Football fans have ripped into ex-NFL star Cam Newton after he claimed that Notre Dame are ‘irrelevant’ – despite playing in the college football playoff final last year.
Newton, a former Heisman winner and NFL MVP in 2015, joined ESPN’s First Take crew to discuss the latest updates regarding the College Football Playoff structure.
During their discussion, the former Carolina Panthers quarterback drew the ire of Notre Dame Fighting Irish after claiming that the school are irrelevant.
Discussing the matter on Friday, Newton said: ‘Bump Notre Dame. I’m gonna tell you this. You start to think about the preferential treatment that Notre Dame has gotten, will get, and will continue to get. That’s why I’m like, ‘Bump Notre Dame…’
‘Notre Dame hasn’t been relevant in years,’ he said during his passionate rant.
However, almost immediately, co-host Shae Cornette noted: ‘They were just in the national championship game one year ago’.
Ex-NFL star Cam Newton has come under fire for claiming that Notre Dame are irrelevant
However, fans noted that Notre Dame reached the CHP National Championship game last year
Despite this, Newton doubled down: ‘They haven’t been relevant for years!’
‘If you take that one national championship game with coach Freeman out of the equation, they have not been relevant for years,’ he continued.
Despite putting forward what he believed was a compelling case, it didn’t take long for NFL fans to rip into him on social media.
Taking to X, one fan wrote: ‘Doubling down on a bad take after being called out is far worse than just admitting you were wrong’.
‘Cam isn’t on the show for his knowledge let’s be honest,’ another wrote.
Another fan added: ‘A reminder that not all former football players know football’.
‘When you put an idiot on live television, eventually he’s going to reveal himself as an idiot,’ one user on the social media platform wrote.
As Cornette noted, the Fighting Irish did feature in the national championship game at the end of the 2024-25 season – which they lost 34-23.
Despite only reaching the college football finals on one occasion in recent years, Notre Dame remain of the most successful and prestigious programs in the country.
It didn’t take long for fans to rip into Newton for his remark during ESPN’s First Take
They have won 11 national championships, which is the second-most of any school during the ‘poll era’ (since the AP Poll began in 1936).
They have also produced the joint-most Heisman winners – having had seven different players win the award.
Newton joined the First Take team to discuss the latest updates to the CFP after it was confirmed that it will remain as a 12-team format – despite calls to expand it to either 16-teams or 24-teams.
The main dispute arose between SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, who failed to come to an agreement over a new format.
There had been overwhelming support for a 16-team playoff structure but the Big Ten reportedly wouldn’t agree unless the SEC agreed to a 24-team setup in three years.
According to ESPN, however, SEC commissioner Sankey was not willing to agree to the suggestion and, as a result, the CFP will remain as a 12-team format.
