuries — or worse — could have happened to either side of the fight. He also exhibited contrition for how the fight impacted the kids he and the other coaches who were there to support and teach.
Cam Newton apologizes to the men who swung on him
“To every single high school player, to every single person I’ve influenced, to every single athlete — use my situation as a way to understand, that in one moment and one decision, your life can change. Just like that,” Newton stated. “And I let my emotions get the best of me, and it should not have been called for. Simple.”
“And with that, I apologize to anybody affected — that’s Steph, that’s TJ, that’s their organization, that’s C1N, my organization, that’s my players, my parents, my staff members.”
The men who fought with Cam Newton used to coach with him
The men who are seen throwing punches at Newton and TJ and Steph Brown were once hired by Newton to help coach his C1N team before the brothers broke off and started their own squad, Top Shelf Performance, which now competes with Newton’s team.
“They were former coaches up under my organization C1N, so we have tenure,” Newton said. “There were a lot of clips [saying] kids were ‘jumping’ on Cam. These were coaches. These were grown men. And anybody that knows me, I use football as my way of giving back to the community, from camps to tournaments to many other things. How they began their involvement in the program is just like anybody else — I just let them come. It’s an open-door policy. I will never tell you not to come.”
During his record-setting career in the NFL, Newton didn’t always have the time to appear at the tournaments in person. Therefore, TJ and Steph Brown were there to take up the slack and mentor and teach the young football players.
After they became competitors, the trash-talking between the three men often became intense, sometimes personal. On Feb. 25, the intensity surrounding the former allies now competing against one another — combined with the stinging words — morphed into a violent conclusion.
“I’m disappointed in myself by letting it escalate to what it did and that’s why I’m apologetic to it. The truth of the matter is, I should have never put myself in that position because that s— could have gotten ugly,” Newton said on the podcast. “For real. It could have. This is a serious situation. I even seen a clip that said people are laughing, but they weren’t laughing about Nipsey. What if serious injury would have happened on either side? Something happened to me, something happened to them … now my eight children are father-less because I’m being sued or I got something.”
All three men have apologized for their roles in the brawl, though it is unclear if Newton has had the opportunity to speak privately with TJ and Steph Brown as of March 1.
Meanwhile, the Atlanta Police Department stated that both sides of the fight have refused to press charges against the other, according to Yahoo.com. The site stated that the police department would not prosecute the trio.
