Cam Newton acknowledged that he “could be in jail” if things had gone worse during the viral brawl that occurred at a 7-on-7 youth football tournament in Atlanta last month.
The former NFL quarterback addressed the Feb. 25 incident with Shaquille O’Neal during an appearance on “The Big Podcast with Shaq” released on Wednesday.
Newton was caught on video brawling with TopShelf Performance coaches for another team in the tournament.
“What you saw was grown men. Those weren’t kids,” Newton explained after telling O’Neal and Adam Lefkoe that he is a product of his environment.
“So that narrative was familiar coaching, and it got chippy. For me, that’s not the first time that happens. And honestly, knowing my world, that probably won’t be the last. I think looking back at it, yeah. People see like, ‘Yeah, Cam standing on business. Yeah, Cam had bobby pins in his head.’ Those are all funny things, but when I look at it, it’s like, man, it could have got ugly on both sides.”
Newton said on his own podcast on Friday that the individuals who had tried to fight him were former coaches for his C1N student-athlete development program that are now part of Top Shelf Performance.
One of the men allegedly involved, TJ Brown, told 105.3 The Beat last week that there was a history of trash talk between the two organizations and he alleged Newton had put hands on his brother, Steph Brown, first.
“I’m walking up a flight of steps, and I see a [6-foot-6] guy grabbing my brother, that’s what everybody’s seeing,” Brown said in a clip posted of the interview.
Newton did apologize for the scuffle on his podcast, but said during the interview with Shaq that his instincts in a situation like that are to react.
“You say something to me and I go, I don’t think, and that’s the issue,” Newton said. “And that’s where my whole support was kind of caught off guard. We were talking, something was said and then it was like, ‘Hey, hey, where you going? I’m going to use the restroom.’ But that’s just how I rock and roll. You know what I’m saying? But I just have to be better.”
He added: “Somebody going to say something triggering to you and it just takes one time and ugly because I could be in jail, somebody filing a lawsuit.”
Neither side will be pressing charges, TMZ reported.
Newton said during the appearance that he hoped that his experience could be a learning tool for younger athletes and stars.
Newton played 11 seasons in the NFL, getting drafted first overall by the Panthers in 2011, winning the 2015 MVP.
