Skip to main content

An old saying goes, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.” Free-agent NFL quarterback Cam Newton should take this quote to heart. The former NFL MVP recently appeared on a podcast and went on a ridiculously sexist and misogynistic rant about what defines a “woman” vs. a “bad b****.”

And if you think the rant is horrifically bad just based on that description, you have no idea. 

Cam Newton’s thoughts on women are awful

Cam Newton is a three-time Pro Bowl QB, an All-Pro, and the 2015 NFL MVP. At (almost) 33, though, he’s currently a free agent and on the verge of being out of the league.

While the 2010 Heisman Trophy-winner waits to see if any team will sign him, he appeared on Barstool Sports’ Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast.

Before Newton stuck both his feet in his mouth, he told the hosts a nice story about what a good man and example his father was. He also shared how lucky he was to grow up in a “three-parent household” with his mother, father, and grandmother. He said that growing up in that environment taught him the difference between a “woman” and a “bad b****.”

That’s when one of the hosts asked Newton to explain the difference between the two, and the wheels fell off:

A bad b**** is a person who’s just, you know. ‘Girl, I’m a bad b****. I’m doin’ this. I’m doin’ that. I look the part, but I don’t act the part.’ And it’s a lot of women who are bad b******. And I say ‘b******’ in a way not to degrade a woman, but just to go off the aesthetic of what they deem is a boss chick. Now, a woman, for me, is handling your own but knowing how to cater to a man’s needs. Right? And I think a lot of times when you get that aesthetic of, ‘I’m a boss b****, I’m a dis, I’m a dat.’ No baby, but you can’t cook. You don’t know when to be quiet. You don’t know how to allow a man to lead.

Cam Newton on women

The hosts’ wide-eyed shock near the end would be almost funny if the words coming out of Newton’s mouth weren’t so despicable.

However, no one should be surprised. The former Carolina Panthers QB has publicly shared his misogynistic thoughts on women before.

This isn’t the first time Newton has disparaged women publically 

In 2017, Cam Newton also came under fire for his comments about women. In a postgame press conference, then-Charlotte Observer reporter Jourdan Rodrigue (now with The Athletic) asked Newton a football question.

Rodrigue asked Newton about his wide receiver, Devin Funchess, embracing “the physicality of his routes.” Toward the end of the question, the QB started laughing to himself and responded, “It’s funny to hear a female talking about routes. It’s funny.”

Newton chuckled through his answer. When no one else in the press room followed suit, though, he addressed the question in a real way.

After the incident, Rodrigue tweeted, “I don’t think it’s ‘funny’ to be a female and talk about routes. I think it’s my job.”

Newton didn’t apologize in the immediate aftermath of his disparaging words. However, he ultimately issued a public apology for his “degrading and disrespectful” word choice to any “person who took offense.”

Back in 2017, Newton was a superstar signal-caller, so outside of some sponsors dropping him and him having to apologize, he didn’t face many consequences for his comments about women.

Now, as a washed-up 30-something whose QBR hasn’t broken 40 in three years, his outdated take on the role of women in society might actually have repercussions.

All stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference

Best in NFL
Staff Writer, Producer - NFL

Tim Crean

Tim Crean started writing about sports in 2016 and joined Sportscasting in 2021. He excels with his versatile coverage of the NFL and soccer landscape, as well as his expertise breaking down sports media, which stems from his many years downloading podcasts before they were even cool and countless hours spent listening to Mike & The Mad Dog and The Dan Patrick Show, among other programs.

As a longtime self-professed sports junkie who even played DII lacrosse at LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York, Tim loves reading about all the latest sports news every day and considers it a dream to write about sports professionally. He’s a lifelong Buffalo Bills fan from Western New York who mistakenly thought, back in the early ’90s, that his team would be in the Super Bowl every year. He started following European soccer — with a Manchester City focus — in the early 2000s after spending far too much time playing FIFA.

When he’s not enjoying a round of golf or coaching youth soccer and flag football, Tim likes reading the work of Bill Simmons, Tony Kornheiser, Chuck Klosterman, and Tom Wolfe.