Peter King pushes back against Cam Newton’s scathing MVP take - “Cam, what was Tom Brady?”

Cam Newton made the news this week when he declared that several of the front-runners for MVP were just "game managers." While speaking on the "4th and 1" podcast, he said Dak Prescott, Tua Tagovailoa and Brock Purdy were not "difference makers." In response, speaking on Pro Football Talk, American sportswriter Peter King brought up Tom Brady's unathletic build:

"[00:00:52] Hey, Cam, what was Tom Brady? What was he? He was no electric player who ran for a thousand yards. He didn't run for a thousand inches."

"... The role of the quarterback in most offenses in the NFL is to be John Stockton. It's to distribute the ball to the open players and in some cases it's to run to and to be dangerous with your legs."

"If [you are] Brock Purdy, you stay in the pocket and you kill people and you have the biggest, highest yards per average attempt in the last 65 years in the NFL. Is there something wrong with Brock Purdy playing football that way?" [00:02:29]

When was Cam Newton's last winning season?

Cam Newton at Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers

The former Carolina Panthers quarterback has not won over millions with his comments. The spotlight is on him for the wrong reasons. Analysts and fans have called him out as a player no longer in the league despite being of playing age.

Despite missing the 2022 and the 2023 season as well, Cam Newton is 34 years old. At 34, Tom Brady had another decade of play left in him. However, Newton's last sighting was at 32 at the end of a 0-5 run with the Carolina Panthers.

If one wants to look back at the last time he was anywhere close to his prime self, they would need to return to 2017. In 2017, the Panthers quarterback went 11-5, throwing for 22 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. On the ground, Newton rushed for 754 yards and six touchdowns.

That 2017 performance came on the heels of a 2016 year, closer to his latter years than his former years at 6-8 in games he started. With 2023 all but wrapped up for new quarterbacks, 2024 marks nine years. It has nearly been a decade since his MVP season that culminated in a loss to Peyton Manning in the Super Bowl.

If any of the above quotes are used, credit Pro Football Talk and H/T Sportskeeda.