Cam Newton responds to trolls following exchange with youth football player
Jseth Owens later apologized for the incident with Newton, in which he called the Patriots' quarterback 'poor.'
Young junior linebacker and wide receiver Jseth Owens was seen on video trash-talking a particular elder — New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton — during a 7v7 training event in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Owens can be heard telling Newton that because he’s about to become a free agent, he’s “poor.” Newton responded that he was rich and asked about the Perkiomen Valley High School student’s dad.
After video of the moment went viral on social media, Newton posted a lengthy Instagram post, saying, in part: “Instead of speaking or going back and forth with a child, I wanted to have a man to man conversation with his father!!”
Newton went on to assert that he gives his time and energy to his 7v7 program in order to impact kids’ lives in a positive way, but he maintains that’s not “what people want to hear or even want to see.”
Many on social media promptly responded to the video, calling out the teenaged heckler and chastising him for squandering what’s widely seen as a great opportunity.
Trae Young, who plays point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, tweeted: “Probably should ask him how to be a MVP in the league you probably wanna play in first. Smh.”
According to TMZ, Tampa Bay Buccaneer Leonard Fournette spoke out on Twitter too. “Any young athlete watching this video,” he tweeted, “please don’t be this kid.”
“Don’t miss your chance to learn something from someone who has been their at the highest level in this sport,” Fournette continued. “STAY HUMBLE.”
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Owens later apologized for the incident, also posting a statement to Twitter.
“I did not intend for it to get as far as it did,” Owens wrote. He continued on to say his parents did not teach him to be disrespectful, and he let his “competitive side get the best of [him] & it was a huge miscommunication.”
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