Cam Newton says Asante Samuel was closer to Deion Sanders’s level than people think
"He's right," Newton said. "He can go toe to toe with a guy like Deion Sanders."
Earlier this month, former Patriots cornerback Asante Samuel tweeted out a graphic of himself and Deion Sanders side-by-side, along with some handpicked stats.
“Here is your yearly reminder,” Samuel wrote. “Now let’s hear the excuses.”
The stats read as follows:
Deion Sanders (188 games): 53 interceptions, 5 playoff interceptions, 2 Super Bowls.
Asante Samuel (153 games) 51 interceptions, 7 playoff interceptions, 2 Super Bowls.
Sanders, who is now head coach at the University of Colorado, was a first-ballot hall of fame selection in 2011. Samuel, who has been eligible for the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame since 2019, has not been inducted.
Shannon Sharpe, who was inducted in the 2011 class with Sanders, said that Samuel is not in the same “realm” as Sanders. Sanders is the greatest cornerback to ever put on pads, Sharpe said.
Former Patriots quarterback Cam Newton disagrees with Sharpe’s take about Samuel not being close to that level.
“Asante, come on up here bro, I’ve seen the video, I’ve seen all the content, and the context behind it and you do have a valid point,” Newton said on his podcast 4th and 1. “It is something you have to think about if you want to speak facts. He’s right. He can go toe to toe with a guy like Deion Sanders.”
Newton argued that Samuel’s stats hold up. But, he said, the thing that separates Sanders is his persona. Sanders created a memorable persona called Prime Time, which he still goes uses today two decades after his playing career ended.
“The ones that are generational, the ones that are transcendent athletes, they have the dynamic duo of having a persona and that persona is matched with performance. Asante, you just didn’t have the persona,” said Newton.
Newton questioned whether Samuel had an iconic pre-draft moment, his own sneaker, or crossover appeal, all things that Sanders had.
“It’s the persona. That’s why we celebrate a Prime Time more so than Asante Samuel,” Newton said. “It’s sad but it’s true. If Asante Samuel walks in anywhere, everybody would be like whose that guy? … Deion Sanders was more than a football player, he was a baseball player. He represented the culture.”
Sanders made twice as many Pro Bowls (8) as Samuel (4). He was a six-time First-Team All-Pro selection. Samuel’s only selection was in 2007. Sanders won the NFL’s Defensive Player of the Year award in 1994. Samuel never won the award. In addition to his football career, Sanders played nine seasons in Major League Baseball.
Samuel made more tackles and forced more fumbles than Sanders despite playing in fewer games. His career (10 seasons) was also shorter than Sanders’s (14 seasons). Samuel holds the record for most interceptions returned for touchdown in NFL history (four).
“I played against Asante Samuel I knew Asante to be a cornerback that could lock down a receiver,” Newton said. “He was a guy that was going to take chances, but the thing that he was missing that Deion had was persona.”
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