Cam Newton still honored the Iron Bowl while answering a question on the April 26 edition of “Cam Newton’s Take” about Bryce Young — sarcastically, though still in a true Auburn man way, saying that the only drawback was Young’s choice of school, Alabama.
“Honestly, it hurts me to say, and the only hurt comes because of the college that he decided to go to,” Newton said. “Other than that, all roads and all fingers are pointing to Bryce Young. You probably say: Why not C.J. Stroud? You probably say: Why not Anthony Richardson? My only knock on Bryce Young is he went to Alabama. And how petty it may sound to some people, you have to be from Alabama or to have gone to Auburn or Alabama to understand the severity of that topic.”
Young is the odds-on favorite to be selected No. 1 in the 2023 NFL draft as of April 26.
Cam Newton urges Carolina Panthers to take Bryce Young No. 1 overall
Newton urged his former team, the Carolina Panthers, to take Young No. 1 overall when they are on the clock. The fellow Heisman winner urged Panthers owner David Tepper to draft the Alabama product.
“If I’m the GM, if I’m the head coach, if I’m (team owner) David Tepper, I’m selecting Bryce Young,” Newton said.
Newton broke down the intangibles he feels Young has that make the 2021 SEC Offensive Player of the Year the clear top prospect in this year’s quarterback class.
“This is how I judge quarterbacks as a whole,” Newton prefaced before saying, “Everybody can throw. Everybody has talent. Everybody has upside. Everybody has intangibles. But the thing that everybody doesn’t have, and it’s simple, is leadership and can you get a (expletive) to follow you. Like, straight up: Can you get somebody to follow you? He has had the ability to play in big games, perform in big games and to get guys to buy into him. You see guys selling out for him.”
Newton knows a thing or two about leading his men in big games, having led Auburn to an undefeated season and BCS National Championship in 2010/11 and then bringing the Carolina Panthers to Super Bowl 50 in 2016. An Auburn football legend and former No. 1 overall pick in his own right, Newton blessed his rival’s quarterback G.O.A.T. ahead of his potential crowning as the No. 1 pick.