Cam Newton didn’t wait for rumors to fill the gap. Within hours of ESPN’s latest round of layoffs, the former NFL MVP went straight to his own podcast, which he titled I Will NOT Be Going Back to First Take. Instead of taking shots at the network or sounding bitter, he admitted the news hit him harder than he expected. 

“This particular situation, it gets me in my feelings,” Cam Newton said on his 4th&1 podcast. “I’ll be lying if it didn’t.”

There was disappointment in his voice, but there was also perspective. Cam Newton explained that the constant flights between cities, the TV schedule and the grind never bothered him because he viewed ESPN as an opportunity to learn a different side of the sports business. He wanted people to know that he genuinely enjoyed showing up for the job.

“I was willing to work,” he said. “I was willing to work, and I wanted to work. I wanted to get the experience. So now I can take all that intel and bring it back to what I own outright.”

Even as messages poured in from friends checking on him, Cam Newton insisted he was fine. He thanked everyone who reached out to check on him and asked fans to keep supporting the platform he built himself. He said his time at ESPN taught him a lot, and he’s now ready to use those lessons to make his own show even better.

Cam Newton shared those thoughts shortly after ESPN announced a major round of layoffs on Tuesday. The network said the cuts came as it folded NFL Network and other NFL-owned media businesses into ESPN, making this its biggest wave of job cuts in about three years.

ESPN brought Cam Newton on board in 2024, and before long he was appearing regularly on First Take. When Shannon Sharpe moved on, he stepped into a larger role. The network rewarded him with a multi-year extension in 2025, and he soon became Stephen A. Smith’s regular Monday co-host during football season. That made his departure one of the more surprising names on the list.

Cam Newton wasn’t alone. Several prominent personalities and production staff were also affected as ESPN reshaped its workforce. In a memo to employees, Chairman Jimmy Pitaro acknowledged the difficulty of the decision.

“These decisions are incredibly difficult because they affect colleagues and friends whose contributions have helped shape ESPN,” he wrote. “We are committed to treating everyone impacted with respect and supporting them through this transition.”

For Cam Newton, though, the next chapter was already waiting. Before joining ESPN, he had invested heavily in 4th&1 with Cam Newton, an independently produced podcast where he discusses football, athlete culture, and trending stories with guests and co-host Peggy. So while his television run has come to an end, he isn’t wondering what’s next. If anything, he sounds like someone who treated ESPN as another classroom.

Cam Newton wanted the work, welcomed the lessons, and now plans to put everything he learned back into the platform that’s always been his own. If you want to support him in his journey after ESPN, “just like, share, comment, and subscribe.”