Panthers rookie OLB Princely Umanmielen stands up for franchise legend Cam Newton
The franchise legend has recently received quite a bit of vitriol, almost all of it personal, for his take on Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts. After Newton recently excluded the Super Bowl LIX Most Valuable Player from his list of the NFL's top ten quarterbacks, his career has been poked and prodded at by dissenting talking heads, analysts and fans alike.
Newton himself punched back this past week, calling out a handful of celebrity detractors including ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky, Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and rapper Gillie Da Kid.
Well, he got some backup on Sunday—when Panthers outside linebacker Princely Umanmielen took a stand for the team's all-time leading passer on Twitter/X . . .
Oh, and he's not just saying that because he plays for the Panthers . . .
Umanmielen's defense of Newton will probably endear him to the Carolina faithful even further. The 2025 third-round pick already had plenty of Panthers fans smiling after the first week of training camp, where he picked up a few would-be sacks on back-to-back days at practice.
He also poked fun at his first big play, which caused an abrupt end to the opening outing on Wednesday. Although he was eventually cleared of being overzealous on his strip-sack of Bryce Young, Umanmielen hilariously acknowledged that he'd try to keep his quarterback clean moving forward . . .
There seems to be little doubt that Umanmielen, hands included, is quickly becoming a favorite in Carolina.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
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