Twitter remains a war zone after several prominent sports media outlets reposted a video of an interaction between Cam Newton and a high school football player. During a recent 7-on-7 football tournament in South Carolina, a high school football player named Jseth Owens was caught on camera heckling Newton. Newton responded by asking to speak to the player's father. As the two went back and forth, fellow football players stood by, laughed and moved on with the day's football tournament.
"You a free agent! You a free agent! You're about to be poor," Owens shouted.
"I'm rich," Newton replied.
Shortly thereafter, the video was posted on The Sports Universe, ESPN, Overtime and several other platforms with millions of followers. A number of fellow NFL players hopped in to offer their unsolicited opinions.
'Cam, you should have sent his --- home," Baltimore Ravens Wide Receiver Dez Bryant tweeted.
"[He] definitely should've gotten kicked out of the camp," New Orleans Saints`Defensive End Cameron Jordan added.
Over time, social media users found the young man's highlights and ridiculed them. Meanwhile, others took time to chastise the child's father and his upbringing. Ultimately, the video clip landed on TMZ and Stephen A. Smith took time to scold the young man for his behavior on First Take. Pressured by adults and major media outlets, Owens issued a public apology to strangers on social media.
In addition to an apology from Owens, Newton posted a clip of him having a one-on-one conversation with the young man. He later issued a written statement regarding the matter.
"People often forget as athletes that are often seen on TV -- loved by most, hated by some -- we are real dads, real friends, real brothers, real sons, real human beings. With that being said, when I attend tournaments all across the country with my all-star team, I have given my time, my energy and my expertise to these kids coming into our program for over 11 years and that is not what people want to hear or even want to see," Newton wrote on Instagram.
"People want to see me arguing with another young man and to see me 'get in my feelings.' But the truth is this, I impact kids' lives in a positive way. Make no mistake about it, I allow kids to realize their 'out' by using their football talents to get them to the next level and in most cases out of the hood."
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