Former NFL player Cam Newton isn’t harboring any hard feelings toward ESPN after being laid off from the sports media company.
During a July 22 episode of his sports podcast, “4th&1,” the retired Carolina Panthers player expressed gratitude for being part of the talented team at ESPN for as long as he was.
As he continued, Cam Newton spoke about the importance of content creators owning their work before pointing to his other podcast, “Funky Friday.”
Newton was one of the many former athletes let go by ESPN during the company’s latest round of mass layoffs. According to The Blast, ESPN chairman Jimmy Pitaro informed employees earlier this week that difficult decisions had to be made, including reducing part of the staff by a considerable amount.
“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN,” a portion of the letter sent to the team read. “Throughout this process, we have taken the time to carefully evaluate our collective teams, resources and organizational structure to best position us for the future. As a result, we had to make some difficult decisions about job impacts that we will be communicating today.”
Cam Newton Said Being Cut From ESPN Is ‘Unfortunate’
Newton addressed his fans during a recent episode of his “4th&1” podcast and said that while the news was upsetting, he wouldn’t stay down for long. “It’s unfortunate what happened to me, some would think, but I’m good,” he said. “‘4th&1’ ain’t going nowhere. ‘Funky Friday’ ain’t going nowhere.”
Newton went on to express his gratitude for ESPN giving him a chance to jump into the world of broadcasting, noting that he wasn’t able to study journalism when he was in college. “You can’t make me hate ESPN,” he said.
“What I’ve learned, it was an internship almost. The production value. They are the leading sports source for a reason. They have the leading talent not only in front of the camera, but behind the scenes that make sure whether it’s a live show or whether it’s in studio that they are always on the cutting edge of topics and information and also how it’s rolled out,” he added.
Cam Newton Has An Important Note To Former Athletes And Content Creators Working In Media
Newton finished the moment on his podcast by giving former athletes and content creators a piece of advice. “If this isn’t a way for all athletes and even content creators to learn one important rule of the times we live in right now, if you don’t own your own platform, you’re going to get overlooked, bypassed, and extinct like dinosaurs,” he said.
Over the last few years, there has been a rise in media platforms started by former athletes, such as Shannon Sharpe’s “Nightcap,” Jason and Travis Kelce’s “New Heights,” Ryan Clark’s “The Pivot,” and Angel Reese’s “Unapologetically Angel.”
Clark Is Staying Hopeful After Losing His Job
Sending prayers and love to all those laid off today by ESPN. So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now.
My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) July 21, 2026
And speaking of Clark, he was also part of ESPN’s latest round of cuts and reportedly learned he’d been let go from the company while he was on the air.
Clark opened up about his departure on X, formerly Twitter, saying that he was “sending prayers” to everyone else who was affected, including longtime MLB announcer Karl Ravech, Tom Pelissero, and Bart Scott.
“So many of you have poured your life into that company, & I know how you’re feeling right now,” he wrote. “My hope is as this door closes another opens for you all. God bless!”
Some Faces At ESPN Are Not Happy With The Company’s Decision
ESPN mainstay and the face of “First Take” Stephen A. Smith appears to have made it through the latest round of cuts untouched; however, that doesn’t mean he’s happy with what’s gone on.
“It hurts. It really does,” Smith said on an episode of his podcast. “I understand the business. I understand layoffs come. I understand that there have been other names that have been a part of it in the past and there’s going to be names in the future. Hell, one of them might be mine.”
Smith went on to say that he was “not happy about this decision” and made it clear that he expressed his disappointment with the executives at the network.
“The bosses know I’m not happy about this decision. I’ve made that very, very clear. But it’s also important that myself and anybody else in the world of business be grown-ups and understand that these are the kind of things that happen when layoffs happen,” he finished.