Cam Newton reacts to pre-draft criticism of Caleb Williams' style, 'unique' personality

It’s been 13 years since Cam Newton became the top player selected in the NFL Draft. And he can’t help but notice the similarities he shares with Caleb Williams, who likely will top tonight’s first round.

You can apply the word “unique” to both quarterbacks, then and now. But Newton says let that uniqueness be. It has nothing to do with the NFL Draft or playing football.

Newton appeared on Good Morning Football on the NFL Network bright and early for a draft day. Co-host Kyle Brandt posed the question to Newton about Williams, the former USC star and 2022 Heisman Trophy winner.

“There’s these bizarre questions, Cam, about his personality, his image,” Brandt told Newton. “I remember when you were coming out, the term fake smile was being thrown around. (It) was just this term in the media that Cam Newton had a fake smile. Caleb paints his nails. He’s different. Someone compared him to Prince. What does that make you feel like when you hear that and you relate, of course.”

Newton, who was wearing one of his signature-style hats, sat back and assessed.

“Being unique, we can’t be hypocrites in America. You can’t promote, you know, land of the free and then all of a sudden when somebody does something that makes them unique, you crucify him, right? I think really for us in this profession that we’re in, Gen Z is here. And they’re here to stay. So whatever a person does personally, should just matter, personally.

“If it starts bleeding into their plate, then that’s when you can care. But as I’m seeing these highlights of Caleb Williams … pink nails, red nails, the green nails, no nails. If you can play football and you can win football games in that locker room ,and for that franchise, nothing else matters.”

"If you can play football and win football games… nothing else matters"@CameronNewton thoughts on Caleb Williams pic.twitter.com/yrjHSS6PoU

— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) April 25, 2024

If you’re curious, at least one sportsbook established odds on what color nail polish Williams will wear to Thursday night’s NFL Draft festivities in Detroit.

Preferred nail color for Caleb Williams on NFL Draft night

Black: +150
Orange: +200
White: +500
Pink: +600
Blue: +700
Green: +1000

Williams has told reporters that he started wearing nail art back in high school.

“You get to express yourself,” Williams said. “I really only do it on game days. I’m going to see big events, which this is one of the largest events, so I knew that I was going to be wearing a lot of suits and everything like that, so I wanted to just go a little more classy, get some clear coat over it and rock that. It’s just a way to express yourself. There’s no hate. All love.”

Remember, the first round of the NFL Draft is tonight. You can catch up on On3’s draft coverage here.