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Cam Newton Says ‘It’s Cool’ That Diddy Wants to Own Carolina Panthers

Posted byBy Kiersten Willis | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

 

Days after Sean “Diddy” Combs announced his interest in buying the Carolina Panthers, star quarterback Cam Newton has chimed in. The athlete, who is in his seventh season with the Panthers, said he thinks the mogul’s plans are “cool.”

“It was amusing,” Newton, who said he doesn’t want Panthers owner Jerry Richardson to sell, tells reporters Wednesday, Dec. 20. “He’s a person that has a lot of influence in the culture so, he’s cool. I don’t know what to expect. I still don’t even know what to expect … I don’t even know how you even sell something of this magnitude. So I’m just gonna stay in my lane, worry about throwing touchdowns on Sunday and let the rest handle stuff.”

In a Monday, Dec. 18 video announcement, Diddy said he plans to pit free agent QB Colin Kaepernick against Newton in order to determine who would be the starter. This came after Richardson announced he would sell the team in 2018.

“That’s cool. I’m cool with it,” Newton says of the showdown. “Whatever happens, happens. They say two things either happen in competition: either you’re better or you’re worse so I’m all for whatever. But as far as a person [Diddy] that I’ve always looked up to … for that to even be a mention, that’s cool in itself.”

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Should Diddy, who Forbes reports is worth $820 million, be able to buy the $2.3 billion team, he’d make history as the sole Black NFL team owner. But it seems at least two athletes want to help him make the purchase — including the one he wants to become a Panther.

Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry tweeted he wanted “in” on ownership and Kaepernick posted, “let’s make it happen!”

Diddy quickly co-signed Curry’s response but has been quieter about his plans with Kaepernick.

A source close to the former San Francisco 49er told Yahoo! Kaep has started discussing the launch of an ownership group by contacting venture capitalists, business heads and sports legends. The insider said Kaepernick has a “shared vision” with Diddy to create an ownership group that reflects the 70 percent Black player make up of the NFL.

“The interest is real and it’s moving forward,” the source said of the Combs-Kaepernick partnership. “They want to make this a reality. It’s serious.”

Still, many are fixated on Diddy’s QB competition between Newton and Kaepernick.

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