As successful as his transition has been from NFL quarterback to emerging media maven, Cam Newton still has a few things left to iron out in his personal life, namely marriage.
Newton was the latest guest on T.D. Jakes‘ iHeartPodcast “NXT Chapter,” and while the two initially bonded over having grown up in the Pentecostal church, the interview delved deeper into Cam’s beliefs about marriage, relationships, and parenthood, particularly his estranged relationship with his eldest daughter.
“I’ve never given up,” Newton tells Jakes. “She’s in a very complex situation because on one hand, what’s in her blood is loyalty. And she believes being with me is being disloyal to [her mother]. I always had the thought that our relationship, which was great at one point, went through a murky, muddy time because it was murky for her. She was a byproduct of that and being of an age to understand, ‘Daddy cheated on Mommy.'”
When asked about the subject of marriage, Newton was careful to articulate his beliefs and how his upbringing in the church influenced his views.
“It’s always misunderstood about my thought process of marriage,” Newton says. “I think for me growing up in church, my expectations of what marriage looked like was pristine.” As he grew older, he learned more about adult matters and the reasons behind people’s divorces. “You start to realize, ‘Y’all values of marriage ain’t the same that I was used to.'”
Despite those thoughts, Newton hasn’t completely sworn off walking down the aisle and tying the knot, especially after watching his parents sustain their relationship for more than thirty years and seeing his brothers also get married. The former NFL MVP stressed that he felt envious of his parents’ relationship due to what he called “simplicity and routine,” something he had studied for years.
“On one hand, I know that,” Newton admitted. “But on the other hand, I can’t be that.”
He added later on, “It’s not that I have an issue with marriage. My desire for marriage is not greater than my fear of divorce.” Newton also focused on the vow of “for better or worse,” saying he wanted concrete evidence that his partner would live up to it.
“The quality that she has to possess is grace,” Newton told Jakes, referencing what he looks for in a potential wife. “What I realized for so long and was good at masking, still good at masking … where do warriors go to weep? Where do eagles go to cry and really check their scars? I couldn’t do that publicly. And when you’re at odds with a person that’s supposed to recharge you, now everywhere is a battlefield.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Newton spoke up about being a father of nine, six boys and three girls, and how they get the most vulnerable side of him. He added that he’s beginning to soften, thanks to his relationship with Jasmin Brown.
“I’m learning, and I can say in the last two years, my lady has unlocked that for me,” Newton confessed, while later admitting, “I don’t want a previous cut to bleed on somebody else.”
