Paul Finebaum Calls Cam Newton ‘Selfish’ in Defense of His Arch Manning Stance

“I actually covered Cam Newton at Auburn, and I was actually quite aware of why he left the University of Florida,” Finebaum said. “You might call Urban Meyer, he'll be happy to tell you — because he told me. Cam Newton is the worst guy he has ever dealt with in his college career. Now, that’s saying a great deal considering some of the '30-for-30s' that have been done on a few of his other players, but I just wanted to make that point."

Finebaum is likely referencing the several documentaries that covered former Gators tight end Aaron Hernandez, who was found guilty of murder in the first degree of Odin Lloyd and implicated in several other crimes. There was also another documentary series on Netflix titled "Untold: Swamp Kings," which covered the controversial happenings involving Meyer and his Gators teams during the 2000s.

“But the point being that Cam Newton got kicked off the team, as you know. He went to Blinn Junior College. ... He only played one meaningful year, and on the final play of Cam Newton’s career, Gene Chizik told me this, by the way, the former Auburn coach. He told Cam Newton to take a knee in the national championship game. Cam Newton decided to be Superman and tried to dive over the pile against Oregon, and he failed, nearly fumbling the ball, and they had to kick a field goal to win the national championship. I bring up all this ancient history (because) Cam Newton was selfish. Tim Tebow was the consummate team player.” 

The larger explanation Finebaum is attempting to make here in comparing Manning to Tebow is that he believes the Longhorns quarterback waited his turn, so to speak. The Texas signal-caller could have pressured the program into starting him over Quinn Ewers or airing grievances to the media in some way, but Manning did not. In that way, Finebaum is comparing his team-first attitude to Tebow's, in conjunction with Manning's talents on the field.

Texas begins the 2025 season on the road at Ohio State on Aug. 30 at noon ET in what will be Manning's third career start.