Steve Smith angered by Cam Newton's 'losers' comment on 2011 Panthers

Carolina's greatest competitor does not seem to like how Cam characterized the team his rookie year.

CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 12: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers celebrates with Steve Smith #89 after a touchdown in the second quarter against the San Francisco 49ers during the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Bank of America Stadium on January 12, 2014 in Charlotte, North Carolina. | (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

Last week former Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was a guest on Travis Hunter's podcast. During one point in the conversation Newton tried to explain some realities about being the number one overall pick in the draft - namely that means usually that player is going to the worst team in the NFL from the previous season.

That was certainly the case for Newton when he entered the league in 2011. The previous year was a brutal slog for the Panthers, as they finished with a 2-14 record, which was bad enough to get John Fox fired as head coach.

Right or not, Newton claimed that he was drafted onto a team of "losers." As you can imagine, the best player from that team was not exactly thrilled when he heard about it. Here's how five-time Pro Bowl and franchise receiving leader Steve Smith responded when he saw the clip of Cam.

Steve Smith responds to Cam Newton

53 man lockeroom - 1 = 52 losers

Wow… breaking news to 89! 🤬 https://t.co/sLYEbSxH3i

— Steve Smith Sr. (@SteveSmithSr89) February 10, 2025

One could assume that Newton didn't intend to include Smith as one of the "losers" on that 2011 team. Still, it isn't entirely fair when there were several great players on that roster, including Jordan Gross, Greg Olsen, and Ryan Kalil, to name a few. That 2010 team was bad primarly because they had a terrible quarterback and needed a new head coach - the rest of the Panthers who were around that yearwere not really at fault for their record being what it was.

Then again, Newton might have meant Smith, as well. Legend has it that the leadership clash between these two was the real reason why former general manager Dave Gettleman decided to release Smith after the 2013 season.

Maybe we'll see Newton walk back his comments in a future podcast, or maybe this is the beginning of a fresh feud between number 1 and number 89.

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