A new report details what led to the brawl involving former NFL star quarterback and league MVP Cam Newton on Sunday.
Newton was at a youth 7-on-7 football tournament on Sunday in Atlanta, Georgia. Per Joseph Person and Lukas Weese of The Athletic, the tournament involved 15 to 18-year-olds, and members of Newton’s C1N program competed in the event.
For those who haven’t seen it, here is the video of the brawl:
According to Person and Weese, the two men who fought with Newton are involved in a nearby wide receiver training facility. Interestingly, the report adds that those two men previously “coached with” Newton.
“In video clips posted on social media, individuals involved with TopShelf Performance, a wide receiver training facility in Atlanta that had youth teams in the event, approached Newton at the top of a set of steps underneath a We Ball Sports tent Sunday afternoon. Newton was grabbed and a fight ensued. Two men shown fighting with Newton were both coaches for TopShelf Performance and formerly coached with the quarterback, according to a source with knowledge of elite 7-on-7 football. The video shows Newton grabbing one of the combatants and dragging him aside, where the fracas continued. Police and security guards broke up the altercation.”
The football tournament was organized by a company called We Ball Sports. Nehemiah Mitchell, a co-founder of the company, told The Athletic that those involved in the brawl were removed from the tournament.
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It was also noted by Person and Weese that the TopShelf and C1N teams played in a tense game which apparently led to the Brawl:
“According to Mitchell, TopShelf beat C1N in a “heated game” with a lot of trash talk between the under-18 teams on Saturday. The tensions boiled over on Sunday.”
The Atlanta Police Department refused to offer additional details to Person and Weese on the matter.
Newton was the first overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft. He led Carolina to three NFC South division titles, one wild card berth and a trip to Super Bowl 50, where they lost to the Denver Broncos.
After his release from Carolina, Newton spent the 2020 season with the New England Patriots. He was released before the season and wound up returning to the Panthers in 2021, where he appeared in five games.
