NFL fans are aware of one side of Cam Newton, the former NFL dual-threat quarterback who never shies away from making bold takes years after hanging up his cleats. But in his personal life, the former Carolina Panthers QB is apparently having a tough time and now wants primary custody of his kids after bringing allegations against his ex, Kia Proctor. 

Newton and Proctor began dating in 2013 and share four children. The former couple first made a public appearance together at that year’s Kentucky Derby. But things eventually took a sour turn, and Newton parted ways with Proctor in 2019. Years later, he now wants custody of their four children. 

“Cam is asking the court to award him primary custody of the kids,” reported TMZ.

Newton has reportedly grown concerned about the future of the four kids after he claimed that Proctor is suffering from substance abuse. He also claimed that she is blocking him from his kids “for days at a time.”

The custody dispute has taken another turn, with the former NFL star voicing concerns about Kia’s parenting in recent court filings. The pair share four children: Chosen, born in 2015, Sovereign-Dior in 2017, Camidas in 2018, and Cashmere in 2019. Their family also included Shakira, Proctor’s older daughter from a previous relationship, whom Newton helped bring up during their time as a couple.

Cam’s court filing also sheds light on the alleged challenges he has faced while co-parenting with Kia. Despite sharing joint custody, he claimed she has repeatedly disrupted the children’s routines, including missing their activities and taking them to school late. He also raised concerns about alleged substance abuse around the children.

Newton also alleged that she has failed to encourage a bond between the kids and their half-siblings. The former NFL player has a son with photographer LaReina Shaw, named Caesar. Given Newton’s outlook towards parenting, he wants a cordial relationship between all his children. 

“I proudly say I have 8 children. Six biologically through me. And I don’t believe in stepchildren,” he once said in an interview on Club Shay Shay. “What my biological kids get, everybody gets. I don’t have no favorites. I’m raising kings and queens.”

Newton and Proctor’s separation also brought legal questions surrounding their children’s custody to the forefront. Newton initially pursued joint custody and visitation rights in 2020, prompting Proctor to seek primary custody. 

The two eventually reached a settlement in 2022, establishing a shared custody arrangement. Newton reportedly contributes approximately $7,500 in monthly child support, but he now believes the existing agreement needs to be reconsidered.

While Proctor hoped they would eventually tie the knot, their relationship hit a tough end because Newton allegedly got involved in another relationship. 

“He had a baby outside of our relationship that I was not okay with, and we were not married,” she said in a YouTube video in 2024, titled “Truth” on her channel Shades of Kia. “So I’m like, ‘I’m not about to deal with this,’ because I thought what we had was something way more special than the way you’re treating it. And I felt like I had no choice but to leave. I had to choose me and my kids over what he was about to put me through.”

While they initially decided to go with a 50-50 custody split, Newton now wants to end it.

Fatherhood Gave Cam Newton a Purpose Beyond Football

Cam Newton played in the NFL for 11 seasons. He had dedicated his whole life to football. But fatherhood pushed him to pick up the pen and express his own thoughts in a poem. 

On Jan. 4, 2017, he wrote a poem for his son Chosen. 

“Don’t be like me, son. Be better than me. You don’t have to be an athlete to be accepted by me. You can be whatever you want to be,” read an excerpt of the poem. 

If that was not enough to fathom how deeply he has changed as an individual after being a father, in the same year, there was another interview. 

“Fatherhood has been great. … I’m not as bad as I thought I was!” he said in an interview with Yahoo Celebrity in 2017. “It’s something that a person can never really prep for, but for me I just want to be available, and it’s helped me be a better man. There are similarities that I felt being on the set of Buick and seeing those kids light up and ask me questions coming from all across the board. Things like, ‘What do you eat? How hard have you been hit?’ I think Chosen prepped me for being able to be prepared for any kid’s response.”

While Newton has reportedly filed for full custody of his children, Proctor has yet to make a statement.