Former NFL player Cam Newton is addressing the criticism he gets from internet users for creating broken homes. The 36-year-old was a guest on the Let’s Be Clear podcast with host Jamal Bryant and explained how the criticism from outsiders makes him feel.
“It’s still a work in progress,” he said in the interview. “Vulnerably. It took something out of me when or when people say I created broken homes, and I’m just trying to make my wrongs right. Being a public figure, and bleeding in public is tough.”
Newton is currently a father of eight, with a ninth child on the way, and has all of his children with three different women. During the interview, the podcast host admitted that the criticism shifted his perspective on his family dynamic.
“When it was identified, I was like, ‘I never thought about it like that, and they’re so innocent, they didn’t ask for this,” he continued. “And I would always say, ‘I know right from wrong, I just don’t always do right.’ Raised in a church, preacher’s kids, they’re the worst ones. I know that. So, public ridicule is a constant.”
While the former New England Patriots player has several children, he takes pride in being a present father who loves his kids.
“Anybody who knows me, know I don’t play about my kids,” he said. “I really don’t, and I love ‘em. And there’s certain implementations that you only can do if you’re on tap.”
Newton is often trending for his controversial comments around relationships, marriage, and kids. One of his most viral moments happened when Cheyenne Bryant, PsyD, challenged him about “selfishly” creating broken homes while she was a guest on his podcast.
“You are proactively choosing where you want to be active at and where you want to take your time,” she said at the time. “You want to take your time in having a wife because of your own fears, but you will — and I say this will all respect and love — but you will selfishly create broken families. Even if you’re in their lives and you’re a proactive father — and I believe you’re an amazing dad — but these families are still broken. Every child cannot have papa in the house with them. So, some child, if not all, will end up with some kind of deficit without daddy being there.”
Newton’s first four children are with his longtime ex-girlfriend, Kia Proctor, and include his daughter from a previous relationship. He also has one child with LaReina Shaw and claims her son from an earlier relationship. The former quarterback shares one child with his current girlfriend, Jasmin Brown, and they are expecting another one.