Cam Newton was released by the New England Patriots this week, and O.J. Simpson has some interesting thoughts on the situation. The Pro Football Hall of Fame running back went to Twitter to take aim at Newton due to the fact he hasn’t received the COVID-19 vaccine. While the Patriots have said Newton’s decision to not gett the vaccine was not a reason he was cut, Simpson feels all players should be vaccinated.
“I just don’t get why any quarterback in NFL, as important as they are to their team, won’t go and get the shot. A lot of them won’t even admit if they haven’t. You’re the star of the team,” Simpson said. “Anyway, come on guys, especially quarterbacks! Go get the shot, tell the public you got it, and wear your masks.” Simpson said he’s surprised about Newton being cut but also realized that he wasn’t going to be the starter since Mac Jones was able to take control of the offense.
Backup is not in Cam’s nature. pic.twitter.com/AZRolj8Ld1
— O.J. Simpson (@TheRealOJ32) August 31, 2021
“I got to admit, when this COVID-19 thing came up this past week and I saw that he was going to miss five days of camp, I said, ‘Well, there goes the starting job,'” Simpson stated. “Mac Jones has been spectacular. I am still a little surprised they let him go because it’s not like they’re paying him an exorbitant amount of money for a quarterback, but I don’t think Cam is cut out to be the backup.”
Jones was drafted No. 15 overall by the Patriots in April. Due to his impressive preseason, the Patriots decided to cut ties with Newton who could sign with the Dallas Cowboys and be the backup for Dak Prescott. Simpson might be right about Newton not being a backup QB. But when it comes to open starting quarterback positions in the NFL, not too many spots are available.
“That’s our decision, and we’ve had weeks of meetings on all players, so it’d be impossible to rehash everything that happened at that position or any other position, but ultimately there’s a lot of factors that are involved, and we made our decisions.” Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said when asked about Newton being cut from the team. And when it comes to Jones winning the job, Belichick said: It was a very competitive situation at that position. Both players took pretty close to an equal number of repetitions, and in total, between practice games going all the way back to the spring. That’s what it was.”