Cam Newton Finds The Silver Lining After ESPN Layoff: "I'm Good"

Another round of layoffs has hit ESPN, and one of the most recognizable on-air talents affected is Cam Newton.

The former Carolina Panthers quarterback barely made it a full year as a steady contributor to First Take before getting the axe.

Still, he didn’t seem too heartbroken when he spoke about his layoff on his 4th&1 podcast just hours later, preferring to view it as a teaching moment.

“I want you to learn one rule about the times we live in right now: if you don’t own your own platform, you’re gonna get overlooked, bypassed, and be extinct like dinosaurs,” he began, before explaining that others laid off, like Ryan Clark, will be fine because of their own properties.

He continued, “It’s unfortunate what happened to Ryan Clark, but Ryan Clark is going to be okay. The Pivot ain’t going nowhere,” he said. It’s unfortunate what happened to me, some would think, but I’m good. 4th&1 ain’t going nowhere, Funky Friday ain’t going nowhere.”

He named other sports personalities that easily bounced back, like Emmanuel Acho and Joy Taylor, who have “taken control of their own narrative.”

He even sees the opportunity as an internship because he learned so much and made new connections through networking.

Other layoffs include Bart Scott, Karl Ravech, Tom Pelissero, Charles Davis, Stephania Bell, David Lloyd, and Andreas Hale. The cuts happen as ESPN tries to shape a solid roster around massive contracts from Stephen A. Smith, who inked a five-year $105 million deal, and Pat McAfee, who’s reportedly raking in around $60 million a year.

Clark has been the most publicized after he was fired in between segments of NFL Live, because ESPN was afraid it’d leaked to him first.

Chief executive Jimmy Pitaro released a statement on the staffing changes and making tough choices.

“Over the past several months, we’ve made significant progress integrating the NFL assets that we acquired into ESPN,” Pitaro wrote in a memo. “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.”

He added, “Even in moments like these, the strength of ESPN comes from our people, our teamwork and our shared mission to serve sports fans.”

See social media’s reaction to Newton’s ESPN departure below.