Latest news with #CamNewton
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Dream's Brittney Griner relives horrific moments before Russian prisoner swap
The post Dream's Brittney Griner relives horrific moments before Russian prisoner swap appeared first on ClutchPoints. With Brittney Griner being a focal point of the Atlanta Dream's frontcourt, she is back to her usual WNBA production, which was a process of its own after being released from prison in Russia via a prisoner swap. While Griner is having a resurgence with the Dream currently, she harkens back to her time in prison, speaking about the disturbing moments that led to the swap. Griner was in a sit-down interview with former NFL quarterback Cam Newton where the topic was on her time in a Russian prison, where she was originally sentenced to nine years back in 2022 over having vape cartridges containing hash oil. She would go into detail about how she was treated before the eventual prisoner swap with Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer. 'The trade took a little minute to happen too on the back end on my end,' Griner said. 'I had to get transferred from the penal colony to the men's prison in Moscow, and I got checked into there. I knew I was getting traded, but the way they were treating me and their one little last play to terrorize me or mess with me, because when they were checking me in.' 'They had me basically stripped down butt naked in front of a room of like probably about seven, eight men, and they had the Polaroid and they got me spinning in a circle while they're like taking photos, because my tattoos are, you know, whatever they are,' Griner continued. 'That was their last little, I guess, addict to mess with me.' Dream's Brittney Griner on the moments before prisoner swap With Griner in a new phase of her life after the events in Russia, there is no denying how stressful of an experience it must have been in the leadup to the swap. Griner would detail how she wouldn't trust anything around her in the chance she would be harmed, and also spoke about the relief when she realized home is around the corner. 'They're trying to offer me to eat,' Griner said. 'They're like we've got food. They said we've got steak. I'm like, no, I'm not about to get poisoned before I go home because I don't trust y'all. So we land I see the other plane on the other side. I know it's an American plane. I see the American flag on it. I'm just like, alright, home is close.' 'We made one little pit stop to some people that were high up in Abu Dhabi that made this possible,' Griner continued. 'Shook their hands and thanked them. They said if I ever wanted to come here, I could. I'm just like I appreciate you. In my mind, I'm like, I don't plan on leaving the country ever again. I'm good, we've got beaches right at the US Of A, I'm good.' Griner and the Dream next play on Tuesday as they take on the Las Vegas Aces. Related: Allisha Gray drops truth bomb on 'underrated' WNBA career Related: Brittney Griner's teammate gets 100% real on Dream's frontcourt
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Jalen Hurts faces a new wave of criticism from a surprising voice
Much of what we know about Jalen Hurts, we've known for several seasons now. He's been knocked down, which forced him to get back up. That has happened in both the NCAA and the NFL. He had a purpose long before many had an opinion about his stance as quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles. Hurts is what we'd refer to as a survivor. He's mentally tough. If he weren't, he would have been broken by the pressure a long time ago, but again, most of what we know we have known for a while. And, we're going to learn a lot more about him this season. How does he handle success? He's hanging out with Michael Jordan and other great athletes from their respective sports. You've all seen him. He's in commercials. He's the reigning Super Bowl MVP. He and his teammates just received their rings, and now, Hurts has to lead that team again, one that was dubbed the best in any sport at the most recent ESPY Awards. How does he do it? Who knows? One thing is, however, certain. He'll have his supporters and, of course, his doubters. Hearing from both isn't anything new, but we were recently surprised by the source of some of the doubt. Cam Newton offers some surprising criticism of Jalen Hurts If there's anyone on the planet who would understand what Jalen Hurts has endured, it would have to be Cam Newton. After all, who knows more about navigating tons of criticism? Known for his brash nature and cannon arm, Newton provided both evolution and revolution at the quarterback position before all those years of running over linebackers finally caught up to him. These days, it feels like Newton is more visible than when he was playing. Why does it feel like he has four podcasts? 4th&1 With Cam Newton, we're familiar with. We've checked that out a couple of times. During a recent broadcast, he left Jalen Hurts off his list of the top ten NFL quarterbacks. Has anyone else noticed something? Everyone who leaves Hurts off their ranking and everyone who ranks him too low seems to know they have to explain why. Newton's criticism seems surprising. Many of his criticisms about Jalen Hurts mirror the criticisms that were shared about him. And, by the way... Why do so few people realize that great quarterbacks have great teammates? Didn't Joe Montana and Steven Young have Jerry Rice on the outside? Didn't Peyton Manning have Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne? Hurts will press on. Again, he's now a Super Bowl champion and the game's reigning MVP. He's married. He'll be a likely league MVP candidate this season. He's stoic and expressive. He's both a pocket passer and a scrambler. Be prepared. He will use the criticism as fuel, as he has always done. Greatness is on the horizon for the 2025-26 Eagles season. This article originally appeared on Eagles Wire: Cam Newton questions Jalen Hurts' validity as a top ten quarterback
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Panthers great Cam Newton goes scorched earth on celeb detractors amid Jalen Hurts debate
Carolina Panthers great Cam Newton just hit the nuclear button. The franchise's all-time leading passer and former NFL Most Valuable Player had received a bit of criticism after not including Philadelphia Eagles star Jalen Hurts on his recent list of the game's top 10 quarterbacks. Newton, however, believed that some of the backlash was too pointed and too personal. So, he took out a little time this week to respond to the detractors—including ESPN's Stephen A. Smith, Ryan Clark and Dan Orlovsky, Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens and rapper/Eagles superfan Gillie Da Kid. Strap in . . . To Newton's point, he did not disparage Hurts for his talents and abilities under center. In fact, he praised the reigning Super Bowl MVP. Here's what Newton said of Hurts during that July 17 episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton: "Jalen Hurts is a great quarterback. Do not get that twisted," he stated. "But if we're talking about what they bring to the table, it's hard to judge what Jalen Hurts can do when you're throwing to a guy like A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith. When you have a tight end skill set, you have a dominant defense, you have the best running back [Saquon Barkley] in the game." Newton's list went down as follows: Josh Allen Lamar Jackson Patrick Mahomes Joe Burrow Matthew Stafford Jared Goff Jayden Daniels C.J. Stroud Justin Herbert Baker Mayfield Despite his reasoning, the debate got turned up to a pretty spicy level—as is often the case in today's media landscape. Oh, and when you have Newton in the mix, well, it's bound to get even spicier. So, that's what y'all wanted to see, huh?This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Cam Newton goes nuclear on celeb detractors amid Jalen Hurts debate
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We Can't Relate' - Cam Newton Calls Out Two ESPN Analysts
'We Can't Relate' - Cam Newton Calls Out Two ESPN Analysts originally appeared on The Spun. Former MVP QB Cam Newton has had a war of words with a number of analysts through the years. But after being called out by one, he decided to call out two. Newton recently asserted that he doesn't see Philadelphia Eagles QB Jalen Hurts as an elite QB and sees him as more of a game manager. ESPN's Ryan Clark took exception to that remark, explaining his perspective on Hurts being a top-10 quarterback but also taking time to compare Hurts to Newton in terms of their accomplishments as NFL players. Newton takes a lot of pride in his accomplishments, so it should be no surprise that he did not appreciate Clark's critique of him. On the latest episode of his 4th And 1 show, Newton ripped Clark for his own accomplishments as both a college and NFL player. He repeatedly stated "we cannot relate" when comparing his achievements as a Heisman winner, MVP and three-time Pro Bowler to Clark's less stellar resume as a college and NFL safety. Then, for some reason, he tossed in a shot at ESPN's Dan Orlovsky too. Take a look: Fans on social media have been loving the back-and-forth between Newton and Clark. Everyone has been arguing over Cam's NFL career, his right to have opinions and everything in-between like it's a bloodsport: "Cam put himself in a position to be catching flack and criticism for his career and now he's mad he's getting exactly that? Lol," one user wrote. "Jalen Hurts is causing crashouts w 3 degrees of separation u love to see it honestly," wrote another. "So should Tom Brady be the only one allowed to evaluate players? Cuz he said Jalen was special..." a third wrote. "Cam and RC back-n-forth is gonna be entertaining." "Nick Foles had arguably the greatest Super Bowl performance of all time with a lesser roster than Jalen hurts had. All I hear from people to this day say Foles wasn't that good. Foles out dueled the greatest player of all time when Brady had 505 passing yards." It's a fun time to debating quarterbacks on social media, that's for sure.'We Can't Relate' - Cam Newton Calls Out Two ESPN Analysts first appeared on The Spun on Jul 23, 2025 This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 23, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
23-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Brittney Griner reveals 'tortured' cellmate's vile crimes as WNBA star shares harrowing Russian prison story
WNBA star Brittney Griner has opened up on harrowing details about her former cellmate while in a Russian detention center. The 34-year-old had been sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison after being caught with a cannabis oil cartridge at a Moscow airport in February 2022. She served 10 months before being released in a prisoner swap in December of the same year. Griner, who previously revealed she considered taking her own life while incarcerated, opened up on the horrifying ordeal this week. In particular, the Atlanta Dream center shed light on the vile crimes some of her cellmates were locked up for as she revealed prisoners were not separated based on their offenses. While most of her fellow prisoners were incarcerated on murder or drugs charges, one of Griner's cellmates was in prison for an even more abominable reason. 'I had a cellmate in the very beginning. I thought something was off with her,' Griner told Cam Newton on his 'Funky Friday' podcast. Wayment! Brittney Griner shared a shocking story about how she had to share a cell with another inmate who displayed odd behaviors. Her experience happened following her detainment in Russia in 2022. (🎥: @funkyfriday) ✍🏾: #TSRStaffJR — TheShadeRoom (@TheShadeRoom) July 19, 2025 'She acted like a child, but she was a grown woman, but she very much acted like an adolescent child. And then she had burn marks all over herself, and I found out after the fact that she was selling videos online of her husband and her child — together. And that's who they had me in a cell with.' Griner, who welcomed a baby boy with her wife last year, admitted she was left 'mad' at the prison for failing to separate inmates by crime, fearing other prisoners would 'associate me with that one.' 'There's not a lot of torturing from inmates with girls on the women's side,' Griner said. 'But if you in there for something like that, yeah, you going to get tortured. And they would put their cigarettes out on her and make her sleep at the door, too.' 'I didn't really sleep at night 'cause she be over there singing and doing weird stuff at night,' she added of the cellmate. Griner had been stopped and detained at the Russian airport while returning to the country to play for her European team, UMMC Ekaterinburg, during the WNBA offseason in order to supplement her salary from the American league. The Olympic gold medalist was transferred to the Russian penal colony in the town of Yavas in Mordovia – a region known for its prison camps - around 300 miles outside of Moscow after being sentenced to nine years in prison. She was freed in a 1-for-1 swap with Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout in December 2022 that has since been criticized for its failure to return Paul Whelan, a US Marine imprisoned on espionage charges in 2018. Griner previously detailed the harrowing experience in an emotional interview with ABC's Robin Roberts. 'I wanted to take my life more than once in those first weeks,' she said in the sit-down interview on 20/20: Prisoner of Russia in May 2024. 'I felt like leaving here so badly.' 'I didn't think I could get through what I needed to get through. I definitely thought about it,' she added about considering suicide. 'But then, I was just like, what if they didn't release my body to my family? And I was like, I can't put them through that. I have to endure this.' The basketball superstar detailed the shocking conditions she had to endure, including finding a 'big-a** knife' left lying in her cell when she first entered. 'When we walk into the cell, there's a bathroom. There's a little rinkity sink that leaks and then just add a layer of dust, dirt, grime, blood stains. Just filth,' she said. 'I had a couple of shirts, a couple of pairs of sweats, the shoes on my feet,' she continued. 'One of my shirts, I ripped it up and I used one to clean myself. I used one as my toilet paper. With my dirty, dirty hole in the ground with feces all over it. 'That was the moment where I just felt the dirtiest and, like, less than a human.' Griner also revealed that the pitiful food the prisoners were given to eat included cement-like porridge and little pieces of fish 'with nothing but bones in it'. Since returning home to the United States, Griner has admitted to gaining a new perspective on life. During last year's Olympic Games in Paris, where the USA's women's basketball team claimed gold, Griner, who once boycotted the national anthem, was spotted getting emotional over the victory for the Stars and Stripes. 'I didn't think I would be here,' she said, via Reuters. 'And then to be here and winning gold for my country, representing when my country fought for me so hard to even be standing here. This gold medal is going to hold a special place among the other two I was fortunate to win.' Griner signed a one-year deal with the Atlanta Dream in January ahead of the WNBA's 2025 season after spending 11 seasons with the Phoenix Mercury, who drafted her with the No. 1 overall pick in 2013.
