Cam Newton knows a thing or two about football. You don’t spend 11 seasons in the NFL, be named the league's Most Valuable Player, become an All Pro and a three time Pro Bowler without learning what it takes to be a winner.
Which is what makes his interview this week with Texas football head coach Steve Sarkisian so befuddling.
In a podcast interview with Sarkisian, Newton chalked Sark’s success up to nothing more than dollars.
"Look, Coach Sarkisian, all that stuff is cool. Building a culture does take time, but having the boosters attached to the University of Texas also helps. Hello? They have the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation and probably the No. 1 spend in the nation. C'mon dog. C'mon bro. I'm not trying to discredit the importance of building a culture. It takes time. But come on. Any great coach knows that they need great players. Nowadays, these players are a great expense. We're going to look back at how college sports were impacted by NIL and find a commonality that teams who are winning are spending a lot of money. I'm not going to be the bearer of bad news, but I'll be the processor of real news."
The ignorance of the comment is astounding for so many reasons. Let’s lay aside Newton bemoaning college players taking money and instead focus on the reality that simply paying players isn’t a road to guaranteed success.
Pro sports are littered with examples of teams splashing around a lot of money hoping to win, only to end up without anything to show for it. Newton has been around long enough to know that’s true.
But Newton isn’t entirely wrong either.
