Quarterback Cam Newton believes there's a reason why he’s not been signed by an NFL team – and it all stems from his hairstyle.
Newton, 33, has been a free agent after his second stint with the Carolina Panthers came to an end, having spent 2022 unsigned.
After playing for the Panthers between 2011 and 2019, he was released and signed to the New England Patriots and played 15 games for the team throughout 2020.
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Newton then returned to the Panthers in 2021, having been signed midway through the season. However, he was not re-signed afterwards.
He now remains without a team, which is something the football star believes is down to his appearance - specifically, his dreadlocks, which he's been growing out for the past several years.
Newton claims his dreads are a key factor to why he’s still looking for a job, having spoken about the topic on Josina Anderson’s Undefined podcast.
"It’s been hindered. And I’m not changin’," he said.
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"People have hinted towards to say like, ‘Cam, we want you to go back to the 2015 clean-cut Cam. But that was a different me. Right now, where I’m at, it’s about embracing who I am."
He claims that teams have previously insinuated he should get a haircut, continuing: "There was hints toward it. And I gained a lot of great counsel from a lot of people. And the thing that is always mentioned is, 'Yo, Cam, you scarin' people the way you look.'
"And I would say, 'Yo, like I'm not gonna name names, but there's other quarterbacks that's in the league that don't look like me, but they got long hair. They don't scare them, do they?' So, we can go tit for tat, tat for tit with it. But I would just turn and nod to that and say, 'That's not the reason why I'm not in the NFL'."
But Newton - who has five biological kids and two stepchildren - doesn’t plan on cutting his hair until one of his daughters gets married.
Four of his children are with Shakia Proctor - Sebastian Newton, Sovereign-Dior Cambella, Camidas Swain Newton, and Cashmere Saint Newton - but he has also described Proctor's older daughter from a previous relationship as his child, despite not being biologically related.
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He has also fathered a child with Instagram model LaReina Shaw, who has an older child from another partnership.
As he did with Proctor, Newton acknowledges Shaw's other child as his, having posted on Father's Day 2020 to say: “I’m a proud father of seven.
"A DADDY isn’t defined as the man who makes the child (NOT in all instances.) But rather a MAN who extends his hands and time to help with the child’s raising and his heart to LOVE the child through anything!!”