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Cam Newton accuses Terrell Owens over Jalen Hurts QB ranking debate

Originally posted on Inside the Iggles | By Gourab Saha | Last updated Jul 24, 2025 12:00 PM ET

Imagine two heavyweight champs. Champs trading blows not in the ring, but on your phone screen. That's the vibe crackling through NFL circles this week. Forget about the controlled chaos of a fourth-quarter drive; this is raw, unfiltered opinion clashing like linebackers in the hole. The topic?

Quarterback royalty. The combatants? Legends with microphones and massive followings. One fired the opening salvo, and the other? Well, he came out swinging for the fences.

Cam Newton dropped a verbal bomb aimed squarely at Hall of Famer Terrell Owens. The spark? Owens publicly torched Newton’s controversial take on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts.

Cam Newton recently omitted Super Bowl LIX MVP Jalen Hurts from his Top 10 QB list. Newton argued Hurts benefits too much from Philly's stacked roster—A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, a top O-line, and Saquon Barkley. "It’s hard for me to grade Jalen Hurts with the talent that he has around him," Newton stated.

He doubled down, claiming, "Jalen Hurts does not have to play elite for the Philadelphia Eagles to win. He has to play good, but he doesn’t have to play elite." For Owens, a former Eagle star, this was fighting words. He blasted Newton's take as attention-seeking, comparing it to Skip Bayless "with dreads." Newton's response?

On his "4th & 1" show, Newton unleashed "Petty Cam." He declared, "The next person that I will go to is Terrell Owens."

Newton didn't hold back, adding, "Terrell Owens, I can say so much about you, and I will not. Because, at the end of the day, we all know that you don't have the best relationships with your quarterbacks. Me being a quarterback, I'm just going to leave it at that." Ouch!

That's a direct shot at Owens' rocky past with QBs like Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb (ironically, a Philly great). Clearly, Newton feels Owens stepped out of bounds defending Hurts. Why was Newton so fired up?

Owens didn't just critique the opinion; he went for the jugular. He fired a low blow referencing Newton's career-defining moment.

Owens' Instagram retort included, "Maybe had you made the decision to jump on that ball?! Just maybe?!" This instantly dredged up the painful memory of Newton's Super Bowl 50 fumble recovery hesitation against Denver. Owens weaponized Newton's most infamous on-field moment.

.@terrellowens said to Cam Newton what we were all thinking last week. TO pic.twitter.com/vemYv8relk
— PHLY Eagles (@PHLY_Eagles) July 21, 2025

Suddenly, the QB debate became deeply personal for Newton. It shifted from stats and rosters to legacy and perception. Newton's "Petty Cam" persona was a direct counterpunch to this deeply personal attack. So, where does this leave Hurts and the Eagles?

Newton's Defense and the Philly Fallout

Newton's core argument questions Hurts' individual necessity. But the evidence in Philly suggests otherwise. Remember the 2022 season? The Eagles reached the Super Bowl. But crucially lost both regular-season games Hurts missed.

Even last December, while they steamrolled Dallas without him, they sputtered badly against the Giants without their QB1. Stats like his 18 passing touchdowns and 14 rushing touchdowns in 2024 might not scream "elite" in a vacuum, but his clutch performances and the team's drastic drop-off without him tell another story.

Head Coach Nick Sirianni clearly believes, locking Hurts down with a massive $255 million extension in April 2023. Meanwhile, Newton stands firm in his analytical stance, dismissing critics as influenced by relationships over performance.

"There's too many people, the insiders that are moved by relationships... You're more or less talking about their performance. And that's what I will talk about," he asserted. However, his feud with Owens has inevitably overshadowed the original football analysis. The question for Philadelphia becomes less about Newton's list and more about whether this noise fuels Hurts' legendary focus.

History shows he thrives on doubt. Remember, this is the guy who dethroned Patrick Mahomes on the biggest stage. And eventually, the Eagles' success hinges on Hurts' play, not pundits' rankings.

This article first appeared on Inside the Iggles and was syndicated with permission.

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