Former NFL MVP and sports commentator Cam Newton reacted to the viral handshake between New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and wide receiver Stefon Diggs before last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The teammates were engaging in a unique handshake that Diggs finished by doing Newton’s iconic Superman taunt in front of Maye. However, the second-year quarterback shook his head in disapproval of the taunt. The teammates did the handshake again, and on the second attempt, Diggs finished with an entirely different taunt, to which Maye nodded in approval.
Newton addressed the handshake in the latest episode of 4th&1 with Cam Newton.
“Do I feel a certain type of way that Stefon Diggs and Drake Maye came up with a pretty unique handshake that some would say is shunning the Superman? No, I don’t. It’s all entertainment, baby,” Newton said. “I thought I had love in New England. …This is where the media has a way of manipulating the narrative they want to put out there because you seen, you heard what I had to say. But did you hear all I had to say? That’s the kicker.
“My challenge isn’t towards Drake Maye. To make me hate Drake Maye, a person who I’m very fond over—I respect what you got going on. I really like what you got going on. But I still have a job to do, and that’s to cover football, analytics at a high rate, bro. …To have the narrative that your idols become your rivals—no, no, no, no, no, no, no. The fact of the matter is that they are one of, if not the team to beat in all of the NFL. So why would I, little bitty ole’ me, try to throw dirt on a situation that I’m a fan of. What I have to do as a member of the media is cover this. It’s all entertainment.”
This all stems from Newton calling the Patriots’ NFL run so far this season “fool’s gold” when appearing on ESPN’s First Take. Maye was asked to respond to Newton’s comments during an appearance on WEEI Afternoons, and he took the high road by saying he didn’t know what show Newton was on and shifting the focus back to the Patriots.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called Maye a “liar” publicly for not knowing what show Newton was on. After receiving backlash, he recently claimed that he only made those comments in jest.
“To Mr. Drake Maye and his family, you want an apology? Fine. Come on, man. I was playing around,” Smith said during an episode of Straight Shooter with Stephen A. “I wasn’t playing around about my take, but in terms of you lying when you said that you don’t even know where Cam Newton is, I didn’t believe that, but it was no big deal.”
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