Cam Newton Stuns College Football Fans on ESPN with One Comment
Since he last played in the NFL in 2021, Cam Newton has broadened his horizons to become quite the public persona. He hosts two podcasts, Funky Friday with Cam Newton and 4th&1 Podcast wth Cam Newton, and he’s landed an analyst job with ESPN, often contributing to Stephen A. Smith’s First Take. With that being said, the former Pro Bowler is making a living offering very strong opinions, and the ones he offered on First Take on January 23 have lovers of college football baffled and Notre Dame fans offended. Heck, even the other panelists for the segment seemed to be a bit confused.
Cam Newton Claims Notre Dame "Hasn’t Been Relevant in Years"
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
The moment kicked off when Newton, First Take anchor Shae Cornette, and a virtual Smith were discussing the recent news that the college football playoffs will continue to be limited to 12 teams. Since there was some debate whether Notre Dame should have been left out of the final teams competing in the most recent tournament (the school finished with a 10-2 record), the topic then pivoted to whether Notre Dame should join a conference to raise their playoff chances.
Newton chimes in and eventually states, "Bump Notre Dame. And Imma tell you this. When you start to think about all these different things, the preferential treatment that Notre Dame has gotten and will continue to get. That’s why I’m like bump Notre Dame."
Then, after the former Carolina Panther quarterback mimics his naysayers, he makes the big statement, "Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in years."
Now, at this moment, Cornette steps in to correct Newton. She points out that Notre Dame was in the National Championship game against Ohio State in 2025. However, that didn’t move Newton off his original point. He doubled down and claimed, "They [Notre Dame] haven’t been relevant for years. If you take that one National Championship with Coach Freeman out of the equation, they have not been relevant for years."
Cam Newton: "Notre Dame hasn't been relevant in years."
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 23, 2026
Shae Cornette: "They were just in the national championship game one year ago" pic.twitter.com/E59b7FaiAr
Social Media weighs in on Cam Newton’s Notre Dame Comments
As you can probably imagine, college football fans, especially Notre Dame supporters, had plenty to say about Newton’s remarks. Check out a few of the tame responses I found on X (formerly Twitter) below:
“Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in years” Cam Newton says as he goes on and on about Notre Dame 226 days before the Fighting Irish play another football game. pic.twitter.com/YOXMRnCzB7
— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) January 23, 2026
Cam Newton: "Notre Dame hasn't been relevant in YEARS."
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) January 23, 2026
Notre Dame: literally just played in the National Championship ????#GoIrish pic.twitter.com/J3WY3wQMg1
“Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in years…”
— Zack Thomas (@TFel922) January 23, 2026
Meanwhile they just played in the Championship *checks notes* LAST YEAR… and while I don’t care for ND, they may be the most consistently relevant team in the NCAAF history.
ESPN has fallen so far letting people like Cam Newton… https://t.co/55cjKkH85W
I think Cam's confused with who's truly irrelevant.....let's see...Cam Newton or Notre Dame?????
— Tom Tojo (@TojoT_9) January 23, 2026
That looks like Cam Newton trying to play Michael Irvin in a southern comedy.
— Mike Sears (@SearsMike) January 23, 2026
He is only relevant when he talks about Notre Dame.
Notre Dame is so irrelevant that Cam Newton feels the need to talk about them every day.
— Douglas Bray (@reasonablyhim) January 23, 2026
@CameronNewton is simply trying to be like Stephen A. He didn’t even realize Notre Dame played in title game last year. Shae schooled him pic.twitter.com/w4ZiyVQ89T
— Larry Williamson (@larrywitness) January 23, 2026